Here is a great video by Masaaki Imai, author of the classic books Kaizen: The Key To Japan’s Competitive Success and Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense, Low-Cost Approach to Management. In the video, he emphasizes that kaizen means continuous improvement and…
Once again, the WSJ has written about Lean at Starbucks (see my last post “Controversy over New Standardized Work at Some Starbucks Stores“) in Wednesday’s paper. The newest article is called “At Starbucks, Baristas Told No More Than Two Drinks“,…
I had an amazing conversation on Saturday with Paul Akers (pictured at left), the founder and president of FastCap, a company in Washington, a former Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate seat, and the host of “The American Innovator” radio…
This linked article (“Lean cuts Healthcare Costs at Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle“) summarizes improvements and Lean methods at Seattle’s Virginia Mason Medical Center and at the UK NHS Royal Bolton Trust hospital. Much of the VMMC story has been…
I’m here at the Shingo Prize conference for the second year in a row. Lots of good networking and talks I’ll share a few quotes and highlights, along with a picture of my friend and sometimes guest blogger, Adam Zak.…
In this post, I’m going to tell you about some upcoming Lean events I’m involved in – planning, producing, or participating. Eric Ries “Lean Startups” Webinar for LEI Shingo Prize Conference Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit I think these will all…
Happy New Year to my blog readers! Do you have any “lean resolutions” for the year 2010? Feel free to share them, if you like, in the comments section for this post. Here were some resolutions from two years ago,…
TL;DR: Hospitals that actively engage frontline staff through Lean suggestion systems are saving millions while improving patient care, morale, and safety–without layoffs. Staff-driven kaizen works because the people closest to the work are best positioned to improve it, every day.…
Welcome to what was originally the “LeanBlog Video Podcast” main page. This is a series of video interviews with Lean thought leaders and authors. It’s no longer a podcast… it’s a series of YouTube videos now. Click here for the…
By Mark Graban: I’m always fascinated by Starbucks. For one, I’m a regular customer and Starbucks has a reputation for hiring pretty educated people as baristas given their health benefits and all. So it seems like a huge opportunity to…
I blogged earlier about the Obama administration’s announcement that the healthcare industry is promising $2 Trillion in savings (reduced cost increases) over the next 10 years. Hooray, we set a goal. The announcements were light on how to do this……
I’m still experimenting with video podcasting, after my first attempt with Jamie Finchbaugh. LeanBlog Video Podcast #2 is content you may have seen and heard before — the video from Kevin Frieswick and MetroWest Medical Center with the device for…
