Producer Clare Crawford-Mason shares behind-the-scenes stories of W. Edwards Deming and the 1980 NBC documentary If Japan Can Do It, Why Can’t We?–and reflects on Deming’s lasting impact on management, healthcare, and leadership. Listen: My guest for episode #167 is…
Following up on my post from September on the Washington gubernatorial race (“Lean Management” Debated in the Washington Gubernatorial Race), the winner of the election, Jay Inslee, was inaugurated. His inaugural speech (full text in PDF) referenced the application of…
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, with the help of Michael George, tried injecting talk of so-called “Lean Six Sigma” into the 2012 presidential race, but I think it was received as a bit of a novelty topic that illustrated the…
There has been a lot of buzz over last Sunday’s New York Times article “How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work.” (Free article). Editor’s Note: Why This Still Matters Today More than a decade later, this conversation is even…
I’ve been reading the book Obliquity: Why Our Goals Are Best Achieved Indirectly and, while it’s really interesting, I tend to agree with some of the reviews that said there was a lot of repetition of the book’s core concept…
In the news yesterday, a General Motors recall over what could be just one isolated steering wheel problem in an Ohio-built Chevrolet (don’t call it Chevy) Cruze. Most news stories, like this one, about the recall just mention that one…
Listen: Episode #110 is a chat with Dr. Jack Billi from the University of Michigan Health System and Medical School. Here, we talk about their lean work and how Dr. Billi works with physicians to engage them in lean, tying…
This is just my second time attending the annual Institute for Healthcare Improvement annual forum – one of about 6,000 medical professionals, leaders, and patient advocates in attendance. For those of you on Twitter, I’ve seen familiar faces here, including…
I’ve finally started reading the new book by Charles Kenney, Transforming Health Care: Virginia Mason Medical Center’s Pursuit of the Perfect Patient Experience, and I wanted to post a mini-review of the first three chapters. You can also buy (cheaper…
I’m really excited about these two books coming out later this year — both from innovative leading lean healthcare organizations in Seattle. What’s in the water in Seattle? Actually, it’s more a matter of the Boeing influence, with the spread…
Norman Bodek discusses ideas from his book How to Do Kaizen, including why real innovation starts with empowering every employee to be a problem solver. He also tackles a great question: what should a leader do when an employee’s suggestion…
Mark’s note: It’s great to welcome Andy Wagner back to the blog. Read his older posts here. General Motors, Chrysler, and Toyota have been dominating the headlines in recent months with their financial and, now, quality troubles, while some surprising…
