People often say Lean is pretty simple (or that it’s just “common sense“). Yeah, some of the concepts are simple… but sometimes deceptively so. Or, we find that it’s easier to describe Lean (as a management system, a set of…
Welcome to the landing page for my podcasts with leaders and faculty members from the Lean Enterprise Institute and affiliates. Click here for the updated list of podcasts in this series. Click here for the LeanBlog Podcast main page. View…
Listen: My guest for Episode 188 has been a leading voice in the Lean community for 25 years, Daniel T. Jones, founder and chairman of the Lean Enterprise Academy, based in the UK. Dan collaborated with Jim Womack on the…
Mark’s note: Christina Kach is back with a new post, this time a review of what should probably be considered a “Lean classic.” Come back tomorrow for my first podcast interview with one of the co-authors, Dan Jones. You can…
My wife is a leader in a business (not GE) that does aircraft engine “MRO” work – maintenance, repair, and overhaul. I’ve been able to visit her shop floor (her “gemba”) and we noticed similar parallels between their work (bring…
When the book Lean Thinking (by Jim Womack and Dan Jones) was originally published in 1996, it seems likely that hardly anyone was applying Lean principles in healthcare. Sure, you had organizations applying TQM or CQI principles (or even some of the lessons of Dr. W. Edwards Deming). Joan Wellman did some of her first Lean healthcare experiments in 1995, but there weren't any "Lean healthcare" case studies yet. What does their book say?
As the creator of the admittedly awkward L.A.M.E. acronym (meaning Lean As Mistakenly Explained or Lean As Misguidedly Executed), one burden is that I often get emails tipping me off to L.A.M.E. sightings. In a nutshell, it’s L.A.M.E. when a…
Here’s a nice interview with Kathryn Correia, CEO of HealthEast in Minnesota, a former ThedaCare executive: “Lean approach at HealthEast.” From the piece: Correia is a firm believer in “Lean Business,” a management framework popularized in the 1997 book by…
Is LEAN an acronym? NO.
A returning guest for episode #132, we are joined by author and professor Bob Emiliani. Today, we are chatting about some videos he recently posted to his website… 10-year-old videos that document executives from Virginia Mason Medical Center, now considered…
My guest for episode #129 is Chris Cooper, a vice president with Simpler Consulting. We’re talking about his new book The Little Book of Lean. In the episode, Chris shares his extensive experience with Lean methodologies, tracing back over 20…
Jim Womack explains why real gemba walks–not management strolls–are essential for lean leadership, and why healthcare leaders must change behavior to improve systems and outcomes. In Episode #116 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast, Mark Graban talks with Jim Womack,…
