Lean is not a “command and control” leadership and management model. The old command-and-control dynamic leads to so much poor quality and misery in all sorts of industries and organizations – including factories and hospitals. In a command and control…
A few weeks ago, I saw a horrific story about a retail pharmacy error in the article “Pharmacy Mistakenly Gives Pregnant Woman Abortion Pill.” Mareena Silva was mistakenly given the wrong drug by her Safeway pharmacy, which means she might…
Those of you who know my background know that I spent the first 10 years of my career working in various manufacturing sectors (including GM, Dell, and Honeywell). I moved into healthcare in 2005, part of the wave of people…
This might seem like a random topic, but what the heck, it’s a Friday. I arrived in Orlando yesterday for the Society for Health Systems and HIMSS conferences and I picked up a rental gar from the garage. It’s a…
Toyota has produced a series of videos that show how their innovations, technology and otherwise, have benefitted people outside of automobiles. One video that caught my eye was their 80-second video about the use of Lean and the Toyota Production…
Captain Sully and patient safety come together in this conversation with Naida Grunden, author of The Pittsburgh Way to Efficient Healthcare, who was corresponding with Chesley Sullenberger about aviation and healthcare safety in the months before he landed US Airways…
It’s Super Bowl week in the U.S., which is probably even obvious to many readers from outside of North America. As we watch the game, most fans will be focused mainly on the team outcome, as opposed to focusing on…
Jeffrey Liker explains why Toyota’s recalls were not a failure of the Toyota Way, but a breakdown in listening, speed, and customer understanding. The episode explores how Toyota used rigorous problem-solving to learn from crisis and emerge stronger. Episode #111…
One of my favorite of the 14 “Toyota Way” principles to discuss with hospitals, in particular, is principle #8, which says: “Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves your people and processes.” Too many organizations, across multiple industries, think…
Dan Pink joins me to discuss his book Drive and the science behind what actually motivates people — ideas deeply aligned with Lean thinking and Deming. We explore why “if-then” rewards backfire for complex work, the dysfunctions of incentive schemes…
I’ll apologize if today’s post seems off-topic to my healthcare readers, but I have to share a link to a Sunday New York Times article about General Electric (“G.E. Goes With What It Knows: Making Stuff“). After being seduced by…
Following up my notes from Day 1, I’m sharing my notes from the second full day I attended on Wednesday, December 8 2010. Here, in the last day of the IHI National Forum on Quality Improvement in Healthcare, I saw…