Thanks to Emily Elrod for inviting me to do a video chat webinar as part of a series that she has been running recently on “surviving quarantine by spreading life.” It was done on Thursday 5/7 at 4:30 pm ET.…
I was really excited to learn about the new book by Dan Heath, so I pre-ordered it at the start of March. The new book is Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen. You might know of Dan…
As organizations like UMass Memorial Health surpass hundreds of thousands–and even millions of kaizens, it’s worth pausing to reflect on what those numbers really mean for culture, leadership, and improvement. Toyota famously documented millions of employee suggestions over decades. More…
I had a phone conversation yesterday with an emergency medicine physician after her shift at an unnamed hospital in an undisclosed state. She had a number of frustrations to share and she doesn’t really have an outlet (and doesn’t want…
See all of Greg’s email updates on this page Greg Jacobson, MD is a practicing emergency room physician. He’s a friend and trusted colleague and he’s not prone to overreaction and exaggeration. We just got off the phone and his…
TL;DR: Psychological safety is a shared belief that you can raise concerns, admit mistakes, ask questions, or offer ideas without fear of blame or humiliation. Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson, whose 1999 research first established the concept, defines it…
Healthcare – Creating Value for Patients Sometimes you just need to get a team together and improve. Here’s a good example of use of A3 thinking to improve opioid prescribing in outpatient rheumatology. Reducing harm requires the conditions to speak up, raise…
Joining me for episode #354 of the podcast is Kim Hollon, the CEO and President of Signature Healthcare, based in Brockton, Massachusetts. I first met Kim about a decade ago and, as we discover during the podcast discussion, one of…
My guest for Episode #353 of the podcast is somebody whose work I’ve appreciated for a long time — Quint Studer. I was first introduced to his book Hardwiring Excellence back in 2005 and I’ve been following his work (and…
My guest for Episode #345 is Edward Niedermeyer, author of Ludicrous: The Unvarnished Story of Tesla Motors. The book offers a deeply reported look at Tesla’s history, strategy, and culture–and why manufacturing and leadership still matter. Ed is Senior Editor…
Lee Iacocca, the former CEO of Chrysler, passed away on July 2. Ross Perot, founder and former CEO of EDS, also passed away a week later. In reading about him recently, I learned Perot didn’t like to be called “H.…
Chick-fil-A is widely known for fast service, high quality, and a strong culture–but behind that reputation is a deliberate approach to Lean and Kaizen that engages every employee in continuous improvement. In this podcast episode, I’m joined by David B.…
