I've written a lot about suggestion boxes, and usually in the context of how they don't work well. Many aspects of traditional suggestion box systems sound great, but don't work in practice. What doesn't work: Boxes not being opened very often, being reviewed by a committee or executives...
Continuing my series of blog posts about my July trip to China, today’s post is about the second city I visited: Shanghai. This post has some photos and descriptions of the high-speed train trip and other travel-related details. You can…
Lean leadership isn’t just about asking people how to fix problems–it’s about asking them what problems matter most. When leaders shift from telling to asking, they unlock intrinsic motivation, deeper engagement, and more sustainable improvement. This lesson came through clearly…
A few weeks back, a number of you sent me this article from the New York Times: “Doctors Unionize to Resist the Medical Machine“ The article describes a physician who is trying to take the amount of time – the…
The W. Edwards Deming Institute posted a video of Kevin Cahill, a grandson of Dr. Deming, welcoming people to the event and talking about innovation, or the desire that people have for it. But, they don't know what to do...
I’ve gone to Japan twice now with Kaizen Institute to study Lean with healthcare professionals from around the world. I first went in 2012, as a paid attendee, and I went back in 2014 as a partner and co-facilitator to…
John Toussaint explains why Lean healthcare transformation succeeds only when leaders change how they lead–not just what tools they use. Joining me once again on the podcast today is John Toussaint, MD, the founder and CEO of the ThedaCare Center…
To the left is a young baby me. I don’t think I was thinking about Dr. Deming as a baby, but thankfully my parents had a lot of intrinsic motivation to take care of me! One of the many things…
Our guest today is Alan G. Robinson, PhD, an award-winning author, educator, researcher and consultant. He has co-authored six books, including Modern Approaches to Manufacturing Improvement: The Shingo System, Ideas Are Free, and his latest, The Idea-Driven Organization. His specialties include managing…
Here’s the latest video in the series that Joe Swartz and I shot at Franciscan St. Francis Health back in October. See them all here or via a YouTube playlist. In this video, the endoscopy nurses who previously talked about…
This Bloomberg Businessweek article caught my eye: “How to Get More Respect From Your Boss With Less Work.” It’s a misleading headline, almost as if it was associated with the wrong article, somehow. But, it’s an interesting read anyway. Researchers…
Today, I’m traveling to Tokyo, but I’m still thinking of the amazing nurses and leaders at Franciscan St. Francis Health in Indiana. Through my co-author Joe Swartz, the director of business transformation, their work is featured heavily in our book Healthcare Kaizen.…