tl;dr: High-profile “never events” aren’t caused by careless clinicians–and they aren’t prevented by warning signs. Signs that tell people to “be careful” substitute reminders for real system design, error-proofing, and a culture that makes it easy to do the right…
Last week was our first "Symposium on Learning Organizations" where we brought together 40 people with diverse backgrounds in manufacturing, healthcare, IT, government, and other industries or professions together to learn from each other in a "PowerPoint-free zone."
In this post, I'll share some photos and reflections on our tour of the Toyota truck plant in San Antonio (TMMTX). The visitor center has been completely revamped from my last visit, just as the one visitor center I saw in Japan back in March had been redone.
Joining me again for episode 290 is a three-time guest, Eric Ries. When we first talked, in episode 115 six years ago, his New York Times bestselling book The Lean Startup was being published. In 2012, we discussed the impact of Toyota's Taiichi Ohno on his work, in episode 142. This time, we're talking about his new book, The Startup Way.
I often like to look back at posts from a particular date (or nearby dates) from the past 11 years of Lean Blogging… so here goes with some posts from roughly May 12th in different years… From May 11, 2015:…
In healthcare patient safety circles, there’s always a lot of discussion about lessons learned from aviation safety. Aviation has gotten much safer over the past few decades, while each new study done in healthcare indicates the patient safety problem is…
My guest for episode #186 is my friend Jon Miller, CEO of Kaizen Institute and a long-time blogger at Gemba Panta Rei. Today, we’re talking about his upcoming book, Creating a Kaizen Culture: Align the Organization, Achieve Breakthrough Results, and…
It’s been eight years since I launched my blog… January 2005. Then it was “Lean Manufacturing Blog” at the kanban.blogspot.com address… it’s now “LeanBlog.org” as things have evolved in both the site’s design and content. My primary interests have shifted…
“Progress isn’t made by early risers. It’s made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.” – Robert Heinlein, American science fiction writer (July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) With “kaizen,” the Japanese word meaning “change…
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…
‘It’s all about process’: Saint Mary’s Steve Palmreuter targets waste Here is an article that might serve as an inspiration for those of you who are looking to make a career transition from manufacturing to healthcare. The linked news article…
I had an epiphany the other day. It was one of those moments where I was pretty ashamed and was ready to turn in my Lean credentials. I spent too much time each day deleting the same emails from companies…
Freakonomics: Official Site I know this wouldn’t count as “leisure reading” for many folks, but I’m reading (and very much enjoying) the book Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. I’m a nerd, I read books like…
