The past few months have been an anxious and contemplative time. I’ve been worried about the coronavirus / Covid-19 and the possible impact on my health or my family’s health. But, I’m blessed, as we have our health and this…
We didn’t do a live stream like last time, but we did record another video for the Lean Whiskey podcast series, here for Episode #16. You can also listen as an audio podcast, as usual. Today, Mark Graban and Jamie…
Thanks as always to Ryan McCormack for this… Healthcare – Creating Value for Patients Lean is being blamed for exacerbating pandemic responses due to a lack of capacity in Canadian healthcare systems in this opinion piece by Larry Haiven in the Halifax Examiner. …
During this week-from-home pandemic era, one of my projects has been to set up a podcast for the firm Value Capture. A month ago, we decided to name the podcast “Habitual Excellence” as a way of recognizing and building upon…
Thanks as always to Ryan McCormack for this… Healthcare – Creating Value for Patients Paul O’Neill was a pioneer in establishing an all-encompassing pursuit of safety and zero harm as the path to excellence and profitability at Alcoa, and then…
Hat tip to Stan Feingold from StoreSMART (a Lean Blog sponsor) for sending me this article: Bob Lutz Talks Panel Gaps, Tesla, and Why Every Detail Matters — Getting it right starts at the top. Bob Lutz is a legend…
TL;DR: Dr. Gary Kaplan describes Virginia Mason’s adoption of Lean as a “war on waste,” but the real impact goes beyond waste reduction. By applying the Toyota Production System as a management system–not just a set of tools–Virginia Mason improved…
It’s my second straight podcast with a healthcare CEO. This time, joining me for Episode #337 is Vance Jackson, FACHE, FACMPE, the President & CEO of Davis Health System, based in Elkins, West Virginia. Vance and I talk about how…
My typing is a bit hampered after my finger surgery still. At least my surgery was safe and my outcomes seem to be good. Not everybody is so lucky. This week is the annual Patient Safety Awareness Week. In this…
TL;DR: Pursuing zero harm isn’t about unrealistic goals or punishing people for failure. It’s a leadership choice that creates psychological safety, accelerates learning, and strengthens Lean systems. When organizations treat safety–physical, emotional, and professional–as a non-negotiable value, improvement capability follows…
TL;DR: Captain “Sully” Sullenberger’s leadership lessons from Flight 1549 highlight that safety depends on humility, trust, teamwork, and learning from mistakes–not heroics or checklists alone. High-risk industries like aviation improve safety by focusing on systems, psychological safety, and fact-based decisions.…
I often get asked a question along the lines of "So, what exactly do you do?" Today, I give some updates about my various projects and partnerships, including continuing with KaiNexus (with a different title) and a new partnership with Value Capture.
