My guest for Episode #262 is Steven J. Spear (@stevenjspear on Twitter). He is author of the fantastic book The High-Velocity Edge: How Market Leaders Leverage Operational Excellence to Beat the Competition. He’s a Senior Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School…
Joining me for Episode #261 is an old friend and trusted mentor, Jamie Flinchbaugh. Among other things, he’s the co-author of the book The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Lean. He writes for a number of publications, has his own blog, and was previously…
Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more This episode is sponsored by StoreSMART. My guest for episode #255 is Mark DeLuzio, author of the recently released book Turn Waste into Wealth: How to Find Cash in Every Corner of…
TL;DR: Franciscan Health built a lasting culture of continuous improvement by patiently practicing Kaizen every day–not as a program, but as a way of thinking. Over time, consistent leadership behaviors, frontline engagement, and psychological safety led to more than 27,000…
Yesterday, I wrote Part 1 of this post on the Cleveland Clinic Improvement Model. Part 1 covered the left hand half of the model, with Organizational Alignment and Visual Management being the key themes. Once you have alignment, measures, and…
A hat tip goes to Brian Buck for sharing this quote via email recently. Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain, was a pithy and wise man. I didn't remember this quote, but it is attributed to him. It's very appropriate for the type of work we do...
David Mann explains why creating a Lean culture depends on leader behavior and management systems–not tools or compliance–and how leader standard work helps sustain improvement. He shares practical guidance for executives on using Gemba walks to learn, teach, and reinforce…
Today is the first day of the 5th annual Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit. Follow along on Twitter with hashtag #HCSummit14 to see my tweets and thoughts from others. I will be adding updates to this post during the day, as well. These are not…
Episode #190 features Karen Martin, co-author of Value Stream Mapping, on using VSM as a strategic leadership tool–avoiding “map wallpaper,” aligning incentives, and turning future state into execution. My guest for episode #190 is a returning guest (from episode #151),…
Hosted by Steve Hoeft, author of the book Stories from My Sensei: Two Decades of Lessons Learned Implementing Toyota-Style Systems, I had a chance to visit Scott & White Hospital in Temple, Texas. With his permission (but without editorial review),…
I saw some posters and presentations at the recent Society for Health Systems conference that include some nice examples of this approach from organizations including the Indianapolis VA, East Tennessee Children's Hospital, and Norwalk Hospital...
TL;DR: Many “Lean Six Sigma” programs misrepresent Lean as a set of tools layered onto Six Sigma. Lean is not a toolbox–it’s a management system and culture rooted in flow, quality, and respect for people. When Lean is reduced to…