OK, So It’s Not the "Lean Travel" Blog

I know not everybody travels, so y’all might not be concerned about attempts to see lean (or NON lean) practices in the travel world. But, I travel almost weekly, so this is one “gemba” I see quite a bit. One…

I know not everybody travels, so y’all might not be concerned about attempts to see lean (or NON lean) practices in the travel world. But, I travel almost weekly, so this is one “gemba” I see quite a bit. One…
I knew it when I first wrote about the latest “runway incursion” (near miss) at O’Hare. It seems too easy to pin the blame on one individual, as the FAA and the media did, blaming an Air Traffic Controller. It’s…
Jetliner taking off at O’Hare barely clears 747 on runway | Chicago Tribune As a frequent flyer (I landed at O’Hare on Monday), and an aspiring “lean thinker,” I pay close attention to this sort of thing. Look at the…
Report: Drug errors injure more than 1.5M There are many lean lessons and methods that can be applied to fixing pharmacies and drug dispensing. One method is the use of electronic prescriptions. Errors are still possible with electronic systems (clicking…
One of the core ideas of the Toyota Production System is the recognition that people are indeed human and are therefore fallible (part of the “respect for humanity” tenet of TPS). No amount of “be careful” warnings will prevent all…
Guardian Unlimited Politics | Special Reports | Overseas transcription errors ‘putting patients’ lives at risk’ It’s not news that many hospitals are strapped for cash. It’s frustrating to see hospitals take the traditional “mass production” mentality of focusing on cost…
Drug in Fatal Medical Error A Known Hazard in Hospitals | theledger.com Here is another sad example of the need for lean methods for quality improvement in healthcare. The story here is about a pregnant woman who died after being…
Welcome to the main summary page for Everyday Lean entries on the Lean Blog. If you want to share Everyday Lean ideas, here is the main page to send them to. Click here for the direct link. Or, you can…
what is the peach drug that says 7253 – Google Search Back in April, I wrote about a generic allergy pill I got from Walgreens. This blog has been getting hits every week from people who have that same question.…
There is not much time left in our contest for the best examples of everyday lean. The contest will continue running until the end of May. We are looking for the best examples of lean in our everyday lives –…
I saw an example of error proofing when I was registering on Art Smalley’s Lean Website. Like many websites, it makes you enter your email address twice. If you type it incorrectly one time, the system will flag you and…
For the rest of May, we are accepting submissions of Everyday Lean, examples from our daily lives of how lean can make stuff easier, simpler and more effective. Here is the original post and contest details. Here are two of…