Mark’s Note: Today’s guest post is by Joe Swartz, my co-author for the book Healthcare Kaizen and the newly-released book The Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen. I’m hoping Joe will be a regular contributor in the future and I’ll be…
I was fortunate to be exposed to the writings of W. Edwards Deming before I even learned about Lean. While I sometimes get tired of reading new books on Lean and Toyota, I never tire of revisiting books by or…
Listen: Joining me for episode #180 of the Lean Blog Podcast is Dan Florizone, who served from 2008 until last month as Deputy Minister of Health in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Dan has just recently transitioned into his new…
Joining me once again for episode #176 is my mentor and good friend Norman Bodek, who has been a guest many times here. Today, we are talking about his latest book, The Harada Method: The Spirit of Self-Reliance.
My friend Chad Walters has contributed guest posts to my blog (and has been a podcast guest), and I’m happy to return the favor with a guest post on his site: “Guest Post: A Clown Post About Bryce Harper and…
My guest for episode #168 is Carolyn McCulley, from CityGate Films, and she is a co-director and producer of the upcoming documentary called “Breaking the Wall of Silence,” which sheds light on patient safety challenges in healthcare — but more…
Producer Clare Crawford-Mason shares behind-the-scenes stories of W. Edwards Deming and the 1980 NBC documentary If Japan Can Do It, Why Can’t We?–and reflects on Deming’s lasting impact on management, healthcare, and leadership. Listen: My guest for episode #167 is…
It’s time again for a regular feature I call “Stuff I’m Reading.” I have too many browser tabs open and my Mac is bogging down (root cause of this?), so it’s time to share some links that I may or…
Don’t threaten people with this quote… One of the more popular email-signature quotes I still see–especially among Lean practitioners–is this supposed gem from Dr. W. Edwards Deming: “It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.” It pops up…
Today’s guest post is by author Natalie Sayer, who was my guest for Podcast #145. While doing research for another project, I had the opportunity to watch the move Happy, a documentary looking at the science of happiness around…
TL;DR: An andon cord is not primarily a line-stopping device. At Toyota, it’s a signaling system that allows workers to call for help immediately. Most problems are resolved before production stops. Its deeper purpose is to protect quality and create…
Recently, I stumbled across something that’s been out for about a year, a lost video of Steve Jobs being interviewed in 1995. See this CBS News story about the video or you can rent the video via (what else) Apple…
