You might think that "command and control" leadership styles are a thing of the past. But, old habits die slowly and many leaders today still seem to have a mental model that longs for a workforce that would "just do what they're told."
What did former President and General Dwight D. Eisenhower say about leaders who are "hitting people over the head?" I blog about that here...
I’m an avid book buyer, book reader, and published book author. Amazon is one of my favorite places to shop, not just for books. I first bought a book from Amazon back in 1997, right before I went to MIT. There…
My books are generally well reviewed, thankfully. But, I realize they aren’t inexpensive. The prices are set by my publisher and the prices were increased a few bucks for Lean Hospitals and Healthcare Kaizen. The Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen was left untouched, thankfully.…
After the paperback release about two weeks ago, my latest book (co-authored with Joe Swartz), The Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen is now available in Amazon’s Kindle format. It’s currently only $16 to purchase. It’s funny how the overall extended…
I’ve recently been reading an enjoyable book by Peter Sims, Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries. The practice of Kaizen, of course, brings lots of small improvements. But, it’s often surprising how breakthrough ideas with a really…
I’m happy to announce that our new book Healthcare Kaizen: Engaging Front-Line Staff in Sustainable Continuous Improvements is now available for immediate download in the Amazon Kindle format at a price of ($47.96, about $10 less than the paperback). With…
It’s an exciting week, as copies of our new book Healthcare Kaizen are shipping from the publisher (@BrianBuck told me he received shipping notification that his pre-ordered copy should arrive today). Amazon.com now shows books as “In Stock” (“17 left…
Last week, I found and read an article, “Whatever happened to the company suggestion box?,” that makes some really great points about the problems with the ole’ box as a way to facilitate continuous improvement. This is a favorite topic…
Readers outside the U.S. might not know the UPS advertising slogan of “What Can Brown Do For You?” This often refers to the iconic brown trucks that deliver packages (and the brown uniforms of the employees). One of the challenges…
This time of year, every publication under the sun (print and web) has a “Holiday Gift Guide” to share. In that spirit, I am happy to present the first Lean Blog Holiday Gift Guide. This guide is a mix of…
I love my Amazon Kindle (I have had a 2nd generation 3G Kindle for about two years). Amazon has recently made the device more “social,” where you can share highlights and notes that you take about a book via Twitter,…
I’m finally blogging about a Wall Street Journal article from just before Christmas – it’s still a generally interesting topic, I think. The article was “Holiday Help: People vs. Robots” It compares the labor and productivity strategies of two retailers…
