Imitation as a Path to Innovation… If You Know What to Copy… Mark Graban Jun 15, 2017 0 Audio At the recent Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit, there were thought provoking presentations... and we had many…
Do Words Matter on a Kaizen Card? Mark Graban Jun 1, 2017 8 Audio If we're going to practice Kaizen (continuous improvement), do the words matter? Should we call it a Kaizen Card or…
A Prototype For My “Two-Bin Hand Sanitizer” Concept Mark Graban May 17, 2017 17 Audio Does your healthcare organization struggle with keeping hand sanitizer dispensers full? Let me know what you think…
A Lesson From Toyota: Thanking Employees for Pointing Out Problems Mark Graban May 16, 2017 4 Audio Thanks to Lean Frontiers for sharing a story from Mike Hoseus on LinkedIn. Mike is, of course, co-author of the…
The Good and the Bad of the United CEO’s Follow Up to Flight 3411 Mark Graban May 5, 2017 0 Audio It's good that United's CEO has taken responsibility for system problems. It's great that they are changing some…
My LinkedIn Article: Supply Chain Matters – at the Oscars® and in… Mark Graban May 4, 2017 0 Blog The mistakes at The Oscars were trivial and unimportant in the grand scheme of things. What are some lessons…
“Practicing Lean” as an Audio Book – The First Half is Now… Mark Graban May 2, 2017 1 Blog I'm excited to announce that Practicing Lean is now available as an audio book... or least the first half is, but…
Don’t Have Time for Meditation or Improvement? You Should Do What Then? Mark Graban Apr 28, 2017 2 Blog If you don't have 20 minutes for meditation, you should.... do what? Does this classic Zen quote apply to Kaizen…
Reader Question: How Many People & How Much Time for Improvement? Mark Graban Apr 26, 2017 10 Blog A Lean-thinking physician from Canada asks how many people an organization or department should have in a dedicated…
Is Calling People “Concrete Heads” the Most Effective Lean Change… Mark Graban Apr 18, 2017 3 Blog When did the term "concrete head" start getting thrown around in Lean circles? Do people still use this label…
What are the “Quick Wins?” Ask the People Doing the Work Mark Graban Apr 17, 2017 11 Blog Last week, I received a few questions from somebody at a hospital system and I thought I'd address one of them…
My Article on Changing How We Think About Change Mark Graban Apr 13, 2017 3 Blog As part of my partnership with Cardinal Health, they have published an article that I wrote on their "Essential…
The Patient Pays Less, Yet the Surgeon’s Paid More Mark Graban Apr 10, 2017 1 Blog Can physician-led surgical centers provide lower out-of-pocket prices for patients, along with lower infection…
Why You Shouldn’t Call Yourself “Sensei” Or Make Others Call You… Mark Graban Apr 6, 2017 34 Blog Six Sigma and Lean Sigma has "belts." Some people in Lean call themselves a "sensei." Is that really appropriate?…
What Reduced this E.D.’s Waiting Times? Sexy Technology or Process Change? Mark Graban Mar 30, 2017 2 Blog This article in The Wall Street Journal caught my eye the other day: "Can Tech Speed Up Emergency Room Care?" But,…
Sad Bloomberg BusinessWeek Article on Auto Supplier Safety, Thoughts for… Mark Graban Mar 27, 2017 0 Blog A few of you sent me this article... and you were correct to think I would be interested: "Inside Alabama's Auto…
10 Years of “L.A.M.E.” Mark Graban Mar 21, 2017 1 Blog It's been 10 years since I first wrote about my awkward acronym L.A.M.E. Is it helpful to distinguish between true…
Learning & Emulating Without Copying Blindly from Duke Hoops, Toyota, or… Mark Graban Mar 6, 2017 4 Audio While I'm writing here about Northwestern men's basketball learning from Duke (without copying everything), the…