I started with a strong opinion when I took this photo. The long green Starbucks coffee stopper felt like obvious waste. Five inches of plastic to plug a small hole? As a customer, my reaction was pretty clear: this should…
When I placed a mobile order at Starbucks recently, I was told up front that it would take 17 to 20 minutes to receive my drinks. That’s a long time to wait–for coffee (or two espresso-based drinks, I should say).…
TL;DR: Starbucks mobile ordering fails when store processes don’t match customer expectations. Inconsistent standards–especially for Nitro Cold Brew–create confusion, delays, and frustration. Lean thinking shows the real fix isn’t harder work, but clearer standards, customer-defined quality, and better system design.…
TL;DR: Starbucks mobile orders feel inconsistent because the underlying process is inconsistent — pickup layouts vary store to store, some locations follow outdated drink-timing policies (most visibly with Nitro Cold Brew), and the system has no way to know when…
I try not to use the word “Lean” as an adjective that means “better.” We see this a lot online, the so-called “Lean boarding pass” or other such things. If “Lean” becomes a synonym for “good” then it doesn’t really…
tl;dr: Toyota’s Takaoka #2 line shows how flexibility and Kaizen go hand-in-hand. With rapid, low-cost changeovers, worker-driven improvements, and a focus on customer needs, the line adapts to demand without sacrificing quality–a reminder that agility is built into the culture,…
tl;dr: Small healthcare technology failures–like broken e-check-in, inaccurate text reminders, and wrong clinic addresses–create unnecessary confusion for patients. These issues aren’t about advanced tech; they’re about basic customer focus, clear communication, and fixing broken processes instead of layering on more…
tl;dr: Value isn’t universal. Different customers–and the same customer at different times–define value differently. Lean works best when organizations offer flexible options instead of forcing everyone into the same bundle of value. It’s said in the Lean methodology that “value…
I posted an article on LinkedIn last week as a companion article and summary of my podcast with Dean Gruner, MD, the recently retired CEO of ThedaCare.
That article:
"A Retired Hospital CEO Shares the Employee Feedback That was 'A Bucket of Cold Water to the Face.'"
There have been over 125 comments so far... but one has me scratching my head.
It read:
"I looked at deploying Lean within our PNO, and ultimately decided against it, in part for two reasons:
because Lean is about doing the same thing, albeit better and
it is not as much customer/outwardly focused as we need in healthcare."
Lean is not customer/outwardly focused? I hope this isn't a widespread perception or belief out there. I hope I'm overreacting to something that's not really a problem... but I wrote the post anyway.
Last week, I was in Austin for the annual Lean Coaching Summit, where I took a full-day class on “Motivational Interviewing” (as I had previewed here) and talking with a lot of great folks (familiar faces and new connections). A…
Why the sign on the Apple Store door reminded me of their poor problem solving and inelegant solutions to my broken MacBook Pro. This might be my last blog post for the week unless that gets sorted out (or if I get better at doing work like this on my iPad). It might be my last Mac. How the mighty have fallen?
I posted this on LinkedIn earlier today and am re-posting as a blog post to get your thoughts... and then, as I writing this, the news about the man being forcibly removed from a United Airlines flight went viral.