W. Edwards Deming’s ideas about leadership, systems, variation, and psychology continue to shape how organizations pursue quality and improvement. This archive brings together blog posts, podcasts, and reflections exploring Deming’s teachings—and how they apply to Lean, healthcare, management, and continuous improvement today. Many of these posts challenge common misinterpretations of Deming’s work, emphasizing that quality cannot be delegated and that improvement starts with leadership.
I love the show “Silicon Valley” and I just “binge watched” all ten episodes of Season 2 while traveling home from vacation. A few scenes from two episodes made me think about continuous improvement (yeah, even while on vacation). When…
Joining me for episode #222 of the podcast is Erin S. DuPree, M.D., FACOG, the Chief Medical Officer and Vice President for the Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare. Dr. DuPree is an OB/GYN by training, was previously the Chief Medical…
Last Wednesday and Thursday, I collaborated with Joe Swartz and a countless number of his colleagues to host 24 visitors from different health systems (and an Indiana state government organization) to learn about the “Kaizen” approach to continuous improvement first hand…
To the left is a young baby me. I don’t think I was thinking about Dr. Deming as a baby, but thankfully my parents had a lot of intrinsic motivation to take care of me! One of the many things…
Organizations put up slogans because they want to inspire better performance. The intent usually isn’t the problem. The problem is that slogans assume the issue is with workers’ effort or attitude rather than with the system they’re forced to work…
The One Thing Lean Six Sigma Gets Wrong About Lean? Mark’s Note: Today’s post is by Erwin van der Koogh, who is based in Australia. The thoughts and opinions here are his, though I agree with enough of them to…
View the post that inspired this “listicle.” Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the aim to become competitive and to stay in business, and to provide jobs Adopt the new philosophy. We are in a…
I recently wrote a blog post for KaiNexus titled “How Kaizen Software Helps Me Be A Better Coach.” I’ve done a lot of Kaizen coaching with organizations and one challenge is me keeping up with their progress as a remote…
Today’s Throwback Thursday is a look back at a 1993 book that I purchased in 2011 on somebody’s recommendation. It was probably one of those used books you can buy for a penny on Amazon… Creating the New American Hospital: A…
OK, so it’s not the kind of scientific research that involves lab coats and microscopes, but I’m doing some research that I’d like your help with. I’m looking to do some research and some interviews for writing projects related to…
This article caught my attention the other day, primarily because I like scotch, whisky (and whiskey and bourbon). The Japanese love scotch whisky and have long produced a product that’s a variation of scotch — Japanese whisky (the lack of…
In yesterday’s blog post (“Safety is always our top priority” – From lip service to daily practice?“), I challenged hospital leaders to back up the “happy talk” with real action and stories about putting safety first. It’s easier said than…
