A Few Random Links – Oct 22 2010
It’s time for a Lean Blog feature where I throw a few links at you – articles I’ve saved and read that maybe don’t merit a full post, but are worth sharing and making a brief comment on. I often…
Healthcare improvement isn’t about working harder—it’s about better systems, better leadership, and a culture that supports learning and speaking up. This archive brings together blog posts, podcasts, and reflections on Lean healthcare, patient safety, quality improvement, leadership, and continuous improvement. Many of these posts draw on real hospital experiences and lessons from Deming, Toyota, and frontline healthcare teams, with a consistent emphasis on respect for people and learning from mistakes.
It’s time for a Lean Blog feature where I throw a few links at you – articles I’ve saved and read that maybe don’t merit a full post, but are worth sharing and making a brief comment on. I often…
I was traveling yesterday, so I read a number of blog posts that I kept open in my browser for my flight. I wrote an unusually high number of blog comments on other sites yesterday, so it ended up feeling…

Hospital acquired infections continue to be a big problem, one that’s often unsolved except for instances like Dr. Rick Shannon’s work at West Penn-Allegheny and UPenn and the “checklists” approach used at a number of hospitals around the world. One…
I really like Seth Godin’s writing – his blog on marketing is one that I have followed regularly for years and his book Purple Cow is a fun read about creating a service or product that delights and wows your…

I’m really excited about these two books coming out later this year — both from innovative leading lean healthcare organizations in Seattle. What’s in the water in Seattle? Actually, it’s more a matter of the Boeing influence, with the spread…
Mark’s note: Today’s guest post is from Tony Manos (bio at the end of the post): I was talking with a hospital CEO last week and we had a very wonderful conversation about all the great changes going on at…

The last two days, I’ve been facilitating my LEI workshop called “Key Concepts of Lean in Healthcare.” We had a great group and had a number of people who had a good amount of Lean healthcare experience. To help baseline…

Here’s a great essay from Tom Peters, a chapter from his book The Little Big Things: 163 Ways to Pursue EXCELLENCE. The email that was forwarded to me with this content said, “Sharing is permitted,” so if you like this…
I had a good long chat with a former client (from my J&J days) the other day. I call him “The Synthesizer,” and no he’s not an electronic keyboard. We’re working together on a business journal article about their Lean…
I don’t often do a “cranky blog post,” but I’ve got a head cold (as I write this on 9/30) and I’ve gotten sucked into watching some free online “lean healthcare white belt” training that just makes me want to…
One of the books that’s had the biggest impact on my work is Donald Wheeler’s Understanding Variation: The Key to Managing Chaos. It’s the best guide for applying simple and powerful “statistical process control” (or SPC) practices to management data…

When I read John Seddon’s book Freedom from Command & Control: Rethinking Management for Lean Service, I was a fan. I thought, “Here is someone from the Dr. Deming lineage who has a good message about what’s wrong with traditional…