Kaizen is often misunderstood as small ideas or isolated improvement events. In practice, Kaizen is a daily, people-centered approach to learning and improving work—supported by leadership, good systems, and psychological safety. This archive brings together blog posts, podcasts, and real-world examples of Kaizen in action, across healthcare and other industries, with a consistent focus on leadership behaviors, respect for people, and learning from problems rather than hiding them.
This edition of Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape focuses on what real, sustainable improvement actually requires: leadership commitment, respect for people, and disciplined learning over time. From reframing “continuous improvement” as everyday improvement, to lessons from Larry Culp’s lived Lean…
TL;DR: AI can support Kaizen when it’s treated as a thought partner, not an answer engine. The right way to explore AI in continuous improvement is through small, low-risk PDSA cycles that emphasize learning, judgment, and real-world validation–not big bets…
Why do so many Lean efforts stall after early wins? In this episode, Darren Walsh explains why firefighting feels productive but prevents real progress–and how leaders can build daily routines and standards that sustain improvement over time. Scroll down for…
TL;DR Larry Culp, CEO of GE Aerospace, shows that Lean leadership isn’t about tools or slogans–it’s about daily behaviors. By grounding Lean in safety, respect for people, and continuous improvement, Culp practices kaizen at every level, including his own role…
Back in 2009, my friend and KaiNexus co-founder Dr. Greg Jacobson and his colleagues at Vanderbilt University Medical Center published an article that still feels as fresh and relevant as ever: “Kaizen: A Method of Process Improvement in the Emergency…
This edition of Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape highlights how Lean thinking continues to deliver real results when it’s treated as a management system, not a toolkit. From GE Aerospace’s measurable gains under Larry Culp, to Toyota’s application of flow…
In Lean circles, we talk a lot about leadership commitment. But it’s not every day that a CEO puts their hair on the line to show it. As we wrote about in Healthcare Kaizen, at IU Health Goshen Hospital, the…
This edition of Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape emphasizes that real improvement depends more on mindset, leadership, and system design than on tools alone. From lessons on problem-solving behaviors and the persistent challenge of patient harm in healthcare to examples…
When Better Care Leads to Lower Costs: A Pharmacist-Driven Kaizen Story In healthcare, improvement initiatives often get derailed when they start with one primary question: “How can we cut costs?” That doesn’t engage people. But what if we turned that…
TL;DR: This look back at Allina Health shows how continuous improvement at the bedside actually works: frontline staff identifying real problems, leaders acting as coaches, and Kaizen routines supported by psychological safety. The result wasn’t abstract “culture change,” but measurable…
Every few years–or let’s be honest, quite often on social media–we see a statistic making the rounds: “70% of Lean initiatives fail.” It’s usually presented as an indictment of the methodology. And quite often, the person sharing it seems to…
Fear and futility are two of the biggest barriers to continuous improvement. When people are afraid to speak up–or believe nothing will change–problems stay hidden. Lean leaders can remove fear and futility by creating psychological safety, responding with curiosity, and…
