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.
I wrote about Kaizen the other day on LinkedIn and the first comment was from Dr. Leke Agbejule, BPharm, MSc, PharmD, from South Florida: Very well said. As a Lean Six Sigma practitioner I live & consult by the “Kaizen” philosophy. I like…
As I wrote about in Healthcare Kaizen, one of my favorite Lean transformation stories is the realization of an experienced medical technologist, John, that Lean leadership was about being “a coach, not a cop.” He had repeatedly said “no” to…
If you know me, you know I’m a huge fan of The Simpsons. The show has been on TV for 25 of my 40 years. The cable channel FXX is having an “Every Simpsons Ever” marathon, showing all 552 episodes…
Here is a 10-minute talk I gave at the 2014 Lean Transformation Summit, where I challenged the audience to think about barriers to continuous improvement differently. I’m introduced by Jim Womack and we do Q&A at the end. Every organization…
In our Healthcare Kaizen books, Joe Swartz and I have tried to make the case that the Kaizen style of continuous improvement isn’t just a nice way to treat employees… it’s smart business and it’s good for patients. It’s a practical…
Hospital CEOs are busy people, to say the least, but a big part of their leadership role includes communication with employees, physicians, and the community. That’s one reason I am always excited to see CEOs reach out directly to people…
Many healthcare organizations are non-profits. They provide some “community benefit” in terms of charity care (as do for-profit healthcare organizations). Then, there are healthcare organizations that are very charity focused, where providing free care and social services is their primary…
My blog will turn 10 years old in February 2015. You’re probably either thinking, “Wow, that’s awesome!” or “Get a life, dude.” :-) Here’s a look back at some of the posts from August 6 in past years… what was…
New KaiNexus Webinar – 8/21 Dr. Greg Jacobson and I are doing another new webinar in a few weeks: “Getting Started with Continuous Improvement: Lessons and Reflections“ Click to view the recording! Greg and I will share some of our…
TL;DR: Toyota isn’t abandoning the Andon system–it’s evolving it. Switching from cords to buttons improves safety and usability, while keeping the core Lean principle intact: speak up, respond fast, and fix problems where they occur. Over the past decade, Toyota…
I made this short three-minute video for KaiNexus where I try to succinctly answer the question, “What is Kaizen?” Click the thumbnail below to view the video and/or to read the transcript: Please leave a comment on the KaiNexus website,…
I was happy to see this article in FORTUNE’s recent issue: “Brad Smith, Intuit CEO: How To Be A Great Leader: Get Out Of The Way.” Smith (@IntuitBrad) talks about the Lean Startup concept often called “getting out of the…
