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.
Yesterday was an outstanding day at the Northeast Shingo Prize Conference in Worcester, Massachusetts – my first time attending and speaking at this event. It’s always great to see Bruce Hamilton (of “Toast Kaizen” fame) and the rest of the…
The list of stuff I’ve read and wanted to blog about has grown… that inventory becomes this post. Here are links to some varied articles I’ve read recently that might be of interest on a number of Lean related topics,…
As I worked on co-authoring Healthcare Kaizen, I dove deeper into my study of “kaizen” practices and mindsets, revisiting many core books on kaizen after years of practice in different industries. I used to define kaizen as the phrase it’s…
Organizations that are most successful with Kaizen and continuous improvement don’t have fancier boards or better software — they have leaders who are more likely engaged with the right behaviors, more consistently. In my experience, I’ve put the same mechanics…
Last weekend was the start of the college football season (Go ‘Cats!) and tonight is the “kickoff” of the NFL season, which (of course) starts with an opening kickoff. And, I mean “American football,” for my global readers. So, in…
I didn’t have a post yesterday because it was the Labor Day holiday here in the U.S. While I’m not a “worker,” in the sense of an hourly employee or union worker anymore, I still enjoyed the day off with…
This announcement caught my eye recently: “New site lets you tell your boss anything, anonymously.“ A startup’s website allows you to send anonymous ideas or feedback, “the modern age’s equivalent of the old suggestion box.” 2022 Update: This company seems…
If your organization blocks access to YouTube… shame on them. The videos I’m sharing here are two reasons you should insist they open access to the world of Lean healthcare education that exists there. Today, I’m sharing two videos produced…
Thanks to Karen Martin for hosting yesterday’s webinar that I gave based on my book (with Joe Swartz) Healthcare Kaizen. The title was somewhat cheeky — “The Suggestion Box is Dead.” But, long live kaizen as a style of continuous…
Free Webinar on Tuesday, August 21, 2 pm ET I will be giving a free webinar titled: Healthcare Kaizen: The Suggestion Box is Dead If you can’t attend live, it will be recorded and available afterward.
Last week, I blogged about the 1989 New England Journal of Medicine article by Dr. Donald M. Berwick, “Continuous Improvement as an Ideal in Health Care.” Dr. Berwick wrote that kaizen (as continuous improvement) is not alien to healthcare, as…
This isn’t a story about my frustration with a State of Texas office… it’s mainly a story about a failed “kaizen”-style improvement attempt that a good-natured state employee would have liked to have made – but yeah, it would have…