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.
“Progress isn’t made by early risers. It’s made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.” – Robert Heinlein, American science fiction writer (July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) With “kaizen,” the Japanese word meaning “change…
Thanks to Quality Digest for publishing an article I co-authored with Gregory Jacobson, MD, a co-founder and the CEO of KaiNexus, a software startup I am working with as we go to market with web-based technology that helps initiate, manage,…
One of the variations of my acronym L.A.M.E. is “Lean As Misguidedly Explained,” and I recently ran across two fresh instances of this (and, for once, neither is from the Wall Street Journal!). One example is a news writer who…
One reason I love applying Lean thinking in new arenas as my career progresses is that each shift in industry leads to new challenges and new experiences, which forces you to challenge your thinking… and each change in Lean direction…
As regular readers know, I’m working on a second book: Healthcare Kaizen: Engaging Front-Line Staff in Sustainable Improvements. My co-author, Joe Swartz, and I have many examples of “daily kaizen” that will be shared in the book. The idea isn’t…
Did anybody see the new movie, the comedy “Horrible Bosses” this weekend? If so, leave a comment and let us know what you thought – should I see it next weekend or wait for home video? The trailer looks pretty…
Listen: This episode is a conversation with Paul Akers, founder and president of FastCap LLC, based in Bellingham, WA. FastCap is an international product development company founded in 1997 with over 2000 distributors worldwide. Paul and FastCap have also embraced…
As we celebrate Independence Day in the United States (I prefer not to refer to it as the less meaningful “4th of July”), it’s a time to reflect on the ideals of American freedom. The Declaration of Independence famously said:…
I feel like a lazy blogger posting cartoons and links to videos, but this latest “Lean Laughs” cartoon from Pascal Dennis and the team at Lean Pathways had to be shared (with their permission). It’s a perfect illustration of how…
As I’ve been working on my upcoming second book, Healthcare Kaizen: Engaging Front-Line Staff in Sustainable Improvements, I’ve had “kaizen” (or continuous improvement) on the brain even more than usual. One distinction between kaizen ideas and a traditional “suggestion system” is…
Here is a great video by Masaaki Imai, author of the classic books Kaizen: The Key To Japan’s Competitive Success and Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense, Low-Cost Approach to Management. In the video, he emphasizes that kaizen means continuous improvement and…
In today’s post, I’m happy to introduce Dr. Les Muda, the World’s First Lean Healthcare Comedian. First and perhaps the last. Dr. Muda sent me an audition tape after his experience at last week’s successful Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit. As…
