Leadership isn’t about titles, charisma, or quick decisions—it’s about creating systems where people can do their best work and continuously improve. This archive brings together blog posts, podcasts, and reflections on leadership through a Lean lens, drawing on ideas from Deming, Toyota, healthcare, and real-world management practice. The common theme: leaders shape culture, influence behavior, and own the systems that produce results—for better or worse.
Thanks as always to Ryan McCormack for this… Healthcare – Creating Value for Patients Customer Experience practices are being more widely adopted in healthcare. Patient satisfaction surveys are no longer enough to put the patient experience at the centre of care.…
Thanks as always to Ryan McCormack for this… Healthcare – Creating Value for Patients Lean is being blamed for exacerbating pandemic responses due to a lack of capacity in Canadian healthcare systems in this opinion piece by Larry Haiven in the Halifax Examiner. …
Joining me again for Episode #369 of the podcast is Dr. Rachel Mandel, a self-described “healthcare whisperer” and Washington D.C.-based consultant for healthcare organizations. She has her own practice and also works as a Senior Healthcare Advisor for Operational Performance…
Joining me for Episode #367 of the podcast is Dr. Rachel Mandel, a self-described “healthcare whisperer” and Washington D.C.-based consultant for healthcare organizations. She has her own practice and also works as a Senior Healthcare Advisor for Operational Performance Solutions,…
Thanks as always to Ryan McCormack for this… Healthcare – Creating Value for Patients Paul O’Neill was a pioneer in establishing an all-encompassing pursuit of safety and zero harm as the path to excellence and profitability at Alcoa, and then…
Today, I went for a brisk 50-minute walk on a sunny morning and my companion was the voice of the late Paul O’Neill as I listened to the audio from a video I’m sharing here. I listened to it and…
TL;DR: Paul O’Neill showed that safety isn’t a metric–it’s a leadership obligation, and the foundation for what he called habitual excellence. It was a sad weekend, hearing about the passing of Paul H O’Neill, Sr. on Saturday. He was 84.…
This is an article that I originally published on LinkedIn back in 2014. It was also picked up and re-published by Entrepeneur.com. Other than this silly video that I created, this article is probably the second most-read piece of content…
Joining me again for Episode #365 is Dan Markovitz, now a five-time guest (but he doesn’t get a special jacket like SNL). You can find past episodes here. The reason for getting together was to chat about his latest book,…
Joining me for Episode #364 is a returning guest, Mitch Cahn, the president of Unionwear, a Newark-based company. Back in Episode #234, we talked about how Lean manufacturing has helped them be competitive in the labor-intensive apparel industry, sewing goods…
Thanks as always to Ryan McCormack for this… Healthcare – Creating Value for Patients Healthcare and hospital staff around the world are working tirelessly to provide care during this crisis. I thank everyone that is selflessly sacrificing in service to…
For Episode #363, I’m joined by Crystal Davis as we discuss: What are you seeing in terms of how Covid19 is disrupting businesses? How do we move from crisis mode, to survival mode, to recovery mode? Why do we need…
