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.
tl;dr: I recently returned from my first visit to Brazil, where I spoke at a Lean Six Sigma conference, led a workshop on Process Behavior Charts, and visited two organizations applying Lean principles. From churrascarias to Gemba walks, this trip…
Healthcare – Creating Value for Patients Transformation and quality improvement is rarely sustained without changing management behaviours and management systems. John Toussaint writes about the challenges of adopting lean management systems in the NHS in “Is quality a strategy or an operation?”.…
On October 15th, I hosted the latest in our KaiNexus Continuous Improvement Webinar series. I’m really happy that the presenter was Paul Wainright, as he has been a great advocate for KaiNexus. Click here to view the recording of the…
Last week was our fifth annual KaiNexus User Conference (or “KaiNexicon” as we now call it). One of our keynote speakers was Jess Orr, a former Toyota engineer who shared perspectives on what it was like to now lead continuous…
Healthcare – Creating Value for Patients Globally, at least 5 patients die every minute due to unsafe care. For Patient Safety Week, the World Health Organization is calling for urgent action to reduce patient harm in healthcare. On this theme, Manitoba discloses…
My guest for episode #349 is John Dyer, president of his consulting firm, John Dyer & Associates, Inc., and author of the new book, The Façade of Excellence: Defining a New Normal of Leadership, which will be released on October 1,…
This ad caught my attention while watching a little bit of Monday Night Football this week. It’s an IBM ad titled “Smart Loves Problems.” The ad’s voiceover says, in part: “Problems. It’s human nature to hate problems. But why is…
Cleveland Clinic’s daily tiered huddles are not just short meetings–they’re a Lean management system that connects front-line realities to executive decision-making in real time. By combining visual management, clear escalation rules, and psychological safety, these huddles help teams solve problems…
Healthcare – Creating Value for Patients Canadian healthcare policy limits true innovation by clinging to outdated thinking developed in times of much slower change and technological sophistication. If we want patients to benefit from technological innovation, Canada must relax or reinvent…
Our guest today for Episode 347 is Brad Parsons, the CEO of NEA Baptist, in Jonesboro, Arkansas. NEA Baptist is a 228-bed hospital and 140-provider medical group serving northeast Arkansas — part of Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation. Brad is…
TL;DR: A hospital president explains how Lean healthcare leadership, Respect for People, and Just Culture help engage frontline staff, reduce blame, and improve patient care. This article made me smile the other day — especially the comments about Lean, front-line…
General Jim Mattis has been making the rounds to talk about his new book that is out today: Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead. “Learning to Lead” sounds like it could be the title of a book about Lean management.…
