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.
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Healthcare – Creating Value for Patients Canadian healthcare policy limits true innovation by clinging to outdated thinking developed in times of much slower change and technological sophistication.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.…
Healthcare – Creating Value for Patients The last place I want to receive care is the hospital. There are innumerable advantages to being treated in home for the patient, family, and healthcare system. Treating acute care patients in the home…
Joining me for Episode 346 of the podcast is Mark Ryan, a Transformation Coach and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt at Franciscan Health. Mark will be one of the hosts and facilitators at our upcoming “Kaizen Live!” site visit event…
Healthcare – Creating Value for Patients An experienced doctor in Toronto caused harm, operated without consent, and intimidated staff for years. A disturbing but unsurprising tale of greed, betrayal, and medical misconduct at North York General Hospital. One way to better…
After the last episode with guest host Paul Critchley, I’m once again joined by Jamie Flinchbaugh for another “Lean Whiskey” podcast. In Episode 6 of Lean Whiskey, Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh explore two icons as leaders and the impact…
Recently, KaiNexus and I hosted another webinar in our free series and I hope you were able to join us. Taryn Davis, of the firm tbd strategies, gave an engaging and practical presentation titled, “Burn Your Ships! Generating Momentum for…
Healthcare – Creating Value for Patients In 2008, I worked at a hospital when, during an Executive meeting, an Executive suggested that patients are sometimes harmed during their care. There was much discourse on whether this was true, or if true,…