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.
Today is the first day of the 5th annual Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit. Follow along on Twitter with hashtag #HCSummit14 to see my tweets and thoughts from others. I will be adding updates to this post during the day, as well. These are not…
=Following up on posts from Monday and Wednesday, we see this headline today: “Shinseki resigns after VA scandal.” As I wrote about on LinkedIn, instead of blaming “bad managers” or a “lack of integrity” at local VA sites, like Phoenix,…
TL;DR: Long VA wait times weren’t the result of “bad apples.” They were the predictable outcome of bad management systems that used unrealistic targets, bonuses, and fear-based accountability–creating incentives to game the numbers instead of improving care. Look at the…
I’m not sure why “error” was put in quotes since this seems like an actual error, not a quote-unquote error: Staff ‘error’ blamed for chlorine leak at Louth’s Kenwick Park Hotel which led to five being taken to hospital When…
Since moving to San Antonio two years ago, I’ve become a big fan of the San Antonio Spurs. For one, it’s essentially a civic responsibility to cheer for them, with the Spurs being the only major pro team in town.…
This article caught my eye over at Becker’s Hospital Review: “The Hospital CEO Dilemma: Abandon Ship or Change Leadership Style,” written by Shirley Engelmeier, Founder and CEO of InclusionINC. She has a great list of leadership characteristics for modern hospital CEOs…
Why healthcare organizations need fewer heroes–and better systems–according to former ThedaCare leader Kim Barnas. In memoriam: Kim Barnas (1956-2026)I always valued my interactions with Kim and deeply admired what she accomplished–and how she treated people along the way. She stood…
Sorry to get all Katie Couric on you, but I’m going to have a colonoscopy on Friday. I turned 40 last October and I have some family history that leads my doctor to get one done now rather than at…
tl;dr: This post features a rare 1990 video of Steve Jobs describing continuous improvement in ways that closely echo Lean and Kaizen principles. He challenges “we’ve always done it this way,” stresses that people are smart and should own improvement,…
As a former GM employee and a GM customer, I’m really fascinated by the reaction of the public, the media, and Congress to the recalls and scandal over ignition switch problems in some GM small cars from recent years. The…
Since today is the first full day of the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament, many of you might be checking scores or watching games instead of thinking Lean. So, here are a few past blog posts that connect basketball to situations…
It’s easy for an organization to say they are “doing Lean” or they have “started a Lean transformation.” They might hire a consultant or put out a press release. Maybe there’s an optimistic (but premature) news article about how the…
