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.
On his blog, John Toussaint shared this letter from ThedaCare CEO Dean Gruner to all employees. Toussaint said the letter is inspired by Paul O’Neill and his thoughts on patient safety (you can hear my podcast with O’Neill here, as…
As someone who started his career in the auto industry, I’m excited to be interviewing a modern auto-industry legend on Friday for an upcoming podcast — Bob Lutz, the retired former Vice Chairman of General Motors. We’ll be talking about…
As I’ve worked with different hospitals and different leaders, I’ve sometimes wondered if there’s been a study on the differences in results between hospitals that have a physician CEO vs. those that have a non-physician CEO. Which hospitals have better…
What happens when a Fortune 500 CEO brings a long-term mindset and a bold commitment to safety into healthcare? In this conversation with Paul O’Neill, former U.S. Treasury Secretary and CEO of Alcoa, we explore how leadership, transparency, and aiming…
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…
This is always a tongue-in-cheek warning, but there are times when I warn hospital leaders that they have to be careful when going to the “gemba” (gemba being a Japanese word used in Lean to describe the place where the…
Listen: Today’s episode is a discussion with Mrinalini Gadkari, a Senior Lecturer at the Fisher College of Business. Today, we’re talking about the new Master of Business Operational Excellence (MBOE) for Healthcare Program starting this fall. We’ll talk about how…
I’m a proud graduate of Northwestern University, industrial engineering class of 1995. Our ’95 commencement speaker was the newly installed president of the university… he delivered a pretty dry address and the students were pretty disappointed. That 1995 address was…
Last week, at the 2nd annual Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit, I moderated the CEO Panel discussion that featured four excellent Lean leaders: Jim FitzPatrick of Mercy Medical Center (North Iowa), Scott Armstrong (Group Health), Alan Gleghorn (Christie Clinic), and Dr.…
I heard a story on NPR last week profiling New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan, “In Football And Life, Ryan Plays Like He Means It.” I was reminded of some Lean leadership concepts right away during the interview.
In conjunction with our newly released DVD on strategy deployment in healthcare, the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value has released a new white paper on the subject that you can download for free. PAPER LINK (PDF) The white paper features…
As somebody who flies about 75,000 miles a year, I am far too acquainted with the Transportation Security Administration and their annoyances (to the passenger) and their documented shortcomings (in their effectiveness). That said, everybody deserves a workplace where they…
