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’s post is an email written by Patrick M. Anderson, Executive Director of Chugachmiut, Inc., the Tribal consortium created to promote self-determination to the seven Native communities of the Chugach Region in Alaska. You might recall my two podcasts with…
This continues a series titled Leading Lean A-Z. This post is K: Be Kinetic. Did you ever have one of those days where you just wanted to put your feet up on your desk and breath in and out for…
My blogging will be relatively light this week, given some holiday time off, family visiting, and a short trip for New Year’s. There’s nothing lazier, I guess, than linking to a reader comment, but I had a new comment from…
Paul Levy on Transparency, Social Media, and Quality Following up and continuing this morning’s post about MemorialCare. You can also read my notes and comments from Day 1 here. You probably know Paul as CEO, blogger, and twitter user. I’ve…
I had a great opportunity a few weeks back, seeing former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich give a talk at the Ontario Hospital Association annual event in Toronto. I had a chance to meet him briefly and had a…
I don’t mean to kick Fritz Henderson while he’s down, after he resigned as CEO of Government Motors this week. He resigned on Tuesday and I didn’t even learn about it until Thursday, as I was under a proverbial rock,…
Some great thoughts for Thanksgiving Day from Quint Studer, ideas that could apply to any organization, not just in healthcare. Quint’s Blog: The Grateful Workplace: Six Ways to Create a Culture of Gratitude in Your Organization His post begins: Here’s…
TL;DR: Disruptive and disrespectful behavior in hospitals creates fear that undermines patient safety, quality, and continuous improvement. Lean healthcare depends on psychological safety and respectful leadership–without it, even the best tools and technologies fail. amednews: Disruptive behavior by doctors, nurses…
I saw this quote on Twitter from the pastor Rick Warren (happens to fit in the 140 characters): “Love isn’t letting people do whatever they want. That’s often cowardice or apathy. Love cares enough to tell the truth.” I’m not…
BioTechnology Supply Chain Conference – interview with speaker Adam Zak | LeanConnections I’m reposting parts of this with permission of Adam Zak, a regular contributor to the blog over the years. You can read the full Q&A on his blog,…
Wachter’s World : Physician Accountability for Violation of Safety Rules: The Time For Excuses Has Passed I think Bob Wachter has it completely right in his blog post. He also makes the same point in his book Understanding Patient Safety. While…
I recently have had the opportunity to review a wide range of sites and companies and provide feedback on their lean journey. One of the things that really surprised me was how many of them were still trying to follow…
