Each Saturday, I get an email newsletter from the UK-based site "Nursing Times." Last week, this article, caught my eye: "Workplace principles revealed for NHS staff in Wales." A free registration might be required to read it or other articles, but it's worth it.
Yesterday, I wrote Part 1 of this post on the Cleveland Clinic Improvement Model. Part 1 covered the left hand half of the model, with Organizational Alignment and Visual Management being the key themes. Once you have alignment, measures, and…
On Tuesday, I hosted, via KaiNexus, a webinar with Jon Miller on the important topic of “Practical Problem Solving,” a structured 8-step method for solving problems. I wrote a blog post about this for the KaiNexus blog, previewing the webinar…
I love the show “Silicon Valley” and I just “binge watched” all ten episodes of Season 2 while traveling home from vacation. A few scenes from two episodes made me think about continuous improvement (yeah, even while on vacation). When…
Thanks to my friends in the Michigan Quality System group, the internal Lean group at the University of Michigan Health System. They shared a video that was put together by Dr. Jack Billi, a long-time student of Lean and advocate…
When I teach about Kaizen and continuous improvement, I try to use scenarios and cases to help people think through how they would respond to, coach, and collaborate on employee ideas. One key point is that leaders have to thank…
You might be considered “wonky” for enjoying the topics discussed here at LeanBlog.org… but that’s fine. This is a safe environment for being wonky about Lean and improvement. From Vox.com, Sarah Kliff normally does a great job covering healthcare topics,…
I wanted to share a recent Kaizen improvement story that I heard from a hospital. Great things can happen when we: Imagine you’re a new mother and you’re recovering in a room after your postpartum care. You’ve been cared for…
I recently wrote a blog post for KaiNexus titled “How Kaizen Software Helps Me Be A Better Coach.” I’ve done a lot of Kaizen coaching with organizations and one challenge is me keeping up with their progress as a remote…
It’s a simple question: what’s up with so many men wearing ties in healthcare? Are you / they wearing them because you like to, want to, or have to? When I worked at a video game and computer software store…
TL;DR: Quality Circles are still thriving in Japanese hospitals and companies–rooted in the philosophy of developing people through structured problem solving. What some in the West now call “A3 Thinking” or “PDSA” is alive and well in Japan as a…
During a recent visit to Franciscan St. Francis Health, several nurses proudly introduced themselves as “Kaizen Queens”–and one, with a smile, as the “Kaizen Princess.” Across the hospital, the broader term “Kaizeneer” is used to describe anyone who takes part…
