Tag: Quality

Quality: Leadership, Systems Thinking, and Continuous Improvement

Quality doesn’t come from inspection, pressure, or choosing between speed and accuracy. It comes from well-designed systems, capable processes, and leaders who focus on learning instead of blame. This archive brings together blog posts, podcasts, and reflections on quality through a Lean and Deming lens—covering psychological safety, metrics, variation, leadership behavior, healthcare quality, and why sustainable improvement depends on fixing systems rather than managing people harder.

My Skepticism about GM’s “Speak Up for Safety” Program

18
I posted a new article on LinkedIn: "My New Program: Speak Up About "Speak Up for Safety" at GM." GM seems to continue their "blame...

The Day I Thought I’d Get Fired from “The Old GM”...

11
Following up on yesterday's post that talked about "the old GM" putting cost ahead of quality, I sometimes I get flashbacks to my days working...

Are Today’s Hospitals Too Much Like “The Old GM?”

17
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...

Good Questions, But With Some Misunderstandings about Lean Healthcare

1
In 2009, I wrote about a nurses' union in New Brunswick that supported Lean because they realized this methodology could help reduce waiting times and...

More on Lean in Saskatchewan

12
Since the healthcare improvement work I do is apolitical and non-partisan, I'm generally not one to butt into the political affairs of Canada or...

Maintaining a Hospital’s Level of Service After Layoffs

0
Thanks to a Google News Alert email, I get news stories (on a daily basis) about hospital layoffs around the country. Many of the articles...

Guest Post: Book Chapter on VIBCO and “Captain Karl”

0
Mark's note: Today's guest post is an excerpt from the book Remarkable by Toby LaVigne. Toby's bio can be found at the bottom of this...

Detect Instead Of Inspect

5
Mark's Note: Today's post is by Brian Buck, a long-time friend of this blog and a frequent contributor of some very funny Lean Memes!...

ThedaCare Featured by TIME as a “Real Face of Healthcare Reform”

0
It was great to see this TIME story (which I think is only available online), by Rick Wartzman of the Drucker Institute: "The Real...

Too Many Patients Harmed, Too Few Leaders Committed to Real Change?

13
I recently received two emails that are worth sharing, in anonymous form here. One was from somebody I know who just quit a Lean...

Don’t Let Looking at Data Keep You From Seeing Reality

18
I recently read an article (a case study) about "Lean Six Sigma" in a publication. It's not online, so I can't link to it,...

How Often Does This Get Repeated? CMS and the Underpants Gnomes

9
I've recently heard of a scenario in healthcare that I suspect is pretty common, or at least it's not the first time I've heard...
An AI that won't just give you the answer. That's what makes it useful.Free Demo -- Learn More
+ +
Free 48-hour demo - no credit card needed (3)