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.
… I wasn’t impressed in the least. In my previous role as a consultant, I was given a company vehicle to use, even though it was basically for commuting to a local client, the airport, and occasional personal use. I…
Op-Ed Contributor – Health Care’s Infectious Losses – NYTimes.com FINALLY, a major contribution to the discussion about how we need to improve the quality of care delivery. That’s how we are truly going to bring costs down – by improving…
IVF baby given to wrong woman – as couple’s last embryo was aborted | Mail Online This was front-page news in one of the UK papers that I read coming back from The Netherlands on Sunday. Coincidentally, I briefly saw…
Britain’s health service “facing funding crisis” | Reuters: Watching the BBC morning news the other day, I took an interest in the discussion of the cash crunch with the National Health Service and their “free” (free at the point of…
After watching and blogging about the first half of Oprah’s medical errors show that featured the story of Dennis Quaid’s kids, I finally got into the second half. The first story is that of Molly (left), a woman who was…
Thanks to XM Radio, I was able to listen to Sunday’s Detroit Red Wings playoff game and the WJR radio broadcast from Detroit (the “great voice of the Great Lakes”). I heard a commercial a few times that I managed…
Lean Leap to Health Care #3 (click for Part #2) by Scott McDuffee It would seem to be an efficient method to move into Health Care to PUSH my resume to as many potential employers as possible – thus increasing…
Why ‘Quality’ Care Is Dangerous – WSJ.com Yesterday’s WSJ opinion piece by Dr. Jerome Goopman (author of How Doctors Think) and Pamela Hartzband caught my eye. Thanks to the four or five of you who also emailed me the link…
Following up on these two earlier posts (here and here)… I’ll quit calling them the “Idiot Corporation of America” since the Peanut Corporation of America is bankrupt and shutting down. I feel bad for those who are losing jobs due…
Device Alerts Doctors To Items Left Behind After Surgery – Indiana News Story – WRTV Indianapolis Healthcare is often stuck in the mindset that’s considered outdated in lean manufacturing settings — the old idea that better quality must inherently cost…
Dennis Quaid Takes Oprah To Hospital That OD’d His Babies This might be the first time I’m DVR-ing the Oprah show. Tomorrow, actor Dennis Quaid will talk about the medical errors that nearly killed his twin babies. For the first…
TheDay.com – Food safety problems slip by auditors You might remember my rants about the Idiot Corp… I mean Peanut Corporation of America. Just saw now in the news that they had an “inspection” that, upon closer inspection, is either…
