Tag: Quality

Episode #238 is a conversation with somebody I’ve wanted to talk with for a long time, Kevin Cahill. He is the executive director of the W. Edwards Deming Institute. He’s also a grandson of Dr. Deming! ...

When we see a simple error, even in something as silly as sports memorabilia, we would ask "why?" or "how?" instead of "who?" Blaming individuals doesn't help...

The W. Edwards Deming Institute and Dr. Deming's grandson Kevin Cahill worked with NBC to make the 1980 program available, giving the institute perpetual rights to it (see their blog post). To the institute's credit, they've made this freely available on YouTube.

Lean is, of course, not about a better way to build cars. It's a transferrable philosophy, management system, and methodology that is being applied in many different settings and industries, including healthcare. I'm often told (sometimes by somebody who is being sort of huffy): "Patients are not cars." [...]

Lean healthcare really is a global movement. Last year, when I went to Japan, we had people in the group from all across Asia,...

Here's a "Throwback Thursday" post from this date back in 2008. The post is titled, "Why Do Hospitals Have to Rely on Vigilant Patients and Families?" I think it's still an important and relevant post, here in 2015. Why do we ask patients and families to be vigilant and inspect the work being done...

Mark's note: Today's post is by Paul Critchley and he raises important questions that I've seen in both factories and hospitals. Here's his post... As I've moved through my career and Lean journey, I've been blessed to have met and worked with some really fantastic people...

It's tempting to visit a place like ThedaCare and then mandate "everybody must have huddle boards." Then, a bunch of huddle boards get purchased and installed... and maybe not used. It's another thing for executives to realize that they have to change the way they manage. There's a great quote that ThedaCare folks readily share, including Kim Barnas in her book Beyond Heroes:

My guest for episode #229 is John Dyer, president of his consulting firm, JD&A, Inc., and a contributor for IndustryWeek.com. John started his career...

I stumbled across an article from the Inc. magazine archives from 1987, so it's today's "Throwback Thursday." In 1987, I was starting high school and...

As I mentioned on Monday, I'm working on a 3rd revised edition of my book Lean Hospitals. Traditional book publishing is a funny (and sometimes frustrating)...

I saw this story when it originally appeared online as part of a local public radio station in California. It was now picked up nationally...