Tag Respect for People

Respect for People: Leadership, Trust, and Sustainable Improvement

“Respect for people” isn’t about being nice—it’s about how leaders design systems, make decisions, and respond to problems. In Lean organizations, respect shows up through listening, job security, psychological safety, clear communication, and a commitment to learning rather than blame. This archive brings together blog posts, podcasts, and examples that explore respect for people as a core Lean principle—one that enables trust, engagement, continuous improvement, and better outcomes for customers and employees alike.

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Audio, Blog

Lean Shouldn’t be a Reason for Nurses to Strike

A retired labor leader from the automotive industry (who reads this blog) sent me a link to this article:

#RedforMed: 1,800 Vermont Nurses Are On Strike Demanding Their Hospital Put Patients Over Profits
The article isn't from a newspaper; it's from a site that provides "independent and incisive coverage of the labor movement and the struggles of workers to obtain safe, healthy and just workplaces."

Again, for the record, I'm all in favor of "safety, healthy, and just workplaces." That's what Lean management aims to deliver.

Mark Graban
August 13, 2018
15 Comments

Blog

What Do Cars Have to Do With Healthcare?

Today, I'm giving a talk at the International Society for Blood Transfusion (ISBT) conference in Toronto. I was invited by the company Quotient to participate in a panel presentation and discussion with some laboratory professionals from the U.S. and the U.K.

The others are presenting examples of how they have improved flow, productivity, and quality in blood collection and hospital blood bank settings. Lean often gets portrayed as just being about efficiency or flow, when Toyota's definition of the Toyota Production System talks about how flow and quality go hand in hand.

I was specifically asked to give a short talk titled, "What Do Cars Have to Do With Healthcare? How to Adopt and Adapt Lessons From Manufacturing."

Mark Graban
June 4, 2018
2 Comments

Blog, Interviews

You Can’t Cut Your Way to Success in Healthcare, with Andre DeMerchant

Joining me for Episode #307 of the podcast is my friend Andre DeMerchant, the President of DeMerchant Healthcare Solutions Inc., based in Kitchener, Ontario. We first crossed paths when we had the chance to work together with an American healthcare client via our then-affiliation with Pascal Dennis and Lean Pathways.

In today's episode, we talk about Andre's history working for Toyota in Canada and what he learned there -- and why it's important that he learned about "how flow works" at Toyota. We chat about the terms "Lean" and "The Toyota Production System" and what those words mean to him. How does TPS "transcend culture and language," as well as industries?

We then shift to talking about healthcare and some of the common challenges, including "financial hardships," that are faced in many countries. Why are hospitals "poorly prepared for change" in many cases? Another main theme is "cost cutting" and why you can't cut your way to success.

Mark Graban
April 30, 2018

Blog

Lessons from Tesla: Short-Term Thinking and Short-Term Layoffs

Again, Tesla and their CEO Elon Musk are generating a lot of news and, I think, many things to think about, even if the lessons learned are, perhaps, about things NOT to do in our organizations.

See previous posts about Tesla

As you might know, Tesla has been very much behind schedule with their Model 3 production ramp up. Last week, we saw news stories about a production shutdown that's intended to get things back on track:

"Tesla Is Temporarily Shutting Down Model 3 Production. Again."

Are short-term layoffs the best thing to do for the long term?

Mark Graban
April 25, 2018
6 Comments

Blog, Interviews

Respect for People and Continuous Improvement in Healthcare: Lessons from Lean

I was recently asked to do a recorded video presentation for a medical conference in Turkey. I spoke about the dual pillars of "The Toyota Way":

Respect for People
Continuous Improvement
The video is about 20 minutes, split about half and half on each of those interrelated topics. I'm coming to you from a hotel room, somewhat tired after a day of consulting.

(Slides PDF and transcript also included)

Mark Graban
April 11, 2018

Blog

Lessons from NUMMI’s 10th Anniversary Book: Respect, Teamwork, and Lean Leadership

I did manage to buy a book that was published by NUMMI to celebrate their 10th anniversary. "10 Years of Quality & Teamwork" is the title.

Here is the cover and I'll share a few things that caught my attention inside. It's interesting to think through this book in the context of :

Tesla (the current owners of the building - see my past blog post)
Healthcare organizations

Mark Graban
March 4, 2018
3 Comments

Blog, Interviews

Podcast #300 – Tracey & Ernie Richardson, The Toyota Engagement Equation

My guests for Episode #300 of the podcast are Tracey and Ernie Richardson, authors of the excellent book titled:

The Toyota Engagement Equation: How to Understand and Implement Continuous Improvement Thinking in Any Organization

Mark Graban
February 15, 2018

Blog

Why Toyota’s Rotating Shifts Raise Questions About Safety, Health, and Respect for People

Prolonged worker resting at car assembly plant, with cars in progress and assembly workers in background.

There's much to admire about Toyota and even regular readers of this blog might throw the "fanboy" label at me. Toyota employees in San Antonio have a lot of positive things ("pros") to say online about working there. But, the overwhelming "con" is the rotating work schedules - being on days for two weeks then switching to nights for two weeks. Where do a priority on safety and "respect for people" enter into the discussion about which shift pattern is safest, most effective, and most fair?

Mark Graban
January 25, 2018
23 Comments

Audio, Blog

Highlights from a Great Book: “The Leader’s Handbook”

"If we stopped wasting people’s time, what would they do with it?"

I've been going through the book by the late Peter Scholtes: The Leader's Handbook: Making Things Happen, Getting Things Done. His work builds upon the legendary W. Edwards Deming and Russell Ackoff, among others.

I often quote Scholtes (something also attributed to Peter Senge and others) as saying:

"People don't resist change, they resist being changed."
I think that's very insightful and that thought has led me to study change management, "motivational interviewing" and other related topics. It turns out that having the right answer and pushing it on others isn't the best strategy for effecting sustainable change. I had to learn those lessons the hard way and I'm still learning.

Mark Graban
October 30, 2017
4 Comments

Blog

Lean Healthcare Hiring Gone Wrong: Why “Don’t Talk to Staff” Misses the Point

TL;DR: A healthcare organization’s Lean hiring exercise reveals deep misunderstandings about Lean. By forbidding candidates from talking to staff and emphasizing stopwatches, clipboards, and solo assessments, the process violates Respect for People and misses how improvement really happens. Lean in…

Mark Graban
October 6, 2017
8 Comments

Blog

Lean Leadership Lessons from Football: Urgency, Process, and Respect for People

I've blogged about football before - I should say "American football," since I have many international readers.

I should say I've blogged about events on the football field and the approaches of football coaches that remind me of Lean thinking.

Here are a few of those thoughts from last weekend -- topics include "lack of urgency," "that's not my job," and "the process."

Mark Graban
October 5, 2017
4 Comments

Audio, Blog

Dr. Don Berwick on Respect, Fear, and Change in Healthcare Leadership

Back in 2012, I blogged twice about aspects of Dr. Donald M. Berwick's 1989 article in the New England Journal of Medicine titled “Continuous Improvement as an Ideal in Health Care.” The full text is only available to subscribers.

As I posted on LinkedIn, another aspect of this article caught my eye when I was reviewing it the other day in advance of my talk at the Studer Group "What's Right in Healthcare" conference next week.

Mark Graban
July 26, 2017
2 Comments

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