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.

Guest Post: 7 tips for Communicating in a Brain-Friendly Way

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Mark's note:  I'm back from vacation, but I have a few more great guest posts today and tomorrow as I get back into...

“L.A.M.E.” in the News; These Three Articles Get Lean Wrong

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As the creator of the admittedly awkward L.A.M.E. acronym (meaning Lean As Mistakenly Explained or Lean As Misguidedly Executed), one burden is that I...

Goodbye Dr. House, Hello “Respect for People”

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Dr. Robert Wachter has a great column in today's USA Today: "Column: Gregory House M.D.: RIP" and it's republished on his blog, with its...

“Lean Effort Pays Big” in a Colorado Springs Hospital

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Thanks to blog reader Justin Lewis for sending me a link to a post on his hospital's blog -- from Memorial Health System in...

When 5S Goes Wrong: A Funny but Painful Lesson in Bad...

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You might also have seen the first video animation that I did last week about the waste of getting new recycling bins. I've created a new video that shows what a "bad office 5S" scene might look like... something that's "L.A.M.E." not Lean.

My Essay in Naida Grunden’s New Book on Lean Design –...

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I'm in Las Vegas, speaking today to close the Lean Healthcare PowerDay event. There are many great speakers, including Dr. Richard Shannon, Dr. David...

What Salem Health Leaders Learned from Visiting Japan About Lean and...

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TL;DR: Salem Health leaders and frontline staff visited Japan to study Lean and Kaizen--and returned with a deeper understanding that transformation comes from respect...

A Reinforcing Loop of Kaizen and Respect

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We are going through the editing and typesetting process for our upcoming book Healthcare Kaizen this week. After not really looking at the manuscript for...

Lean in the Livonia Public Schools

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I grew up in Livonia, Michigan, where I was fortunate to have an outstanding public school education (without the district, to my knowledge, needing...

An Inc. “Best Small Company Workplace” & Their Lean Culture

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As I was cleaning out a pile of stuff in my office, I found an unread issue of Inc. magazine from June 2011. One...

What can Golf Cart do for you?

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Readers outside the U.S. might not know the UPS advertising slogan of "What Can Brown Do For You?" This often refers to the iconic...

A Good Lean Healthcare Journal Article with a Puzzling Title

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Thanks to the readers who sent this article my way and thanks to the authors for mentioning and citing my book, Lean Hospitals. The...
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