Standardized work is often misunderstood as rigidity or control. In Lean thinking, it’s the opposite: a shared baseline that makes problems visible, supports learning, and enables continuous improvement. This archive explores standardized work as a living system—one that evolves through observation, experimentation, and respect for people.
Examples range from healthcare and service work to manufacturing and everyday systems, showing how clear standards reduce frustration, improve quality, and make meaningful improvement possible.
Why I Work In Healthcare | DailyKaizen Here’s a great one to end the day on… Lee Fried has a powerful post over on the DailyKaizen blog. Some unfortunately heartache for him and his family, but an important reminder of…
WHO Proposes Checklist to Reduce Surgery Errors : NPR A surgical revolution: checklist that could prevent thousands of deaths Thanks to long-time readers Chet and Andrew for pointing out these similar stories, one from NPR in the U.S. and one…
Leading article: Infected by political calculation This isn’t a “Lean” story, per se, but it still caught my eye. Hospital-acquired infections are a major problem throughout the world. As this commentary from The Independent points out: Britain has the worst…
Johns Hopkins Gazette | June 9, 2008 From the online newsletter of William R. Brody, president of The Johns Hopkins University. He writes: First, a disclaimer: I don’t own any stock in Toyota and am not going to get any…
TL;DR: Standard work defines the current best method for a task. Standardized work signals that method is deliberately created, followed, and improved through kaizen — not fixed by rule. The distinction matters because it supports professional judgment over rigid compliance.…
Peter Pronovost – The 2008 TIME 100 – TIME It’s so nice to see someone like Dr. Peter Pronovost on the “most influential” list, even though he’s out of place among the Miley Cyruses of the world (also on the…
A reader sent this picture from a hospital restroom. I’m not sure if the reader is a patient parent or a hospital employee. They asked, “Why are we putting it on the parents to remind doctors to wash their hands?…
Wachter’s World : The Checklist Saga: Victory! This is great news for patients and is probably great news for those of you who have been following the “checklists” saga. The federal government has reversed its earlier decision to shutdown the…
‘Bundling’ hospital processes may help prevent infections – USATODAY.com “Bundling hospital processes” = Standardized Work Why isn’t every hospital doing this? Why isn’t every hospital administrator making sure this is happening? The IHI [Institute for Healthcare Improvement] defines bundling as…
Starbucks Gossip Blog – Open Thread Starbucks Replaces CEO with Chairman I’ve posted about Starbucks before – I believe they have people at headquarters learning about and starting with Lean, but I don’t know any details (any Starbucks employees reading…
A Lifesaving Checklist – New York Times A number of you have emailed me, yes I’m aware of this horrible, ridiculous development that followed earlier reports of the success hospitals were having in reducing infections and improving patient care through…
Memphis Daily News – Le Bonheur’s New Treatment-Speeding System Ups Productivity by 54 Percent – 12/11/2007 Here’s a news story about a hospital I know people from, LeBonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis. I am have some examples of their in…