Dan Heath

And so he was used to looking at things from a systems lens and And when he came in, it was just immediately obvious, hey, things can be different here. And if I can convince this team to trust me on this journey, like we can go from being the pariahs of the hospital to the superstars.

Yes. And first, I want to give proper credit to Nelson Repenning, who's an MIT professor, as the source of the phrase, go and see the work. That's the chapter title. So here's the spirit of that. Repenning and his colleagues tell the story of a corrugated box manufacturer. And the boss notices that their paper waste is higher than industry averages. So that's an example.

Yes. And first, I want to give proper credit to Nelson Repenning, who's an MIT professor, as the source of the phrase, go and see the work. That's the chapter title. So here's the spirit of that. Repenning and his colleagues tell the story of a corrugated box manufacturer. And the boss notices that their paper waste is higher than industry averages. So that's an example.

Yes. And first, I want to give proper credit to Nelson Repenning, who's an MIT professor, as the source of the phrase, go and see the work. That's the chapter title. So here's the spirit of that. Repenning and his colleagues tell the story of a corrugated box manufacturer. And the boss notices that their paper waste is higher than industry averages. So that's an example.

We were just talking about looking outside. Well, you compare yourself to outside. Hey, wait a second. We're not performing as well as our competitors. Why is that? And so the boss just goes and sees the work, which means get closer to the ground level. So in a factory situation, it means walking the factory floor, watching the way things are made.

We were just talking about looking outside. Well, you compare yourself to outside. Hey, wait a second. We're not performing as well as our competitors. Why is that? And so the boss just goes and sees the work, which means get closer to the ground level. So in a factory situation, it means walking the factory floor, watching the way things are made.

We were just talking about looking outside. Well, you compare yourself to outside. Hey, wait a second. We're not performing as well as our competitors. Why is that? And so the boss just goes and sees the work, which means get closer to the ground level. So in a factory situation, it means walking the factory floor, watching the way things are made.

In a hospital, it might be following a patient journey from check-in to procedure to check out. In a school, it might mean, and one of the stories in the book is about a principal who followed around a ninth grader all day long, including sitting in the classes and sitting in the lunchroom. That's going and seeing the work.

In a hospital, it might be following a patient journey from check-in to procedure to check out. In a school, it might mean, and one of the stories in the book is about a principal who followed around a ninth grader all day long, including sitting in the classes and sitting in the lunchroom. That's going and seeing the work.

In a hospital, it might be following a patient journey from check-in to procedure to check out. In a school, it might mean, and one of the stories in the book is about a principal who followed around a ninth grader all day long, including sitting in the classes and sitting in the lunchroom. That's going and seeing the work.

So back to the paper box manufacturer, the boss walks around and notices this corrugating machine, which is one of their signature assets, is shut down during lunch. And he asked why. And the first couple of people he asked don't know. Eventually runs down the answer is years prior, there was some instability from the local utility that provided electricity to the factory.

So back to the paper box manufacturer, the boss walks around and notices this corrugating machine, which is one of their signature assets, is shut down during lunch. And he asked why. And the first couple of people he asked don't know. Eventually runs down the answer is years prior, there was some instability from the local utility that provided electricity to the factory.

So back to the paper box manufacturer, the boss walks around and notices this corrugating machine, which is one of their signature assets, is shut down during lunch. And he asked why. And the first couple of people he asked don't know. Eventually runs down the answer is years prior, there was some instability from the local utility that provided electricity to the factory.

And it seemed to be concentrated around lunchtime. So they just started kind of preemptively shutting down the machine because it wasn't good for the machine to have variable power and just be abruptly shut down. And so being good systems thinkers, they thought, aha, well, we'll get ahead of this. We'll prevent any damage to the machine by shutting it down.

And it seemed to be concentrated around lunchtime. So they just started kind of preemptively shutting down the machine because it wasn't good for the machine to have variable power and just be abruptly shut down. And so being good systems thinkers, they thought, aha, well, we'll get ahead of this. We'll prevent any damage to the machine by shutting it down.

And it seemed to be concentrated around lunchtime. So they just started kind of preemptively shutting down the machine because it wasn't good for the machine to have variable power and just be abruptly shut down. And so being good systems thinkers, they thought, aha, well, we'll get ahead of this. We'll prevent any damage to the machine by shutting it down.

But the way organizations work is over time, things just become habitual. And so it just becomes part of your day-to-day checklist. Well, okay, did we shut the machine down for lunchtime? Yes, check. And months go by and months go by. And meanwhile, the utility has fixed the instability, but it doesn't change the fact that they're shutting down the corrugating machine at lunchtime.

But the way organizations work is over time, things just become habitual. And so it just becomes part of your day-to-day checklist. Well, okay, did we shut the machine down for lunchtime? Yes, check. And months go by and months go by. And meanwhile, the utility has fixed the instability, but it doesn't change the fact that they're shutting down the corrugating machine at lunchtime.

But the way organizations work is over time, things just become habitual. And so it just becomes part of your day-to-day checklist. Well, okay, did we shut the machine down for lunchtime? Yes, check. And months go by and months go by. And meanwhile, the utility has fixed the instability, but it doesn't change the fact that they're shutting down the corrugating machine at lunchtime.

Years later, the boss is like, why are we shutting down this machine? Every time we shut down the machine, it creates waste because there's work and product. And then there's a startup cost and there's whatever was in the machine when we shut it down. And so that's one of the major sources of waste and nobody has a good answer.