Lean Blog Audio: Practical Lean Thinking, Psychological Safety, and Continuous Improvement

My Post for the Deming Institute Blog:

06 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

I'm extremely honored that The W. Edwards Deming Institute published my first blog post in a series of three that I've written for them, to be publish...

What the World's Best Organizations...

04 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Before Christmas, I was listening to the Dan Le Batard Show and their guest for the day was former NFL player Domonique Foxworth, pictured at left. Fo...

My Visit to Cleveland Clinic

02 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

I had a chance to visit one of their community hospitals, Hillcrest Hospital, as well as the main campus. It was a very stimulating visit and it was g...

Food for Thought on Mistakes and Perfection

01 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

"Making mistakes is better than faking perfection."I saw this quote the other day and tweeted it. It seemed like food for thought and something to ref...

Examples of Corporate Speak Masking Reality

20 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

http://www.leanblog.org/audio165 I get annoyed by corporate euphemisms, such as referring to people as "resources," the term "right-sizing" for lay...

Bringing Me Problems is OK, We'll Find Solutions Together

18 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

It's a bit of a modern management cliché to say "Don't bring problems! Bring me solutions!" I think what that means is "Don't just complain!...

#TBT: What CFO Magazine Wrote About #Lean in 2009

14 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

I first blogged about this article back in 2009 and it's still online:"Keen to Be Lean" The sub headline talks about hospitals being "desperate to ...

Human Nature Around Incentives & Rewards

12 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

http://www.leanblog.org/audio162 Dr. W. Edwards Deming used to warn against replacing intrinsic motivation with extrinsic rewards and incentives.Br...

"The reign of the king-leader is gone" at GM?

11 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

I was happy to see an engineer (Chemical Engineering) and a General Motors leader, Alicia Boler Davis, on the cover of the Northwestern University alu...

Lean People Don't Say Things Like "Idiot Proofing"

06 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In the Lean approach, we don't call people idiots or dummies. We don't say, or shouldn't say, things like "idiot proofing" or "dummy proofing."There's...

In My Global Lean Healthcare Travels,

17 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

http://www.leanblog.org/audio159 I do a lot of work across the U.S., but I've also been very fortunate to work with hospitals, clinics, and health ...

ThedaCare CEO Dean Gruner to Retire; What's Next for ThedaCare?

28 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

A few weeks ago, I saw this announcement about Dean Gruner, MD, the second CEO to lead ThedaCare during their Lean journey:Dr. Dean Gruner, ThedaCare ...

Good News: UCSF to Teach #Lean to Residents

27 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

I was happy to see this announcement the other day:UCSF to Train Residents in Lean Management and Process Improvement From the announcement: &l...

This Time, the NEJM Publishes Something Positive About #Lean

06 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

You might remember the hubbub (a kerfuffle?) over the NEJM opinion piece written by Dr. Jerome Groopman and Dr. Pamela Hartzband. See my first post ab...

Part 3 of Day 1: #Lean Healthcare Trip to China

28 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

More notes and discussion about my trip to China. http://leanblog.org/audio155

Lean Healthcare Trip to China, Day 1, Part 2

26 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

http://leanblog.org/audio154 Continuing from Part 1 of my post about my first day of my first China trip, I'd like to share more about the Lean hea...

Mark Graban Interviewed on "Quality Digest Live"

25 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Audio courtesy of Quality Digest Live -- see www.QualityDigest.com for more info and http://www.leanblog.org/audio153 for the link to the article refe...

"Lean Is About Quality, Not Just Speed or Efficiency...

24 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

We'll probably also talk about this article that was published yesterday on QualityDigest.com:"Lean Is About Quality, Not Just Speed or Efficiency... ...

Lean Healthcare Trip to China, Day 1, Part 1:

21 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

My first trip to China... http://leanblog.org/audio151

Free Excerpt from "Lean Hospitals" and "Practicing Lean"

23 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

http://leanblog.org/audio150 Thanks to those of you who pre-ordered the 3rd edition of my book Lean Hospitals.Click below to read a free preview fr...

Be Careful With "No Waiting Rooms" Just Like "Zero Inventories"

13 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

For decades, manufacturers have been tripped up by the simplistic idea that Lean is about "zero inventories." It probably didn't help that one of the ...

GM's CEO Roger Smith Thought Toyota Had Magic,

09 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Thanks to this post by Bruce Hamilton (aka "Toast Guy" or "Old Lean Dude"), I was reminded of the old General Motors effort, spearheaded by then-CEO R...

From 1994, But Relevant Today: "Why TQM Fails"

08 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The 1994 book Why TQM Fails And What to Do About It is a book that could be very relevant today, in the context of Lean. I'll give credit to Greg Jaco...

his Doctor is Upset About Something,

06 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

http://leanblog.org/audio146 Earlier this year, we had rantings from two doctors about Lean in the esteemed New England Journal of Medicine... exce...

The Need for Standardized Work When Ordering Whiskey

03 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Ah, whiskey. I like whiskey. I'm not afraid to say that. I've blogged about whiskey (or whisky) once before: Why Kaizen is an Important Differentiator...

My LinkedIn Post on Bad Toast & Bad Management

02 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Previously on LinkedIn, I’ve written about Kaizen in a wine bar and the need for restaurants to not blame employees for problems. Yesterday, ...

If Your Hospital Wants to "Implement #Lean,"

31 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

http://leanblog.org/audio143 I've written before about the subject of hospitals "flexing" nurses and employees. I've criticized flexing (or the pra...

NEJM Authors Double Down on Their Claim That Lean = Taylorism

25 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

http://leanblog.org/audio142 You might remember the hubbub (and my earlier blog post) about this article that somehow appeared in the NEJM: "Medica...

Stuff I'm Reading May 2016: Bad Patient Experiences...

24 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

As is often the case, I have too many open browser tabs full of articles that I was going to potentially blog about. This slows down my Mac (thanks, C...

Congratulations on Reducing Waiting Times,

19 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

I'm always happy to see success stories where healthcare organizations solve problems that matter through Lean concepts, practices, and principles. To...

Lean Hospitals: Thoughts from a Health System C.O.O.

17 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

http://leanblog.org/audio139 In the previous editions of my book Lean Hospitals, I've included case examples from Avera McKennan Hospital and Avera...

J.C. Penney's CEO on Listening to Front-Line Employees

16 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

After the previous CEO of JC Penney, Ron Johnson, was fired (see my post "Lack of PDSA made JCP CEO SOL?"), it seems that new CEO Marvin Ellison might...

Free Chapter - Upcoming 3rd Edition of "#Lean Hospitals"

14 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The revised, updated, and expanded third edition of my book Lean Hospitals has been sent to the printer and copies should start shipping by mid June.I...

Updates: NICU Innovation, Labs, MLB Netting, VA Waiting

05 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

recently saw some updates and new details related to some topics I've covered here on the blog, so I'm combining them into this batch update.In this p...

Why It's OK That This Suggestion Box Was Full of Cobwebs

04 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

As I guy who started his career in manufacturing before moving to healthcare in 2005, I don't get many opportunities to visit the "gemba" at a factory...

A Radical Idea in Healthcare: Refunds for Dissatisfied Customers

03 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

I love stories of humility and customer focus in healthcare. Let me share two such stories with you today. Oh, and, I ended up sharing a story of mine...

A Post-Mortem on a Different Hospital Lean Journey

02 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Today's post is an addendum from Saturday's post on the apparent death of a health system Lean program: "Why Would a New Healthcare CEO Kill a Lean Pr...

Why Would a New Healthcare CEO Kill a Lean Program?

02 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Apparently, the Lean journey at Presence, regardless of what form it was taking in late 2015, has not survived a CEO transition at Presence Health. A ...

More on "Motivational Interviewing" as a Method for

11 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

http://leanblog.org/audio131 Back in December, I wrote about a method called "Motivational Interviewing" (MI), something I learned about from a soc...

From a Patient Safety Tragedy to Lean & Baldrige

26 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

As Patient Safety Awareness Week continues, thanks to all of you who shared this PBS News Hour story with me via email or Twitter. If you ever see som...

There's a Yuuuge Problem with Donald Trump's

11 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

http://leanblog.org/audio129 I generally avoid politics here on the blog... In October, I broached the subject when I blogged about a company that ...

Early Days of Lean in Veterinary Medicine?

08 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Last Friday morning, I partnered with Chip Ponsford, DVM, a doctor of veterinary medicine, to give an introductory Lean continuing education presentat...

What Virginia Mason's CEO Dr. Gary Kaplan Warns Against

06 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Gary Kaplan is the CEO of Seattle's Virginia Mason Medical Center, considered one of the world leaders in the adoption of Lean healthcare principl...

Announced "Workplace Principles" for NHS Wales Staff

01 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Each Saturday, I get an email newsletter from the UK-based site "Nursing Times." They cover issues that are somewhat universal in healthcare, includin...

What We Can Learn About Teamwork and Culture

25 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

http://leanblog.org/audio125 The Spurs have had great players, but there's a culture of teamwork and unselfishness. The Spurs (after learning their...

#Lean: The Toyota Production System is Mainly

24 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

http://leanblog.org/audio124 I made a few tweaks to the content of the 3rd edition's "first pages" based on some input from Jamie Bonini, vice pres...

#Lean Would Be a Solution for What These Nurses Complain About

23 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

This article posted anonymously on AllNurses.com has over one million views in the month since it first appeared:"Hospitals Firing Seasoned Nurses: Nu...

Engaging Staff in Improvement is Actually the Toyota Way, Too

12 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Engaging Staff in Improvement is Actually the Toyota Way, TooHere, I blogged about an article I read in Modern Healthcare that said, basically, Toyota...

Toyota's Japan Shutdown Lessons for Hospitals (and Others)

07 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

I wrote a new piece for LinkedIn that I hope would be of interest to you even if you’re in healthcare. Why? It’s a story about what an org...

Is This The One Question That Determines If You're

03 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

I get asked a lot, "How do you know if a hospital is truly 'Lean?'"Nobody is ever perfect or "fully Lean," but you could ask, "How do you know if some...

Kaizen Live! 2016 - See a Culture of Continuous Improvement

01 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Last year, Joe Swartz and I hosted a workshop at his organization, Franciscan St. Francis Health in Indianapolis. We called it“Kaizen Live!&rdqu...

How Failed Lean Implementations Are Like a Bad

31 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Alternate title:“Lean is an Integrated System. Of Course Just Implementing Pieces Leads to Failure.” Throughout the 10 years that I’...

HBR Article on Avoiding the Futility of Suggestion Systems

26 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

At KaiNexus, we've been fortunate to have a good relationship with Professor Ethan Burris, from the University of Texas McCombs School of Business. He...

Doctors Bash "Taylorism" and "Toyota Lean"

24 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In the article posted today, Pamela Hartzband, M.D., and Jerome Groopman, M.D. (the later the author of the popular book How Doctors Think), rant abou...

Wise Words from Mark Twain on Continuous Improvement

19 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

http://leanblog.org/audio115 A hat tip goes to Brian Buck for sharing this quote via email recently. Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain, was a pithy an...

Where Do Hospitals Get the Idea that Lean is Only

11 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

I had a bit of a new year's resolution about being positive and not fretting about organizations that don't "get it" when it comes to Lean. But, resol...

Dr. Don Berwick is "Stunned" By How Few

07 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

http://leanblog.org/audio113 This article, from December, was floating around social media the other day (hat tip to Paul Levy):Don Berwick Offers ...

"If the Employees are Upset, it's Not Really Lean"

06 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

How is it that we have two realities out there in healthcare... in parallel, Lean is awesome and Lean is horrible. It depends on where you are, unfort...

Throwback Thursday: Humility is a Rare & Powerful Trait

04 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Humility is an important part of the Lean management philosophy... it also means being willing to admit that there is a problem. Humility means "we do...

Simple Mixups & How Blaming Workers

03 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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 does...

You Can't Force Anyone to Change Their Minds or Actions

29 Dec 2015

Contributed by Lukas

When I was at the recent Lean Startup Conference, somebody I know somewhat randomly introduced me to another attendee. As we chatted, I learned her ba...

You Got Them to Do What? Getting a Hospital to Dedicate

29 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

How many times do we hear people say things like“We don’t have time for Lean” or “We don’t have time for Kaizen“? ...

Maybe We Should Call it "The Many Whys"

18 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

The "five" in the "five whys" methodology is not a magic number, be it Lean or Lean Startup approaches. http://leanblog.org/audio107

You Just Have to Ask Why Five Times?

17 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Why do we need to move beyond "The Five Whys" into a more robust problem solving model for Lean or Lean Startup settings? http://leanblog.org/audio...

The First Ever Instance of "Lean Doesn't Apply to Us?"

11 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

In discussing Lean and working with people in different organizations, I so very often hear things like "we don't build cars" or "we're different." I ...

It's Not #Lean to Have Dysfunctional Efficiency Targets

10 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

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

Fighting Against "The Way We've Always Done It"

10 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

http://leanblog.org/audio103 Through our practice of Lean, we're looking at processes and our management system, looking to identify waste and oppo...

Automakers & Car Dealers Should Survey Customers

09 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

http://leanblog.org/audio102 The world (especially the world wide web) is full of surveys. Tell us how we're doing! Your satisfaction is important ...

Confusion over #Lean Manufacturing, Lean Healthcare,

06 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

http://leanblog.org/audio101 I'm going to be attending the Lean Startup Conference in San Francisco next month, as a "faculty member," a moderator ...

How Kaizen & Continuous Improvement are Key to

08 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Many of you don’t care about football, but you might find it interesting, as I did, to learn that Northwestern’s defensive coordinator Mik...

Donald Trump's Red Hat (and Other Politicians' Hats)

04 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

These Donald Trump hats (and hats for other candidates including Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush) are made by a Newark company, Unionwear. Lean is their ...

"Learning to be Lean"

28 Sep 2015

Contributed by Lukas

http://leanblog.org/audio98 There's a really good article that was published by Modern Healthcare as a special report, written by Sabriya Rice. Sab...

This Hospital CEO Was Never Going to Get Lean

24 Sep 2015

Contributed by Lukas

I have many experiences in healthcare that I haven't blogged about. I try not to write posts that say, "Hey, you won't believe what happened yesterday...

Better Change Leadership as a Countermeasure

23 Sep 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Having a model like this helps prevent errors, such as jumping to implement Lean tools before the organization understands WHY change is necessary. Yo...

5S: The Good, the Bad, and the Extreme in Japanese Hospitals

21 Sep 2015

Contributed by Lukas

My two previous trips to Japan have been incredible experiences, both personally and professionally. I'm planning to go back in December with a tour g...

In Tribute to and in Memory of Dr. Michel Tétreault

17 Sep 2015

Contributed by Lukas

I was very saddened earlier to receive an email from an employee of a great leader, Dr. Michel Tétreault, informing me that he had passed away....

Are Millennials the Only Ones Who Need to Understand Why?

16 Sep 2015

Contributed by Lukas

And the idea of knowing why... again that's an old desire. It's not just a recent discovery of Simon Sinek and the outstanding book Start with Why (my...

Stuff I'm Reading Sept 2015: Urgency, Problems, and Lemmings

09 Sep 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Visit http://www.leanblog.org/audio92 for more info on this post and http://www.leanblog.org/audio for information about how to subscribe through iTun...

Football, Holistic Systems, and Challenging the

03 Sep 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Today, I discuss two articles: The first article is: "The NFL's Best Practice: No Wasted Time." "If You Can't Hire Urban Meyer, Can You Clone Him?" ...

Another Conversation About L.A.M.E. and Lean

31 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

http://leanblog.org/audio90 It's far too common to see somebody with just a little bit of understanding about Lean do things that really shouldn't ...

Inc. Writes About Dr. Deming in 1987

27 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

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 t...

Updating "Lean Hospitals" and a New eBook, "Practicing Lean"

24 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Mark Graban talks about the revised 3rd edition of "Lean Hospitals" and a new eBook project called "Practicing Lean."

So-Called "Just in Time" Retail Staff Scheduling is not #Lean

22 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Stories like this have been in the news before, but this was circulating the past few days: "Why erratic schedules are one of the worst parts of low-w...

Using Lean to Organize Hospital Closets...

14 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

http://leanblog.org/audio86 I saw this story when it originally appeared online as part of a local public radio station in California. It was now p...

A Hospital Manager Makes Time for Kaizen

13 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

How do you MAKE time for continuous improvement?It's been a little while, but here's a new video about Kaizen and continuous improvement from our frie...

When Warnings Aren't Given or Heeded,

12 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

The Problem With Underreporting Problems, When Warnings Aren’t Heeded in Aerospace, When Warnings Aren’t Heeded in Aerospace, When Warning...

"Practice? We're Talking About Practice?" Yes, Practicing Lean

08 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Allen Iverson was a legendary NBA point guard and scorer who played from 1996 to 2011.In a 2002 news conference that still appears regularly on ESPN, ...

Let's Play Match Game '15 - Suggestion Box Edition

07 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

I guess this counts as a "Flashback Friday," as I was reminded of an old game show that I loved as a kid: Match Game. I was too young to fully appreci...

How My Blog Rant Helped Keep an Office 5S

06 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

http://leanblog.org/audio81 Lean is not about banning bananas from people's desks or banning sweaters hanging on chairs.We should be solving proble...

Moving from "Visuals" to "Visual Management"

04 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

http://leanblog.org/audio80 Here's the Key to Visual Management:To me, the core of visual management is captured in this statement from Fujio Cho, ...

Why This Sushi Company Policy Letter

03 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

http://leanblog.org/audio79 I love the Texas-based grocery store chain "Central Market." It's like a local version of a Whole Foods, basically.One ...

How These Credit Card Websites Illustrate Lean Mistake Proofing

01 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Here is my latest article for the LinkedIn“Influencers” series, written for a general audience that might not be as familiar with Lean: ...

A Lean Guy Listens to NPR: NICU Waste,

31 Jul 2015

Contributed by Lukas

http://leanblog.org/audio77 I did a similar post in 2012, but here's a post where I share some recent NPR stories that I've heard recently (through...

Key Points About Kaizen from Japanese Hospitals,

30 Jul 2015

Contributed by Lukas

http://leanblog.org/audio76 The Kaizen approach to continuous improvement is important to me, of course. The Japanese hospitals we've visited have ...

Model Lines and Model Cells as a Lean Transformation Strategy

28 Jul 2015

Contributed by Lukas

There's another approach that goes underappreciated, I think -- the "model line" or "model cell" approach. It has nothing to do with fashion models. I...

Parody: Keith Olber-Lean and the

27 Jul 2015

Contributed by Lukas

http://leanblog.org/audio74 In this post, I'll be presenting a parody video of Keith Olbermann's "worst persons in the sports world" videos.I don't...

"Lean Won't Work Here... We're Different"

24 Jul 2015

Contributed by Lukas

I'm sure anybody who has done any work with Lean has heard these words said in one form or another, often prefaced with a "You don't understand..."We'...

The Kaizen Approach to Getting Others Comfortable with Sushi

23 Jul 2015

Contributed by Lukas

What did I learn about learning to eat sushi and incremental Kaizen (change for the better) during my 2014 Lean Healthcare Study Trip to Japan? Listen...

"This American Life" on NUMMI Lessons,

23 Jul 2015

Contributed by Lukas

http://leanblog.org/audio71 Episode #403 of the public radio program "This American Life" originally aired in 2010, telling the story of the NUMMI ...

Fear, Lies, Failure, and Success (and Laughs)

20 Jul 2015

Contributed by Lukas

http://leanblog.org/audio70 How did a few episodes of HBO's "Silicon Valley" make Mark Graban think about continuous improvement and the need to av...