Lean Blog Interviews - Healthcare, Manufacturing, Business, and Leadership
Mark Graban
Since 2006, the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast has featured thoughtful, in-depth conversations with leaders, authors, executives, and practitioners who are applying Lean thinking and continuous improvement in the real world.
Hosted by Mark Graban—author of Lean Hospitals, Measures of Success, and The Mistakes That Make Us—the podcast explores Lean as a management system, a leadership philosophy, and a people-centered approach to improvement. Episodes span industries including healthcare, manufacturing, startups, technology, and professional services.
This isn’t a podcast about chasing tools, jargon, or “Lean theater.” Instead, guests share candid stories about what actually works—and what doesn’t—when organizations try to improve. You’ll hear honest reflections on leadership, culture, learning from mistakes, and building systems that help people do their best work.
Whether you’re a Lean practitioner, healthcare leader, executive, coach, or someone new to continuous improvement, each episode offers practical insights you can apply immediately.
Common topics include:
Lean as a management system and cultural transformation—not just a toolbox
Continuous improvement, Kaizen, and problem-solving at every level
Leadership behaviors that enable trust, learning, and sustained change
Psychological safety as a foundation for improvement and innovation
Lessons from the Toyota Production System, Lean Startup, and Deming’s thinking
Real-world stories about mistakes, learning, and resilience
You won’t hear much about “Lean Six Sigma” here. But if you believe improvement starts with respect for people—and that better systems beat blaming individuals—this podcast is for you.
Many episodes feature a special focus on Lean in healthcare, reflecting Mark’s long-standing work with hospitals and health systems to improve patient safety, quality, flow, and staff engagement.
Find all episodes and show notes at www.LeanCast.org.Learn more about Mark and his work at www.LeanBlog.org.Questions or feedback? Email mark@leanblog.org
Hosted by Mark Graban—author of Lean Hospitals, Measures of Success, and The Mistakes That Make Us—the podcast explores Lean as a management system, a leadership philosophy, and a people-centered approach to improvement. Episodes span industries including healthcare, manufacturing, startups, technology, and professional services.
This isn’t a podcast about chasing tools, jargon, or “Lean theater.” Instead, guests share candid stories about what actually works—and what doesn’t—when organizations try to improve. You’ll hear honest reflections on leadership, culture, learning from mistakes, and building systems that help people do their best work.
Whether you’re a Lean practitioner, healthcare leader, executive, coach, or someone new to continuous improvement, each episode offers practical insights you can apply immediately.
Common topics include:
Lean as a management system and cultural transformation—not just a toolbox
Continuous improvement, Kaizen, and problem-solving at every level
Leadership behaviors that enable trust, learning, and sustained change
Psychological safety as a foundation for improvement and innovation
Lessons from the Toyota Production System, Lean Startup, and Deming’s thinking
Real-world stories about mistakes, learning, and resilience
You won’t hear much about “Lean Six Sigma” here. But if you believe improvement starts with respect for people—and that better systems beat blaming individuals—this podcast is for you.
Many episodes feature a special focus on Lean in healthcare, reflecting Mark’s long-standing work with hospitals and health systems to improve patient safety, quality, flow, and staff engagement.
Find all episodes and show notes at www.LeanCast.org.Learn more about Mark and his work at www.LeanBlog.org.Questions or feedback? Email mark@leanblog.org
Episodes
Mentioned books
Apr 14, 2020 • 32min
Mitch Cahn on Lean and Pivoting to Shields & Gowns at Unionwear
Joining me for Episode #364 is a returning guest, Mitch Cahn, the president of Unionwear, a Newark-based company. Back in Episode #234, we talked about how Lean manufacturing has helped them be competitive in the labor-intensive apparel industry, sewing goods in a union shop.
Today (in an episode that is also a video podcast), Mitch tells us how, a month ago, orders for political campaign hats and items evaporated as the Democratic presidential field consolidated. So, Unionwear needed to pivot and they started calling hospitals to find out how they might be able to help by making personal protective equipment (PPE) to help in the Covid-19 crisis.
In the episode, you'll hear about the creation (and continued refinement) of face shields and gowns. These items were made using materials that they normally used for hats, backpacks, and plastic binders. Mitch also talks about how they've had to adapt their factory for social distancing and how some employees are sewing at home (and what they need to do to support the flow of materials and products). We'll also discuss how Lean methods have helped them in this new journey.
Apr 7, 2020 • 58min
Crystal Y. Davis on the Business Impact of Covid-19, and More
http://www.leanblog.org/363
For Episode #363, I'm joined by Crystal Davis as we discuss:
What are you seeing in terms of how Covid-19 is disrupting businesses?
How do we move from crisis mode, to survival mode, to recovery mode?
Why do we need courageous leadership during these challenging times?
This is also the first video podcast that I've done in a while. See the show notes page for the video: HTTP://www.leanblog.org/363
We share a background as industrial engineers who started our Lean careers at General Motors, and we both moved on to do work with other types of businesses.
Crystal has many roles today: The Lean Coach, Inc. - Founder, CEO, Principal Lean Practitioner; DisruptHER Coach; Managing Partner at MPlus Her website is http://theleancoachinc.com/.
I hope you enjoy the conversation!
Mar 31, 2020 • 44min
Adam Lawrence on Kaizen Events & The Wheel of Sustainability
http://www.leanblog.org/362
My guest for Episode #362 is Adam Lawrence, managing partner with Process Improvement Partners LLC.
He's an industrial engineer who had a long career working with TQM, Six Sigma, and Lean at Thomasvile Furniture and other Armstrong World Industries companies.
Today, we'll talk about setting kaizen events up for success with effective charter documents and team selection. What's the role of leadership? Adam will also talk about the "wheel of sustainability" (scroll down for an image and a PDF that he provided).
Adam will also mention a free virtual workshop that he's doing on Monday, April 6th. It was supposed to be done in person at a conference... but given the current circumstances, he's trying to make lemons into lemonade and I appreciate that he's offering up that opportunity for folks.
Mar 19, 2020 • 1h 36min
Ask Docs Anything on Covid-19 / Coronavirus
http://www.leanblog.org/361
Episode #361 of the podcast is admittedly not about Lean, but it's an important topic that I think needs to be shared in these times.
I'm sharing audio that came from a KaiNexus webinar yesterday that we called "Ask Docs Anything" and the topic was, of course, coronavirus and Covid-19. We put out a call for questions and got more than 100 questions for our customers and our community.
For the webinar, we focused the questions mainly on personal health and things you can (or must) do to protect your families and others in society. If you'd rather read synopsis answers to the questions, you can do so here. The video of the session is also embedded in that page, or it's also available through YouTube.
You can also find more links to resources, articles, and information through this page.
Mar 15, 2020 • 56min
@LeahBinder of @LeapfrogGroup on Coronavirus Prep & #PatientSafety Progress
http://www.leanblog.org/360
Returning for Episode #360 of the podcast is Leah Binder, the president and CEO of Leapfrog Group. We last talked four years ago in Episode #240 about the patient safety crisis and efforts to improve.
Today, we'll talk about hospitals' preparation for the Covid-19 / Coronavirus threat. Read her statement on this topic and stay tuned for announcements about free webinars and resources that Leapfrog Group will be providing.
We'll also discuss safety (and the lack of reporting and data) in the outpatient (ambulatory) surgery setting -- where 60% of procedures are done today in the U.S. We'll also talk about the progress that's been made in the last four years on the patient safety front, in general.
Please check out Leapfrog Group and their Hospital Safety Score website. How does your hospital measure up? How do the hospitals in your community compare? What can hospitals be doing to close their gaps so they get an "A"? How can large businesses who pay for healthcare and have their employees' interest in mind, like manufacturers, help put positive pressure on healthcare to improve?
Mar 2, 2020 • 1h 5min
Alfred Angerer on Lean Healthcare in Switzerland
My guest for Episode #359 of the podcast is Prof. Dr. Alfred Angerer, joining me from Switzerland to talk about Lean healthcare.
I had a chance to visit a hospital with Alfred, in Switzerland, late last year, as we discussed in this episode of his podcast (which we recorded together in his office).
In today's episode, he joins me via the internet and we'll talk about his path into studying, teaching, and consulting on Lean healthcare. We'll chat about what's different (and what's similar) in Swiss healthcare and we'll touch on his books and articles in the conversation.
Feb 10, 2020 • 1h 6min
Steve Spear on Evolving our Knowledge and Learning on #Lean
http://www.leanblog.org/358
Returning to the podcast for Episode #358 is Steve Spear, a senior lecturer at MIT and author of the book The High-Velocity Edge: How Market Leaders Leverage Operational Excellence to Beat the Competition. He's also the founder and co-creator of a software company and product called See to Solve.
He's also the author of two outstanding Harvard Business Review articles: “Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System" and "Fixing Healthcare from the Inside, Today," both of which we'll discuss today. One of the themes for this episode is the evolution of knowledge. What does that mean for a company and what does that mean for an esteemed researcher and professor like Steve?
Steve has a BS in economics from Princeton University, an MA in management and an MS in mechanical engineering from MIT, and a PhD from Harvard Business School. He was previously a guest in episodes #58, 87, and 262. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did!
Feb 3, 2020 • 1h 8min
Dr. Michael Conroy on Lean as a Chief Medical Officer
http://leanblog.org/357
Joining me today for episode #357 is Michael Conroy, M.D., the Chief Medical Officer of Sutter Medical Group in northern California.
Mike was previously the Medical Director of the Lean Promotion Office for the Palo Alto Medical Foundation and he was in that role when we first met about a decade ago. We collaborated on some Lean workshop training material for him to deliver to other physicians, through my role at Catalysis at the time.
In today's episode, we'll talk about how he was first exposed to Lean, we'll take a few metaphorical elevator rides to talk about how Lean benefits patients and physicians, and shifting from Lean as tools or events to being a way of thinking and a common operating system for an organization.
Mike is board certified in Internal Medicine and is a Fellow in the American College of Physicians. After medical school at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, he did his residency at Virginia Mason Medical Center where he worked with Dr. Gary Kaplan, a well-known Lean leader who is now CEO of that system. Small world!
Jan 22, 2020 • 53min
Amy C. Edmondson on Psychological Safety and "The Fearless Organization"
http://www.leanblog.org/356
My guest for episode #356 of the podcast is Amy C. Edmondson, PhD, the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School. She is the author of three books on teaming and her most recent book is the topic of conversation today: The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth.
In the episode, we explore the incredibly important concept of "psychological safety," which means, as Edmondson defines it:
"...a climate in which people are comfortable expressing and being themselves."
This is necessary for Kaizen (continuous improvement) and it's also a huge contributor to people being able to speak up about patient safety risks (or other problems in the workplace).
One thing I love about her book is that she doesn't just diagnose the problem (that fear of speaking up is bad), but she also lays out a plan for how leaders can create a more psychologically-safe environment and culture.
From her bio: "Edmondson received her PhD in organizational behavior, AM in psychology, and AB in engineering and design from Harvard University."
Jan 15, 2020 • 58min
An Engineer, an Architect, and a Nurse on Healthcare Improvement
Http://www.leanblog.org/355
So, an engineer, an architect, and a nurse walk into a hospital... no, that's not a setup for the punchline to a joke.
Today, in episode #355 of the podcast, I'm sharing three short conversations with three people who have very different backgrounds, but they still all ended up working to improve healthcare.
We have a Toyota-trained engineer (Isaac Mitchell), who transitioned (like me) from manufacturing to healthcare.
We are also joined by an architect (Laura Silvoy) who got a master's degree in health systems engineering and helps an architecture firm in the improvement and design of healthcare facilities.
And, we have a business student (Darrin Judkins) who then got a nursing degree and, after years of providing patient care at the bedside, also got into Lean and healthcare improvement.
We all know each other through our involvement in the Society for Health Systems (a part of the Institute of Industrial & Systems Engineers) and the annual Healthcare Systems Process Improvement Conference. The event is being held February 26 to 28 this year in Savannah, Georgia. I love this event -- the learning, the networking, the friends... and I highly recommend it. We'll chat about that a bit too.
This episode is a little different... but I think you'll like it.
