Lean Blog Audio

From 2012: http://www.leanblog.org/audio292 Dr. Iida talked about the connections between "Kaizen" (small improvements) and innovation (larger improvements) and how, together, they lead to breakthroughs. He also talked about how one is absolutely necessary for the other to occur. Dr. Iida has been the CEO for just over 20 years and his hospital receives visitors from around the world, including Europe and Africa. They were on the verge of bankruptcy when he took the job in 1991 and they are now "in the black" and had the money to build a new hospital, while most Japanese hospitals are losing money today, he said.

http://www.leanblog.org/audio291 Last week was our fifth annual KaiNexus User Conference (or "KaiNexicon" as we now call it). One of our keynote speakers was Jess Orr, a former Toyota engineer who shared perspectives on what it was like to now lead continuous improvement in another company. Jess has previously presented three webinars for us at KaiNexus (see links at the end of the post) and she always has something insightful to say. I took a lot of notes during her talk, so here are some of the highlights as I captured them.

http://www.leanblog.org/audio290 So, upon some reflection, it seems like "Just Do It" isn't really the right phrase to use. A classic suggestion box system has cards that start with listing a suggestion. That's, in a way, jumping to solutions. Kaizen isn't a suggestion box model. Maybe "Just PDSA It" is a more accurate phrase to use?

http://www.leanblog.org/audio289 In the huddles, the manager and team talk about problems, issues, or opportunities for improvement. In some huddles, the team might say, "We can't think of anything that came up yesterday." But, then, as the huddle progressed, the team was asked if anybody should get recognition or kudos for something they did.

http://www.leanblog.org/audio288 http://www.kainexus.com/webinars Today, I'll be hosting and moderating the latest in our KaiNexus Continuous Improvement Webinar series. I'm really excited that the presenter will be Mark Valenti -- he's been a bit of a mentor and coach for me on the topic of "Motivational Interviewing," something I've really found helpful these past few years. Click here to register for the webinar, which is intended to provide tips for leaders and managers (and a transcript can be found at the end of this post): From Ambivalence to Action: Leadership Lessons from Motivational Interviewing The webinar is today at 1 pm ET. If you can't attend live, please register anyway and you'll be sent a link to the recording.

http://www.leanblog.org/audio287 General Jim Mattis has been making the rounds to talk about his new book that is out today: Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead. "Learning to Lead" sounds like it could be the title of a book about Lean management. We're learning how to lead people, to lead improvement, to lead organizations. You might say we're "practicing leadership," myself included. A few things jumped out from an article and an NPR interview with Mattis that made me think about Lean and the challenges we face in various workplaces. 

http://www.leanblog.org/audio286 This past weekend, an old friend came down from Michigan to spend two days in the Dallas area. Amongst the activities and catching up, we went bowling -- something I did a lot of as a kid and something my friend and I usually do when we get together. I ordered a drink -- not a Lean whiskey, perhaps surprisingly -- but this: "An UN-sweetened iced tea, please"

http://www.leanblog.org/audio285 This is a radio segment from the KOGO morning news on August 23rd, 2019. LaDona Harvey: When it comes to your career path, your family’s financial future, or even a weight loss journey, focusing on little setbacks can throw a real wrench in your progress. Ted Garcia: Joining us on the KOGO news live, the author of, “Measures of Success. React Less, Lead Better, Improve More,” Mark Graban. Good morning, Mark. Mark Graban: Good morning.

http://www.leanblog.org/audio284 Here is an article that caught my eye recently, from HBR: "How One Health System Overcame Resistance to a Surgical Checklist"

http://www.leanblog.org/audio283 Anyway, this article caught my eye the other day: Top Chefs and Restaurateurs on the Best Lessons They Learned from Failures Check out the article for the detail, but here are the five lessons and I think they apply to Lean and other things we practice, with my commentary…