Lean Blog Audio

https://www.leanblog.org/audio309  Subscribe now to "My Favorite Mistake" --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lean-blog-audio/support

http://www.leanblog.org/audio308 You might have heard of a "social media takeover" where a brand with a large following gives control of their social media feed to somebody who is promoting a cause or a social message. One person I've followed on LinkedIn is Deondra Wardelle. She is a Lean practitioner (like me) and she's a Black woman (unlike me). So, thinking back to the idea of a "social media takeover." I was inspired by Deondra, so I asked her to accept a "blog handover" as I'm calling it. My initial thought was to give a platform for her to write and talk about anything she wanted, to give more exposure to her voice. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lean-blog-audio/support

http://www.leanblog.org/audio307 Today, I wanted to share an excellent article written by Dr. John Toussaint (of Catalysis) and Ken Segel (of Value Capture)... --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lean-blog-audio/support

http://www.leanblog.org/audio306 I'm excited to announce that our book Practicing Lean is now available as an audiobook through Audible. As we did with the paperback and Kindle versions of the book, 100% of royalties will be donated to the Louise Batz Patient Safety Foundation (it's been almost $5000 so far). You can buy or subscribe through Audible. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lean-blog-audio/support

http://www.leanblog.org/audio305 It's possible that I could start traveling again for my healthcare consulting work next month... or maybe in July. My colleagues at Value Capture aren't sure yet how this will work out, but clients are sharing their current plans for starting to re-open -- to a new normal, not the old normal. As I mentioned (if not buried) in a post last week, my wife and I relocated from Orlando to Los Angeles last week because she is starting a new job (we will still have our permanent home in Texas). Anyway, as the consultants start to think about traveling again, I have compiled some thoughts from my own research and experience since I'm the only one who has flown or stayed in hotels over the past two months, due to the relocation. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lean-blog-audio/support

http://www.leanblog.org/audio304 It was a sad weekend, hearing about the passing of Paul H O'Neill, Sr. on Saturday. He was 84. I had the good fortune to meet and spend time with Mr. O'Neill on a few occasions and I'll share some reflections in this post. My condolences go out to his family and friends, and especially to my Value Capture colleagues who worked with him at Alcoa or at the firm over the past 15 years. Here are his obituaries from the WSJ, the New York Times, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. You can also read more about his life on a memorial page that his family set up and people are sharing memories there. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lean-blog-audio/support

http://leanblog.org/audio303 This is from the 3rd edition of my book Lean Hospitals. I've copied and pasted from the book with no additional edits, although I'll bold italic some parts for emphasis. I'll some closing thoughts at the end. For a more complete PDF excerpt, click here (requires Dropbox access). --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lean-blog-audio/support

http://www.leanblog.org/audio302  Thanks to Elisabeth and the team at GoLeanSixSigma.com for inviting me to contribute some thoughts in this piece: How Lean Six Sigma Can Help Fight the Coronavirus Pandemic --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lean-blog-audio/support

http://leanblog.org/audio301 It's great to see examples of manufacturing companies being flexible and adaptive in these challenging times. Lean methods are often providing a huge boost in what can be life-saving efforts. Lean often gets mislabeled as a “low inventory” system (or “zero inventories”) but that misses the point. We don't just lower inventory at all costs (anybody can make that mistake without Lean) — we have to create systems and supply chains that might possibly allow for low inventory. ..... But back to the one manufacturing company that inspired this post. It was great to see this article (hat tip to Brad Miller): How to pivot an entire company in a week–and remain profitable See more in the blog post (link at top) --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lean-blog-audio/support

http://www.leanblog.org/audio300 I had a phone conversation yesterday with an emergency medicine physician after her shift at an unnamed hospital in an undisclosed state. She had a number of frustrations to share and she doesn't really have an outlet (and doesn't want her name out there for fear of retaliation). More importantly, this isn't about one institution. She works in a well respected system. So this lack of preparedness and leadership could be widespread. When I posted my concerns about hospital preparedness for Covid-19, I guess they weren't unfounded. I'm sharing these concerns in a public way because I think it's important to try to inspire other healthcare professionals and improvement specialists who CAN be on site to drive improvements. I also hope it serves as a reminder to the public to NOT GO to the hospital unless it's a life-or-death emergency right now.  "When should I go to the hospital?" and more questions were be covered in a webinar that was done on Wednesday. Listen, watch, or r

http://www.leanblog.org/audio299 I normally love the public radio program "Marketplace" and have listened to it (on radio or as a podcast) for 15 years or so. But, I was very disappointed with this recent piece, which you can read here: "Just-in-time" manufacturing model challenged by COVID-19 Yes, many factories have been shut down in China, which disrupts global supply chains. However, if you're a company that decided to move all of your production to China (to then ship out to customers around the world), that wasn't a "Lean" strategy. It's really difficult to support "just in time" delivery over such long distances. If it were a "Lean" approach to move all of your production to China, then Toyota would have done that. But, Toyota didn't. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lean-blog-audio/support

http://www.leanblog.org/audio298 I've been thinking a lot about hospitals and how they're preparing for the expected tsunami of Covid-19 patients who will need ICU beds and ventilators (when it's expected that there won't be enough of either). There have also been recent preparations (and ongoing actions) to screen patients who arrive at emergency rooms and outpatient clinics. I was at one organization last week that was in the process of installing new protocols and procedures in an outpatient clinic setting and I was able to have a tiny amount of input into that. Now, I'm home and trying to help remotely with the situation. I hope this blog post helps more broadly. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lean-blog-audio/support

http://www.leanblog.org/audio297 Looking back at a blog post and an article from 2012 and 2014... --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lean-blog-audio/support

http://www.leanblog.org/shingo2020 Thanks to the Shingo Institute for inviting me to facilitate a half-day workshop at the Shingo Conference, being held this year in Orlando, April 16 and 17. The workshop covers concepts and methods from my book Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More. I hope you can join us for the conference, as this is an event I have enjoyed in the past — and if you're going to be there, please say hi and, better yet, come to my session. My workshop will be a concurrent session on Friday at 8:30 AM. Here is a video they asked me to make where I share a little bit about the workshop: --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lean-blog-audio/support

http://www.leanblog.org/audio295 Here's an article from Bloomberg BusinessWeek: GE's Larry Culp Faces Ultimate CEO Test in Trying to Save a Once-Great Company Very early on, the article mentions Culp's advocacy for "Toyota-style lean manufacturing." Or is he pushing "Danaher-style lean manufacturing" and is that different? And does that matter? Culp was "in his element" visiting a GE factory in Pensacola -- can that be said about most CEOs? --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lean-blog-audio/support

http://www.leanblog.org/audio294 Today, I'm sharing a question from a reader who started their career at Toyota and now works at another company. See previous posts with reader questions. The reader has given me permission to share this -- to get your input -- and there are no identifying details included: I came across something interesting at work around goals that I wanted to share with you and perhaps get your thoughts. At the beginning of the fiscal year, our manufacturing sites submitted their cost savings targets to me. I looked them over to make sure they both seem reasonable yet challenging and asked questions as needed. From there, I submitted them to the operations VP for final approval. The VP accepted them without question. We're at the end of the first quarter, and 3 of the 9 sites are not meeting their run rate target... --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lean-blog-audio/support

From 2014 -- http://www.leanblog.org/audio293 We had an excellent English-speaking tour guide for our visit (she lived in Hawaii at one point). As we talked through the facility (up in a "catwalk" that gave good visibility down into the process), she would occasionally stop at pre-determined points to explain something about the process or about the Toyota Production System and its elements. At each stop, there was a box with a microphone and other audio/visual equipment and speakers. She didn't have to carry a microphone with her. The guide was carrying a bag, something between a briefcase and a large purse. One of our sharp-eyed tour attendees, a Chief Medical Officer from a Canadian hospital, noticed a hook that she would hang her bag on while stopped and talking. He asked her about the hook. Sure enough, it was a Kaizen improvement! And, it was her idea. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lean-blog-audio/support

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. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lean-blog-audio/support

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. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lean-blog-audio/support

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? --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lean-blog-audio/support