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Since 2012, I've had the opportunity to visit Japan six times, each trip a deep learning experience–rich with lessons about Lean, Kaizen, leadership, culture, and continuous improvement.

This June, I'm heading back for my seventh visit–and what makes this one especially exciting is that it will be my fifth trip focused on Lean in healthcare… and the first that I've helped design from the ground up.

It's my first trip in this format, but I was invited to partner up with two amazing individuals who have a great deal of experience in organizing and facilitating such tours — Dave Fitzpatrick, a Canadian who has lived and worked in Japan for a long time, and Reiko Kano, who I know as a translator on my earliest trips — and she's highly experienced with Lean and TPS implementations in healthcare in both the U.S. and Japan.

And I want to personally invite you to consider joining us. If not from June 23 to 29, in a later trip. We're also planning on the week of October 26, 2025 along with trips in April and October of 2026.