When I had the chance to go back to Japan last October with Honsha, there was a big focus on what the former Toyota people kept referring to as "a development company." The meaning was that Toyota (and companies with similar performance) focus first and foremost on developing people.

Value is Defined by the Customer (and not all Customers are the Same)

http://www.leanblog.org/audio263

It's said in the Lean methodology that “value is defined by the customer.”

Value can be defined as, in most cases, “Something the customer is willing to pay for.” In healthcare, this gets complicated when patients aren't the ones paying and when patients need care instead of wanting it.

For Big Leaps With New Year’s Resolutions, Start With Baby Steps

Thanks to the Lean Enterprise Institute for publishing my article about Kaizen, new habits, and New Year's resolutions:

Take Baby Steps Towards Improvement

Get the link: http://www.leanblog.org/audio262

Back in 2013, I wrote a post that I published as part of the LinkedIn Influencer series:

The Carrot and The Stick “On Steroids”

Please check it out. I hope it makes you chuckle and think.

It's been a while since I've contributed something to the Lean Enterprise Institute's online publication, The Lean Post (see past articles).

Today, they're allowing me to introduce some ideas from my book Measures of Success. Many "Lean thinkers" just haven't been exposed to these ideas. Many haven't read Deming or Wheeler... it's not their fault for not knowing of Process Behavior Charts and methods like this.

But, I hope this post helps people see that "bowling charts" and "red/green" analysis are not the only way (or the best way) to look at metrics.

My article:

"React Less and Improve More by Using SPC More Effectively"

A retired labor leader from the automotive industry (who reads this blog) sent me a link to this article:

#RedforMed: 1,800 Vermont Nurses Are On Strike Demanding Their Hospital Put Patients Over Profits

The article isn't from a newspaper; it's from a site that provides "independent and incisive coverage of the labor movement and the struggles of workers to obtain safe, healthy and just workplaces."

Again, for the record, I'm all in favor of "safety, healthy, and just workplaces." That's what Lean management aims to deliver.

http://leanblog.org/audio258

“ER wait times down, but only slightly” or ER wait times are virtually the same?

This article was sent by a friend and blog reader from Winnipeg the

other day:

“ER wait times down, but only slightly”

Oh good, the waiting times are down. But what does “only slightly”

mean? Have ER wait times gone down in a meaningful way? Or are they

just comparing two data points? Is this “down” a signal or is it just

noise in the system? These are the types of questions that can be

answered by methods in my new book Measures of Success: React Less,

Lead Better, Improve More

The Catch-22 of #Lean & Kaizen: You Get More ROI by NOT Focusing Only on High-ROI Projects

http://www.leanblog.org/audio257

Leaders & Lean: We Need to Better Support Doctors and Other Providers

When surgeons have no better options than complaining about process problems on LinkedIn, are their leaders and organizations really properly supporting them? In this post, we'll explore questions of blame, accountability, and engaging people in process improvement... being of better service to them.

My Talk in Vegas: Leadership Lessons from Statistics and Psychology

Today, I’m giving a keynote talk at the Lean & Six Sigma World Conference being held in Las Vegas. I don’t normally attend or speak at “Lean Sigma” events, but I had an opportunity to give a new talk that touches on two of my favorite themes in recent years – the need to apply statistics and psychology to our “Lean Management” practices or Six Sigma or whatever.

I also bury the lede and talk about the soft launch of my book "Measures of Success."