In this post, I look at the impact (or lack thereof) of targets, rankings, and incentives, when it comes to safe driving or PCI (angioplasty) procedures in a hospital cath lab. Are we improving? How do we know? How do we improve?

It's time for another new, revised edition of my book! It was originally published in 2008 as Lean Hospitals: Improving Quality, Patient Safety, and Employee Satisfaction.

This article in The Wall Street Journal caught my eye the other day: "Can Tech Speed Up Emergency Room Care?" But, it seems like the real story is process redesign, which is barely mentioned in the story...

A few of you sent me this article... and you were correct to think I would be interested:"Inside Alabama's Auto Jobs Boom: Cheap Wages, Little Training, Crushed Limbs

The South's manufacturing renaissance comes with a heavy price."

It's been 10 years since I first wrote about my awkward acronym L.A.M.E. Is it helpful to distinguish between true Lean principles and "Lean As Misguidedly Explained?" Will we see more L.A.M.E. talk and behaviors in the future?

Today, I'm happy to share a link to a white paper that I co-authored for Catalysis (formerly the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value).The paper is titled: "Lean for Doctors."

Appropriately, the co-authors are two physician leaders you might very well know: Dr. John Toussaint (founder of Catalysis) and Dr. Jack Billi (from the University of Michigan).

Today's Post in&t;50 words: Lean thinkers don't blame individuals who in a bad system, whether that's a presenter at Oscars, a kicker in a football game, or a healthcare professional in a hospital.

In today's post, I write about how Kaizen starts with you. I share some examples of "personal Kaizen," including the way I've streamlined my call scheduling process, for my benefit and for others.

http://leanblog.org/audio186

While I'm writing here about Northwestern men's basketball learning from Duke (without copying everything), the same ideas apply if you're Ford learning from Toyota or a hospital learning from ThedaCare.

http://www.leanblog.org/audio185

Thanks to GoLeanSixSigma.com for asking me some questions for a discussion that they've posted on their website.