Lean Blog Interviews: Real-World Lean Leadership Conversations in Healthcare and Beyond

By Mark GrabanBusiness Management

Lean Blog Interviews: Real-World Lean Leadership Conversations in Healthcare and Beyond episodes

June 09, 2021Dr. John Kenagy on Adaptive Design Kata: An Improvement and a Leadership Kata (Lean Healthcare)
MD, author, Kenagy & Associates
This file has cleaned up audio compared to the initial release.
Show notes: https://www.leanblog.org/417
My guest for Episode #417 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is John W. Kenagy, MD, MPA, ScD, FACS, of his firm Kenagy & Associates based in Washington state.
John is the author of the book Designed to Adapt: Leading Healthcare in Challenging Times.

Dr. John Kenagy knows healthcare as a physician, executive, academic researcher and advisor. In addition to his clinical experience as a vascular surgeon, he has been Chief of Surgery, Chief of Staff and Regional Vice President for Business Development in a not-for-profit healthcare system. But, his most meaningful experience was becoming a patient, as we'll hear about today.
Searching for new answers, he became a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Business School. His research included developing disruptive innovation healthcare strategy with Harvard Professor Clayton Christensen and translating to healthcare the drivers of success in resilient, highly adaptive companies like Toyota, Intel and Apple.
Dr. Kenagy is hosting a webinar in the KaiNexus Continuous Improvement webinar series on June 15th. Please join us for that by registering here.
Topics, questions, and links related to today's episode include:
What's your Lean / Toyota Production System “origin story”?
What he learned after falling out of a tree in 1982
What he learned from Clayton Christensen, Kent Bowen & Steve Spear at HBS
“Toyota enables people to succeed & makes learning part of that success”
4 Rules in Use – the essence of TPS
Spear: Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System
The rules applied in HC? What did you learn?
Learned also from Amy Edmondson at HBS
Learned from Toyota's Mr. Oba
“Education can get in the way of learning”
Learned at a smaller TMMK supplier, not at Georgetown, only 120 employees
What is “adaptive design”? Origins of that phrase?
Why avoid the word “Lean”?
Being adaptive in dealing with pandemic challenges — what are the characteristics of their success?
Leadership Kata — 5 principles
1) Clear, meaningful objective (hearts & minds)
2) always start small, simple, safe, and fast
3) use relevant (timely, role specific, actionable) info and simple rules, rapid feedback on effects on your action
4) improvements made by teams involving people doing the work
5) replicate and scale, success trust and optimism … never stop
What do you mean by “virtuoso leadership”?
The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in their 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more.
This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network.
1 hr 3 min
June 02, 2021Brad Jeavons on How to Remotely Deploy Lean and Agile (Outside of Manufacturing)
Apologies for the initial editing error... re-releasing this episode.
Author of Agile Sales: Delivering Customer Journeys of Value and Delight
Show notes and links: https://www.leanblog.org/416
My guest for Episode #416, joining us from Brisbane, Australia, is Brad Jeavons, a principal consultant with SA Partners. His colleague Peter Hines was a guest in Episode #373.
Brad is the author of the book Agile Sales: Delivering Customer Journeys of Value and Delight.
Brad is also the host of The Enterprise Excellence podcast and I was his guest on Episode #20 of that series. You can also find the episode (and more) on YouTube.
Topics, questions, and links related to today's episode include:
How did you get introduced to Lean? And to Agile?
What does growing up on a small farm have to do with it?
Connections between Toyota and farming
What do you mean by the McDonalds-ization of Lean and what problems does that cause?
What's the story behind your book?
Key lessons about improvement work for remote workplaces? Lessons from the last year?
Why is it so important to focus on purpose? To start with why?
What are some of your key lessons related to People? Agile?
What are some of your lessons about focusing on Process?
Your perspective on Lean as a GM as opposed to being a “staff lean guy”?
The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in their 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more.
This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network.
1 hr 6 min
May 26, 2021Tracy O'Rourke on Vaccinations, Lean Six Sigma in Government, and More
Co-founder of the Just-in-Time Cafe
Show notes: https://www.leanblog.org/415
My guest for Episode #415 of the Lean Blog Interviews podcast is Tracy O'Rourke. She is the co-author of The Problem-Solver's Toolkit: A Surprisingly Simple Guide to Your Lean Six Sigma Journey. She is co-founder of the Just-in-Time Cafe (which producers podcasts, webinars, and more). She is also a self-described “process improvement ZEALOT!”
We had the chance to meet up to visit two vaccination sites in San Diego in March, and the two photos in the post are from that time together (as I blogged about here). That's one of the topics in this episode.
Topics, questions, and links related to today's episode include:
How did you get introduced to C.I. and what flavor(s)? How did you become a Zealot?
She is the Lead Instructor at UC San Diego for the Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (public offering)
Visiting the UCSD vaccination sites – University and health system
What we saw
Walking the process
Jerry Wright handed her the torch to be the SoCal Lean Network Chair
20 years in consulting, from industry to government, non-profit and education
Can you tell us about a specific example of some of the work you've done in government?
How do you know that it worked?
She's also part of the Lean Communicators Network
51 min
May 19, 2021Ryan Weiss on Purpose + People + Process = Performance; Modernizing TWI
President of Effective Performance Solutions
Show notes: https://www.leanblog.org/414
My guest for Episode #414 of the Lean Blog Interviews podcast is Ryan Weiss. He is president of his firm Effective Performance Strategies, based out of the Chicago area.
Topics, questions, and links related to today's episode include:
How did you get introduced to Lean?
Becoming a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt
How do you engage people? What was your epiphany on people?
Purpose + People + Process = Performance
Taxation without representation :: kaizen without participation
What is TWI?? How were you exposed to Training Within Industry?
Other podcasts on TWI from this series
Modernizing TWI — some sexist language /scenarios in the original
What happens when you're promoted as a leader?
Explaining WHY
It's not just about manufacturing?
The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in their 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more.
This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network.
53 min
May 12, 2021Samantha Riley on Making Data Count and Metrics for Healthcare and Beyond
NHS England, Author of "Making Data Count"
Notes and links: https://www.leanblog.org/413
My guest for Episode #413 of the Lean Blog Interviews podcast is Samantha Riley, the Deputy Director of Intensive Support for NHS England and Improvement. Sam is the author of an amazing publication called “Making Data Count,” which you can read and experience freely online.
Sam and I are “Twitter buddies,” as she said and I follow and enjoy her tweets, especially those using the hashtag #PlotTheDots. We are both users and teachers of (and advocates for) the use of Statistical Process Control charts (aka XmR Charts or Process Behavior Charts) as taught by the statistician Don Wheeler.
Topics, questions, and links related to today's episode include:
What's Sam's professional background and why it's OK that she's not a statistician
Why are RAG (Red Amber Green) charts or tables insufficient?
How do you have the conversation with boards, executives, and managers about RAG being insufficient?
How to bring people to the table for this learning?
Why are up/down comparisons and color coding leading to “knee jerk reactions”?
What is “spuddling“? Why is that a problem?
Spuddling: To make a lot of fuss about trivial things, as if it were important.
50% of boards have changed their approach — how has that come to be?
What language do you use about improving a predictable system?
How did you get exposed to Statistical Process Control?
What led to “Making Data Count“?
What was “the ham sandwich incident”?
How can we use these charts to look at our weight and health?
How to articulate the benefits of SPC?
Her article in BMJ Leader: National Health Service (NHS) trust boards adopt statistical process control reporting: the impact of the Making Data Count Training Programme
The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in their 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more.
This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network.
1 hr 4 min
May 05, 2021MIT's Dr. Jonathan Byrnes on the Pandemic's Supply Chain Shocks
Senior Lecturer at MIT, author, entrepreneur
Show notes: https://www.leanblog.org/412
My guest for Episode #412 of the Lean Blog Interviews podcast is Dr. Jonathan Byrnes, the co-author of the new book Choose Your Customer: How to Compete Against the Digital Giants and Thrive. He is is a Senior Lecturer at MIT, where he has taught about supply chain management and other topics at the graduate level and in executive programs for over 30 years.
He is Chairman and Founder of Profit Isle, an innovative profit analytics and profit acceleration SaaS software company — AND is President of Jonathan Byrnes & Co., a focused consulting company that he founded in 1976. Dr. Byrnes earned a DBA from Harvard University in 1980, and an MBA from Columbia University in 1974.
Topics, questions, and links related to today's episode include:
Article: “How to Manage your Supply Chain Shock Waves“
May 2020 — what did you predict in that article and how did it play out?
The bullwhip effect
The MIT “Beer Game” or “Root Beer Game“
What can you do when there is variance in supply and variance in demand?
Lean as a system, including level loading and local suppliers, not just low inventory
Lean as “cycle time compression” that makes lower inventory possible
Today's glut of hand sanitizer
NY Times: Widespread Commodity Shortages Raise Inflation Fears
WSJ: Auto Makers Retreat From 50 Years of ‘Just in Time' Manufacturing
Mark's blog post about that
The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in their 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more.
This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network.
1 hr 5 min
April 28, 2021The "Founding Mothers" of the "Women in Lean" - Crystal Davis, Karyn Ross, Dorsey Sherman
Crystal Y. Davis, Karyn Ross, Dorsey Sherman
Show notes: https://www.leanblog.org/411
My guests for Episode #411 are the co-founders or "founding mothers" of the group called "Women In Lean: Our Table." They are Crystal Davis, Karyn Ross, and Dorsey Sherman. Crystal was my guest back in episode 363 and Karyn was my guest in episode 266. Dorsey, welcome as a first-time guest!
All three of them were part of this panel discussion webinar that I moderated last year. Crystal's company is The Lean Coach, Inc., Karyn's is Karyn Ross Consulting, and Dorsey's is Modele Consulting.
Topics and questions in today's episode (and related links):
How did the Women in Lean group get started, and why?
Why do they (and many women) feel like they don't have "a seat at the table"?
Why can "creating your own table" be helpful?
How can women get involved?
What can we do about the lack of equal representation on stage at Lean conferences?
How can men be better allies for women in the Lean community?
The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in their 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity and healthcare industries. Learn more.
This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network.
53 min
April 21, 2021Keith Champion on the Lucid (Motors) Production System
Senior Manager, Lucid - Formerly Toyota & Tesla
Show notes: https://www.leanblog.org/410
My guest for Episode #410 of the Lean Blog Interviews podcast is Keith Champion, Senior Manager ofOperational Excellence at Lucid Motors, a new entrant in the electric vehicle marketplace, with their Lucid Air luxury sedan hitting the market very soon.
Keith worked for Toyota for more than 17 years (thanks to fellow Toyota alum and previous podcast guest Tim Turner for making the connection). As Keith talks about in the episode, he started as a Team Member at Toyota Georgetown, progressing his career to Team Leader, Group Leader, and other roles. He then spent nine years working for Tesla Motors. Keith then joined Lucid in 2019 -- BTW, the CEO of Lucid, Peter Rawlinson, was previously Vice President of Vehicle Engineering at Tesla and Chief Engineer of the Model S.
Topics and questions in today's episode (and related links):
What's your Lean / TPS origin story? It sort of starts before Toyota
What happens when you "pull the andon cord" at Toyota?
How is Lucid trying to build the culture right the first time?
What is the leadership team like at Lucid?
Is there a management "philosophy" as Toyota might talk about?
What are the core values of Lucid Motors?
What's the biggest operations (and supply chain) challenge related to starting a new factory in Arizona?
How do you build for scalability?
How important is it to have "built in quality" for a luxury vehicle (or any car)?
What is an empowering continuous improvement program? Not just suggestions, but implement...
What are the five key goals and metrics that are used throughout the factory?
Lucid article (and video) about General Assembly
A look at the paint shop
The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in their 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity and healthcare industries. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network.
57 min
April 13, 2021Rituso Shingo on The Toyota Production System and SMED
40 years with Toyota, founder and the first president of Toyota China.
Show notes: https://www.leanblog.org/409
My guest for Episode #409 of the Lean Blog Interviews podcast is Ritsuo Shingo. I first met Mr. Shingo at the Shingo Institute Annual Conference in 2009 when my book Lean Hospitals received the publication prize that's named after his father, Shigeo Shingo. I was also blessed to have time to speak 1x1 with Mr. Shingo, thanks to our mutual friend, the late Norman Bodek, which included discussions about the need for mistake proofing in healthcare -- very vivid memories for me.
Ritsuo Shingo is an expert in leadership with more than 40 years of experience serving at top management positions at Toyota.
He was the founder and the first president of Toyota China. Under his leadership, Toyota China became one of the most successful ventures of Toyota worldwide. Following this success, he was appointed as the president of Hino Motors and then served as the president of GAC-Hino until 2009.
Shingo was the translator of the first book on Toyota Production System in English written by his father, TPS pioneer, Shigeo Shingo in 1976. He applied his father's and other TPS pioneers' teachings into his management practices.
Today he dedicates his time to coaching high-level executives as well as teaching the next generation of leaders his learnings from the practice of Toyota style management. He is teaching a virtual master class in leadership and management, which starts this Thursday:
Practical Leadership Skills – Microcertification program in Management
There will be a discount available for listeners of this podcast - use code 8QQV4AWY0VDF and tell them you heard about it via the Lean Blog Podcast. Disclosure: the NK Institute for Human Advancement offered me a free virtual seat in the workshop.
Topics and questions in today's episode include:
What was the most important thing you learn from your father?
What do you remember about translating the green book?
Big misunderstanding… in the West, they thought suppliers should keep big inventory even though Toyota had none
Just in time requires local suppliers, frequent deliveries, and high quality
You need close relationships with suppliers, win/win collaboration
How do you explain TPS?
“An accumulation of small improvements”
“Wherever you go, workers are not the problem”
“It's a management problem, but sometimes they blame workers”
He told a plant manager he was “escaping from his responsibility”
What is the origin of the term SMED – Single Minute Exchange of Die?
What are the golf origins?
Should it have been called SDED – Single Digit Exchange of Die, since it means “single digit minutes” not “one minute”?
“It's too late”
You define TPS as “organisational fitness to adapt” rather than a set of methodologies — what do you mean by that? Please tell us more…
“Nobody ever told me what Toyota culture was” — the culture is the people
Is a fully automated plant the best plant? No
How has Toyota fared so well during the pandemic?
Helping the supplier reduce costs together, versus just demanding a lower price (Nissan, Tesla, etc.)
Favorite memories of our friend Norman Bodek?
Tell us more about the workshop
The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in their 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity and healthcare industries. Learn more.
This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network.
58 min
April 07, 2021Katie Labedz on "How to Improve Absolutely Anything"
Author of new book, trainer, consultant
My guest for Episode #408 of the Lean Blog Interviews podcast is Katie Labedz, the author of the new book How to Improve Absolutely Anything: Continuous Improvement in Your Home, Office and Family Life.
Katie Labedz is a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with over 20 years of experience implementing continuous improvement solutions within non-manufacturing and manufacturing environments. Her company is Learning to Lean.
Katie also has her Master's certification in instructional design, her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification through PMI and is a certified instructor/facilitator through Langevin.
Topics and questions in today's episode include:
What's your Lean origin story?
What did you learn moving from IT to manufacturing to working with Lean in office settings?
How is Lean different with “carpet walkers”?
How do you define “continuous improvement”?
When do you need to take a break from improvement to stabilize things?
Lessons from working on virtual improvement this year?
Why write the book?
Favorite practical tips and tricks (Lean methods at home) from the book?
Lessons about motivations and “resistance to change”?
The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in their 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity and healthcare industries. Learn more.
This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network.
55 min

About Lean Blog Interviews: Real-World Lean Leadership Conversations in Healthcare and Beyond

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Lean Blog Interviews: Real-World Lean Leadership Conversations features thoughtful, in-depth discussions with leaders, authors, executives, and practitioners who are applying Lean thinking in the real world.