Lean Blog Interviews

Joining me today is Jim Lancaster, CEO of the company Lantech, a manufacturer that is the leader in stretch wrap technology and innovation, as well as case handling equipment. Jim is also author of the new book, published by the Lean Enterprise Institute, titled The Work of Management: A Daily Path to Sustainable Improvement. This episode is sponsored by the eVSM Group. It's almost 20 years now since the book "Learning To See" was published and value stream maps were established as central to a lean deployment. What has changed rapidly, however, is the supporting eVSM toolset that captures and analyzes the initial wall maps, making it easy to do "what-if" studies and prioritize improvements. Receive a free eBook and see the state of the art at evsm.com/2020.

My guests for Episode #282 of the podcast are two continuous improvement leaders from Cleveland Clinic: Dr. Lisa Yerian and Nate Hurle. Lisa is the Medical Director, Continuous Improvement and Nate is the Senior Director, Continuous Improvement.She's a doctor, he's an engineer, and they work together very closely in their efforts to help drive improvement at the Clinic. You can find them on Twitter as @LisaYerianMD and @NateHurle. In today's episode, we talk about topics including the Cleveland Clinic Improvement Model (see my previous posts on this), how their program is structured, what a "culture of continuous improvement" means to them and their staff, how to get others to accept Lean and C.I. methods, and some of the challenges they are facing in their work.

Joining me for Episode #281 of the podcast is Julie Firman, DNP, RN, FACHE, the Vice President/ System Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) at Southern Illinois Healthcare. We have the opportunity to chat about the Lean transformation efforts at SIH thanks to my partners at Catalysis, as they are presenting the annual Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit this year in Palm Springs, June 7 and 8. Julie and I will both be there and I'll be doing a full-day workshop called "Better Metrics." Come join us! In today's episode, we talk about how Lean has been helpful to nurses (and other healthcare professionals), Julie's role as a nurse leader, and different ways patients and the health system have benefitted.

A returning guest today for episode #280 is John Dyer, president of his consulting firm, JD&A, Inc., and a contributor for IndustryWeek.com. As we discussed in episode #229, John started his career at General Electric and later moved to Ingersoll-Rand, where he was VP of Operations for their Security and Safety sector. He also had the good fortune to learn directly from W. Edwards Deming, as he took the famed four-day seminar (that included the Red Bead Experiment) and was also invited to take the follow on course with a smaller group. You'll also want to scroll down to see the great picture that he posted on Twitter of him and Dr. Deming. Today, our focus is that famed "Red Bead Experiment." We'll talk about it, he'll share memories of Dr. Deming facilitating this, and we'll both share and discuss our reflections and our experiences with this, and the lessons learned. Tomorrow, I am facilitating the experiment as part of my "Better Metrics" workshop that I'm leading in Seattle through Catalysis. I'll als

Back in 2012, I did a podcast interview (Episode 153) with a psychologist and family therapist, Robert Maurer, PhD. It's been almost five years since the discussion, but I'm often reminded of what I learned from his books and his advice about small change. It's human nature for us to be afraid of change. Instead of lecturing people to be brave, we need to work within our limitations. How do we avoid the "fight or flight" instinct and reaction from kicking in? We start by making change SMALL. That's a key Kaizen insight that Dr. Maurer is able to tie to the way our brain works. Here's our original discussion: https://www.leanblog.org/2012/07/podcast-153-robert-maurer-phd-the-kaizen-way/

In the Lean community (and in businesses and hospitals, as well), people often talk about "fire fighting" in a colloquial way. Today, my guest for episode #278 of the podcast is an actual professional fire fighter, Tom Bouthillet (@tbouthillet on Twitter). He serves as Fire Captain / Paramedic for the Hilton Head Island Fire Rescue where he is the Cardiac Care Program Manager (STEMI and CARES Site Coordinator). In this episode, we discuss the role of Lean and process improvement in fire departments and EMS, why blame is "completely ineffective" as a strategy, why "unsafe supervision" is a problem (and what that means), and why it's necessary to build in quality instead of just inspecting for quality.

Joining me for episode #277 of the podcast is Kay Kendall (@KayAKendall), co-author (with Glenn Bodinson) of the excellent book "Leading the Malcolm Baldrige Way: How World-Class Leaders Align Their Organizations to Deliver Exceptional Results." Kay is CEO & Principal at BaldrigeCoach (see her bio there). Since 1989, BaldrigeCoach has worked with organizations across every sector, large and small, to use the Baldrige framework to create focus, align empowered employees, provide high quality products and services, deliver exceptional customer experience, and achieve enviable results. In this episode, we discuss topics including her background in manufacturing and quality, her experience with the Baldrige approach, and the ways that Lean and Baldrige are complementary.

My guest for Episode #276 is a Lean consultant (although he might not prefer that term) and an author, A J (Andy) Sheppard. Andy is the author of The Incredible Transformation of Gregory Todd: A Novel about Leadership and Managing Change. He also contributed a chapter to my Practicing Lean book project. You can download the PDF of his chapter here and I hope you'll consider buying the book (it's for a good cause). He is a coach for leaders of change. His core expertise is helping workforces to quickly achieve systematic change in practice. A former McKinsey & Company consultant, he has now spent eighteen years working out this art of transformation in diverse industrial environments across the USA, Europe and Asia. He also continues to draw from prior experience of navigating change in corporate environments and experiencing it on shop floors. Further information about Andy can be found on www.ajsheppard.com. Andy is also happy to take any follow-up questions about leading change on his Goodreads Author P

My guest for Episode #275 is Katie Anderson, following up on her last appearance here in Episode #233. Now, she has been back home in California and shares some more recent reflections on her time there, what she learned, and what she continues to learn. In this episode, we talk about how Lean isn't inherently Japanese in all ways, Ashikaga (the "5S City"), a key mentor of hers (Isao Yoshino), and more.

My guest for Episode #274 of the podcast is Jay Arthur, author of Lean Six Sigma for Hospitals: Improving Patient Safety, Patient Flow and the Bottom Line, Second Edition. To me, "Lean Sigma" is often a controversial topic... not because anything is wrong with Six Sigma. Six Sigma methods can be very compatible with a Lean culture. But, "Lean Sigma" books and trainers (including Jay), paint a picture that says Lean is only about speed or efficiency and that Six Sigma is the method to improve quality. He says pretty directly in his book that Lean helps fix all of the types of waste... except for the waste of defects. He says Six Sigma is used to address defects. That's silly. I challenge Jay a bit about this in the podcast, and I'd like to remind the listeners that Lean and the Toyota Production System are about flow AND quality. Lean and quality go hand in hand. Lean methods and mindsets can very directly improve quality. So, I disagree with him on that point, but there are many good points in his book about

Joining me for Episode #273 of the podcast is David Veech, author of the new book Leadersights: Creating Great Leaders Who Create Great Workplaces. David is a senior lecturer in the Department of Management Sciences at Ohio State University and their Fisher College of Business, teaching in the MBOE program (see his full bio). Veech was previously a lecturer in the College of Engineering at the University of Kentucky. He joined the University of Kentucky after retiring from the US Army in 2001. He taught in the Defense Acquisition University from 1998 to 2001 and was assistant professor of military science at Stetson University from 1988 to 1991. In today's episode, we talk about his book, how his background and career in the Army influenced his views on Lean and leadership, "self-efficacy," and more.

My guest for Episode #272 is Steve Thompson, Director of Patient Driven Supply Network initiatives for Cardinal Health, a global, integrated healthcare services and products company. He is also a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, dating back to his time spent working in the automotive industry. In today's episode, we talk about his lessons learned from General Motors and Lear Corporation and how he's helping healthcare leaders apply these lessons to improve their supply chain operations. In the past year, I've had a marketing partnership with Cardinal Health, which has led to content like this webinar and article, but after meeting Scott last year and having a great chat, I'm doing this podcast outside of that formal partnership. I'm pleased to have him on the podcast.

Joining me for Episode #271 is Isaac Mitchell (@IssacMitchell), talking about Lean Design for healthcare, the Society for Health Systems, and more. Isaac is a full-time lean practitioner at East Tennessee Children's Hospital, a lecturer at the University of Tennessee's Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, and an instructor for the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers. You can read his bio (PDF) and learn more about Isaac via his personal website. Scroll down to the show notes for links to a special Lean Hospitals book excerpt and more free downloads about Lean Design and Isaac's work at ETCH.

My guests for Episode #270 of the podcast are two physicians: Paul DeChant, MD and Diane Shannon, MD. They are co-authors of the recently-released book Preventing Physician Burnout: Curing the Chaos and Returning Joy to the Practice of Medicine. Paul was previously a guest for Episode #230. In this episode, we talk about the symptoms and causes of burnout for physicians and other healthcare professionals. We also talk about how Lean, in particular "Lean done right," can help prevent or even reverse burnout by eliminating some of the systemic causes, such as the never-ending chaos that exists in far too many organizations.

Joining me for Episode #269 are Brian MacNeice & James Bowen, co-authors of the recently released book Powerhouse: Insider Accounts into the World's Top High-performance Organizations. They are founders of the international Kotinos Partners consultancy. In this episode, we talk about the book and take a deeper dive into two of the organizations they profiled: Toyota and Mayo Clinic. I think it's always interesting to see what people outside of our "Lean community" see when they study Toyota. They describe how "continuous improvement is at the heart of Toyota's high-performance model." And, as somebody committed to healthcare improvement, I'm always curious to learn lessons from organizations like Mayo Clinic. The authors write about a key driver of the Mayo Clinic's success being its "commitment to collaborative medicine."

My guest for Episode #268 is a long-time friend of mine in the Lean community and Lean Enterprise Institute circles, Tom Ehrenfeld (@tomehrenfeld). Tom is a writer and editor living in Cambridge, MA. A former writer/editor with Inc. Magazine and Harvard Business Review, he is the author of The Startup Garden: How Growing A Business Grows You. He works as a consulting editor for LEI and with many other Lean authors. He's a regular contributor to LEI's "The Lean Post." Eight of his edited books have won the Shingo Research Award. Today, we talk about some of the books he's played a role with, we'll talk about the evolution of the understanding of Lean, and his thoughts on shifting from his experience covering startups to thinking about "The Lean Startup" methodology in more recent years.

Joining me for Episode #267 is Stephen M. Shortell PhD, MPH, MBA. He is Blue Cross of California Distinguished Professorship, HPM and is a Professor of Organizational Behavior at the University of California Berkeley School of Public Health. He is the director of the Center for Healthcare Organizational and Innovation Research (CHOIR). Today, we are talking about Lean healthcare and a new initiative that's part of CHOIR called CLEAR: the Center for Lean Engagement & Research in Healthcare. You can read a release about CLEAR, which highlights funding coming from the Lean Enterprise Institute, the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value, and Rona Consulting Group. In this episode, we talk about the Center, their planned research, and some reasons why there is variation in what organizations would describe as "Lean" - variation in methods and approach as well as variation in results.

My guest for Episode #266 of the podcast is Karyn Ross (KRCLean4Service on Twitter), co-author of the new book (with Jeff Liker): The Toyota Way to Service Excellence: Lean Transformation in Service Organizations. Karen first learned about and applied Lean in companies like Paychex, Zurich Insurance, and Liberty Mutual Insurance and has worked with other service sector companies as a consultant. In this episode, we'll discuss her book and the important applications of Lean in service settings. Karyn says delighting customers requires something different than a "mechanistic Lean implementation" approach - and I agree, completely. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.

Joining me for Episode #265 of the podcast is Bernita Beikmann, AIA, EDAC, LSSBB, a Principal and Director of Lean Strategy at HKS, an international architecture firm. Bernita is originally from Kansas and has a Bachelor of Architecture from Kansas State University and a Certificate in Regional and Community Planning. She moved to Dallas in 1996 and has been employed by HKS, Inc in Dallas since that time. We first crossed paths when we had the opportunity to work together on a project for Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis to work with staff and leaders on designing parts of a new patient tower. You can read a bit about that work here. I hope you enjoy our conversation.

My guest for Episode #264 is a friend from here in the Dallas / Fort Worth area, Tyrone Butler. He is LSS Managing Partner at his company, Butler Active Business Solutions LLC. He has a background in the Air Force, he pre-dated me at Dell Computer in the 1990s, and he's being doing a lot of work all over the world with Lean, Six Sigma, and other methodologies for improving software and project delivery, like ITIL. Tyrone is one of the first to hold the "Certified Executive Master Black Belt (CEMBB)" certification through Mikel J. Harry, PhD. We first met probably back in 2010 when we were both part of a Lean group that went to visit the Toyota plant in San Antonio (which I blogged about here and here). In this episode, he'll share some of his experiences, including a presentation to Michael Dell, his thoughts on the combination of Lean and Six Sigma, and methods that he has seen work in software development and other settings.