Management Improvement Carnival #62

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It's once again my pleasure to host the Carnival for John Hunter and his Curious Cat blog. There are many excellent and thought provoking posts from the past month. I hope you'll discover a new blog or two (or new idea) in the process. My Carnival selections run the gamut from manufacturing to healthcare to other industries, but I hope it will help you see the common themes of Lean and the Toyota Production System that are transferable.

Please submit your favorite management posts to the carnival. Read the previous management carnivals on his site or my previous carnivals by clicking the “Carnival” tag at the bottom of this post.

  • LeanBlog Video Podcast #2 – Kevin Frieswick, Error Proofing Handwashing (Mark Graban – Lean Blog): “I'm still experimenting with video podcasting, after my first attempt with Jamie Finchbaugh. LeanBlog Video Podcast #2 is… the video from Kevin Frieswick and MetroWest Medical Center with the device for error proofing hand washing on the way into patient rooms, combined with some excerpts of audio from LeanBlog Podcast #65.”
  • T.M.I. (Matt May – In Pursuit of Elegance): “According to researchers at Indiana University, a good idea can actually distract others from pursuing even better ideas, thereby rendering a truly elegant solution unrealized. In other words, good ideas can prevent great ideas.”
  • Beth Israel Deaconess: Systems, safety, and (avoided) severance‚Ä ¶ (Steven J. Spear – Chasing the Rabbit): “… BIDMC’s efforts to achieve perfect safety by being transparent when systems fail, using that transparency to see problems so they can be solved.

  • Why Quality is Dangerous (Dr. John Toussaint – ThedaCare Center Blog): If we are going to have carrots and sticks it should be centered on what improvements healthcare organizations and providers are making every day, month, and year. Measuring and improving is how we are going to create better performance in healthcare not dictating and punishing. “
  • Mangaging the Burning Platform (Mark Rosenthal – Lean Thinker Blog): “It is really easy to say that, in these emergencies, long term thinking doesn’t matter. But I contend that it is even more important right now. This is a time for action. It is not a time for panic.”

  • Ford vs. The Taxpayer (Kevin Meyer – Evolving Excellence): Bill is back blogging, and with a vengeance —I'm a taxpayer (and one of the few remaining…), and my leader has decided to take my money, a big bunch of money, and invest in GM and Chrysler. And yet, Ford is winning.”

  • I Need More Time (Seth Godin's Blog):First rule of decision making: More time does not create better decisions.”

  • Going to Gemba (Paul Levy – Running a Hospital): By witnessing problems and work-arounds in real time, the team can have a better idea of how to solve problems to root cause and make incremental improvements in work flows.”
  • Leadership Standard Work (Ron Pereira – Lean Six Sigma Academy): “So, dear readers, I’d like to hear what you think. If you were to create a “Leadership Standard Work” document or process what would it look like?”
  • Questionable Assertions: Let's Take a Second Look (Tom Peters Blog): “Manufacturing is hardly dead in the U.S.; that is hogwash; it's microchips and software and biotech and medical devices, not so much autos; mfg as a share of GDP has been pretty much steady, or no more than a tick down, for years in the U.S.—it just doesn't take many people to make things anymore (that's called productivity improvement, the #1 engine of economic growth).”
  • Electronic Medical Records: the “drunk man’s keys” of the healthcare reform debate (Lee Fried – Daily Kaizen): “…if we simply apply cool technology to make our current irrational, unsafe, and overpriced healthcare system more “efficient” then we will have achieved nothing.”
  • 5S Visual Controls at the Airport (Bryan Lund, TWI Blog): You can use this example in your visual control training to ask the following quesiton: What sort of problems might occur if this visual control were not in place?”
  • Why Setting Goals Can Backfire (John Hunter, Curious Cat): “The problem with goals is what actually happens in organizations. They create serious systemic problems and should be avoided (other than in setting the scope). They are deeply ingrained in the way many people think, but we would be better if we could eliminate the use of goals, as they are used now (mainly as arbitrary numerical goals).”
  • Whaddaya Mean I Gotta Be Lean? (Mike Wroblewski, Got Boondoggle?): “Most business books are written for executives and managers which makes Jeff’s book unique in that it seems to be written more for team leaders and team members.”

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Mark Graban
Mark Graban is an internationally-recognized consultant, author, and professional speaker, and podcaster with experience in healthcare, manufacturing, and startups. Mark's new book is The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation. He is also the author of Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More, the Shingo Award-winning books Lean Hospitals and Healthcare Kaizen, and the anthology Practicing Lean. Mark is also a Senior Advisor to the technology company KaiNexus.

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