“You can’t expect a microwave pope”

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In all of the news of the newly announced Pope Francis, this line from a news article made me chuckle… after three votes did not result in the election of a Pope:

“You can't expect a microwave pope. It's a process.”

These were not the words of a Church spokesperson, but, rather, some 34-year old American in St. Peter's Square. The words reminded me of something  W. Edwards Deming used to say.

Dr. Deming famously said, “There is no instant pudding,” in regards to organizational transformation. There are no silver bullets or magic fixes to our business problems, as much as executives might look for them.

Electing a pope took five votes. Creating a Lean culture or a culture of continuous improvement takes much longer.

Habemus ieiunium clibano?? That's Latin for “we have a fast oven.”


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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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