Tag: Deming
Debunking Criticisms of Lean and Taylorism in Healthcare: A Response to...
In the article posted today, Pamela Hartzband, M.D., and Jerome Groopman, M.D. (the later the author of the popular book How Doctors Think), rant about all sorts of things… some of which have nothing to do with Lean...
Wise Words from Mark Twain on Continuous Improvement and Perfection
A hat tip goes to Brian Buck for sharing this quote via email recently. Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain, was a pithy and wise man. I didn't remember this quote, but it is attributed to him. It's very appropriate for the type of work we do...
Podcast #238 – Kevin Cahill, on his Grandfather, W. Edwards Deming
Episode #238 is a conversation with somebody I’ve wanted to talk with for a long time, Kevin Cahill. He is the executive director of the W. Edwards Deming Institute. He’s also a grandson of Dr. Deming! ...
Dr. Don Berwick is “Stunned” By How Few Organizations Study Deming
One of the first people in healthcare to be influenced by Deming’s work is Dr. Don Berwick, founder of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (at right in that picture). Berwick wrote about Deming’s ideas back in...
More Notes on Dr. Deming & “If Japan Can, Why Can’t...
Hopefully you've already seen the famed 1980 NBC documentary "If Japan Can, Why Can't We?" that featured Dr. W. Edwards Deming. I posted a link to the video and some notes on Part 1 of the broadcast. Today, I'd like to blog about Part 3 of the program...
Simple Mixups & How Blaming Workers Doesn’t Explain or Prevent Them
When we see a simple error, even in something as silly as sports memorabilia, we would ask "why?" or "how?" instead of "who?" Blaming individuals doesn't help...
It’s Not the Worker’s Fault – in 1980 or Today (Part...
Recently, I shared the famed 1980 NBC documentary, "If Japan Can, Why Can't We?" that essentially introduced W. Edwards Deming to a mainstream Western...
Famed NBC Video with Dr. Deming from 1980 Now Available: “If...
The W. Edwards Deming Institute and Dr. Deming's grandson Kevin Cahill worked with NBC to make the 1980 program available, giving the institute perpetual rights to it (see their blog post). To the institute's credit, they've made this freely available on YouTube.
Rethinking the Five Whys: Introducing the ‘Many Whys’ Approach in Lean...
There’s no magic about the number five. I’ve seen some people write that five is somehow a “magic number.” No, that’s not really the case. Ask why more than once, probably more than twice…
Automakers & Car Dealers Should Survey Customers Who DON’T Buy and...
The world (especially the world wide web) is full of surveys. Tell us how we're doing! Your satisfaction is important to us! We see...
Trying Too Hard to Force Innovation (or Kaizen) Can Backfire
The W. Edwards Deming Institute posted a video of Kevin Cahill, a grandson of Dr. Deming, welcoming people to the event and talking about innovation, or the desire that people have for it. But, they don't know what to do...
“Learning to be Lean” – An Inside Look at a Rapid...
There's a really good article that was published by Modern Healthcare as a special report, written by Sabriya Rice. Sabriya spent a week observing a rapid improvement event (RIE) at the Sts. Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center in Illinois. It's an in depth article that, I think, very accurately reflects the reality that Lean is helpful, but the process isn't easy for a number of reasons.
