Visiting the Toyota Museum in Nagoya
While I’m in Japan this week (read about the trip), I’m going to keep my blogging light – my aim is to share one picture or thought each day. The tour starts on Monday with a visit to a Toyota…
Tag Kaizen
Kaizen: Daily Improvement, Learning, and Leadership in Practice
Kaizen is often misunderstood as small ideas or isolated improvement events. In practice, Kaizen is a daily, people-centered approach to learning and improving work—supported by leadership, good systems, and psychological safety. This archive brings together blog posts, podcasts, and real-world examples of Kaizen in action, across healthcare and other industries, with a consistent focus on leadership behaviors, respect for people, and learning from problems rather than hiding them.
All (6524)3 Strategies (5)30 Rock (5)3P (10)5 Whys (18)5 Whys Survey (10)5S (134)A Lean Guy Reads (13)A.I. (1)A3 (47)A3 management process (1)A3 Open Mic (1)A3 thinking (2)Access (1)Accountability (4)Accounting (13)Ackoff (2)Adam_Zak (8)Admin (1)Adult Education (1)Adult Learning (1)Aerospace (1)Africa (2)Agile (15)AI (39)AI Lean Coach (14)Alaska (3)Alcoa (7)Alfie Kohn (2)Alternate History (1)Amazon (30)AME (6)American Airlines (7)Andon (44)Ankit_Patel (3)Apple (30)April Fool (12)Artificial Intelligence (3)ASQ (8)Auction (2)Audio (196)Audiobook (2)Australia (3)Authentic Conversations (1)Auto Industry (1)Autoliv (1)Automation (6)Automotive (16)Aviation (121)Backlog (10)Bad Systems in the News (8)Bahri (4)Baker (1)Baldrige (7)Balle (9)Banking (3)Bar (2)Bar Rescue (2)Baran (7)Barnas (3)Barnes Jewish (5)Baseball (26)Basketball (3)Batching (2)Batz Foundation (5)Beer Game (1)Being_The_Change (1)Benchmarking (4)Berwick (24)BIDMC (3)Billion Dollar Company (1)biofuels (1)Birth of Lean (2)Blame (160)Bliss (8)Blog Admin (88)Blog_Admin (2)blur (1)BMW (3)Board (1)Bob Emiliani (4)Bodek (76)Boeing (51)Bonini (9)Books (281)Boston (7)Brain (1)Brazil (5)Brophy (1)Buck (2)Burnout (7)business (1)Business Leadership (1)Bussell (1)Byrne (2)C-Suite Leadership (1)Cable (1)Calendar (1)Call Centers (2)Canada (101)Cancer (1)Capacity (1)Cardinal Health (13)Careers (36)Carnival (16)Carrie Schurman (9)Cartoon (7)Castle (5)Catalysis (22)Catchball (2)Cath Lab (1)Cats (1)CEO (184)Certification (1)CFO (1)Challenge (1)Change (57)Change Management (72)Changeover (1)ChangeThis (3)Charity (1)Charts (3)Charts and Graphs (3)ChatGPT (10)Checklist (14)Checklists (60)chemicals (1)Chick-fil-A (3)China (75)China Trip 2016 (6)Chrysler (33)Cincinnati (1)Cleveland Clinic (21)Clinic (1)CMS (1)CNN (1)Coaches (1)Coaching (101)Coffee (7)Collaboration (1)Comedy (5)Command and Control (12)Comments of the Week (1)Communication (2)Communications (8)Community (1)compassion (1)Compliance (1)Condo (4)Conference (1)Conner (1)Construction (6)Consulting (6)Contest (23)Continuous Deployment (1)Continuous Improvement (58)Convis (17)Cooking (3)Corrections (4)Cost (34)cost reduction (1)Costco (1)Countermeasures (1)Covey (7)Covid-19 (54)Covid-19 Pandemic (2)Creative Safety Supply (1)Creative Thinkers (1)Creativity (2)Crisis (1)Critical Strategic Decisions (1)Cross Training (2)Culbert (1)Culture (438)Culture Clash (1)Culture Of Improvement (1)Cunningham (6)Customer (1)Customer Experience (5)Customer Focus (59)Customer Satisfaction (8)Customer Service (12)Cycle Time (1)Dager (2)Daily Management System (5)Dallas (4)Dan Pink (12)Dan_Jones (8)Dan_Pink (13)Danaher (14)Data (1)DC Lean Tour (5)Defect (4)Defects (11)DEI (4)Dell (43)Delphi (13)Demand (1)Deming (490)Denmark (1)Dentist (1)Denver (6)Denver Health (3)Design (11)Design Thinking (5)Detroit (3)Detroit 3 (1)Detroit Three (27)developing solutions (1)DFW (1)Digital (1)DirecTV (3)DMAIC (3)Doctor (180)Don Wheeler (49)Doofus (5)dr (1)Dr. Muda (6)Drucker (2)Dynamic Environment (1)Earthquake (1)Ebola (5)Economics (1)Edmondson (21)Education (34)Efficiency (4)Electric Car (1)Elon Musk (4)Email (2)Emergency (29)Emergency Dept (61)Emil (1)Emiliani (23)Emoji (1)empathy (1)Employee Engagement (17)Employee Voice (1)Empowerment (2)EMR (9)Enabling Bureaucracy (1)Energy (3)Engagement (2)Engand (1)England (47)Entrepreneurship (5)Ephlin (12)Equity (1)Ergonomics (3)Eric Ries (40)Errors (7)Events (6)Everyday Lean (108)Evidence-Based Medicine (1)Excuses (1)Exercise (3)ExperienceChange (7)Experiment (3)Experimentation (3)Eytan (1)Facebook (2)Factory Physics (2)Facts (1)Fail (3)Failure (18)Family (1)Family Guy (1)FastCap (8)Fear (29)Fearless Organization (1)Finland (1)Fire Fighting (5)Fitness (1)Flashback (5)Flexing (2)Flinchbaugh (187)Flow (27)FMEA (4)Fol (1)Food (6)Football (10)Forces Of Destruction (1)Ford (102)Fort Worth (1)FORTUNE (3)Fox News (2)Franciscan (46)Franciscan Videos (8)Fujio Cho (3)Fun (2)Funny (75)Futility (4)Galsworth (10)Gaming the Numbers (43)Garrison Brothers (3)Gas Station (1)Gawande (31)Geisinger (1)Gem (1)Gemba (167)Gemba Academy (8)Genchi Genbutsu (4)General Electric (76)General Motors (10)Germany (3)Gert (2)Gets it Wrong (4)Gilbreth (6)Glover (3)GM (180)Go To Market (1)Goals (1)good jobs (1)Good Jobs Strategy (1)Google (10)Government (139)Green (37)Grey's Anatomy (3)Grocery (2)Group Health (8)Growth Mindset (1)Grunden (16)Gruner (9)Guest (106)Guest Post (29)Guthridge (7)Habit (4)Hajek (1)Hamel (1)Hamilton (3)Hand Hygiene (7)Hanover (7)Hansei (8)Harada (2)Hawaii (1)HBR (2)Health (3)Healthcare (2018)Healthcare Kaien (1)Healthcare Kaizen (99)Healthcare Reform (1)Healthcare Value Network (1)Hebert (1)Heijunka (17)Henry Ford (5)Heparin (3)Hershfield (1)HIMSS (2)hiring (1)Hoeft (1)Honda (6)Honesty (1)Honeywell (2)Honsha Trip (5)Hopkins (1)Hoshin (15)Hoshin Kanri (4)Hospitalist (2)Hotel (5)HP (1)Huddle (13)Huddles (2)Human Error (7)Human Resources (1)Humane (1)Humility (23)Hunmtz (1)Huntzinger (4)Hyundai (1)IBM (2)ICU (1)If Japan Can (3)IHI (6)IIE Blog (1)IKEA (1)Imai (34)Improvement (5)Incentives (7)India (3)Industrial Engineering (1)Industry Week (7)Infections (12)Innovation (46)Inspection (7)Intel (1)Interview Process (1)Interviews (5)Inventory (45)investing in employees (1)Iowa (17)iPad (1)Ireland (2)Irony (1)Israel (1)IT (7)Italy (1)Jaben (4)Jackson (1)Jacobson (5)James (2)Japan (118)Japan Tour (62)Japanese (1)Jidoka (8)Jimmerson (1)Jobs Bank (11)Joiner (2)Joint Commission (3)Jon Miller (5)Jones (2)JPS (4)Just Culture (11)Just in Time (2)Just-In-Time (68)Kach (11)Kaikaku (1)KaiNexus (242)Kaizen (722)Kaizen Event (20)Kaizen Kickoff (1)Kaizen Live (12)Kanban (52)Kaplan (6)Karen Martin (10)Karyn Ross (7)Kata (28)Katie Anderson (26)kind leadership (2)Kindle (2)Kindness (6)Kitchen Nightmares (4)Knowledge Management (1)Kodak (1)Krafcik (2)L.A.M.E. (6)Lab (10)Laboratory (55)Laedership (1)LAME (109)Larry Culp (29)LaSorda (6)Law (4)Layoffs (92)Layout (12)Leader Standard Work (4)Leadershihp (2)Leadership (914)leadership lessons (1)leading with humility (1)Leadreship (1)Leadrship (2)Lean (22)Lean Accounting (1)Lean and Mean (9)Lean Coffee Talk (10)lean community (1)Lean Daily Management (14)Lean Dentist (34)Lean Design (37)Lean Edge (1)Lean Enterprise Institute (1)Lean Hospitals (82)lean leadership (2)Lean Management (14)Lean Management System (5)Lean Memes (6)Lean Mindset (8)Lean Nation (1)Lean Office (3)Lean Pathways (2)Lean Principles (1)lean production (1)Lean Sigma (18)Lean Six Sigma (11)Lean Solutions (15)Lean Startup (89)lean startup principles (1)Lean Startup Week (10)Lean thinking (2)Lean Thoughts (2)Lean toolbox (1)Lean transformation (2)Lean UX (1)Lean Whiskey (61)LeanBuzz Poll (1)LeanPub (10)LeanStartupWeek (1)Leantoon (1)Leape (7)Learning (2)LEI (103)Length of Stay (1)Lessons Learned (1)Levy (1)Library (1)Lifehacker (1)Like Lean (29)Liker (51)Linked (1)LinkedIn (29)Lippold (1)Listening (1)Livonia (9)Locher (1)Logistics (1)Lopez (18)Lucid (1)Management (9)Management by Emoji (1)Management System (1)Manufacturing (216)Manufacturing Business (1)Marketing (2)Markovitz (41)Mary Greeley (6)Materials (2)Matt_May (17)Maurer (3)MBA (1)McDuffee (13)McMahon (1)Measures of Success (75)Medical Mistakes (5)Medicare (1)Medium (11)Meier (26)Meijer (1)Memoriam (8)Menlo Innovations (1)Mental Healthcare (1)Mentoring (1)MEP (7)Merck (2)Metrics (57)Mexico (7)Meyer (2)Michigan (16)Micklewright (10)Microsoft (1)Military (46)Mindset (1)Mistake (4)Mistake-Proofing (185)Mistakes (148)MIT (13)MIxtape (184)Model Cell (1)Model Line (1)Moneyball (1)Montreal (1)Moral Injury (1)Morale (3)Motion (4)Motivation (1)Motivational Interviewing (28)Motorola (1)Move (25)Movies (1)Moving (2)MRI (1)MRP (1)Muda (3)Multitasking (1)Mura (1)Muri (3)Music (6)MVP (1)My Favorite Mistake (35)NASA (1)negative bias (1)Nervous System (1)Netflix (1)Netherlands (13)New Zealand (12)NGO (1)NHS (7)NICU (3)Nissan (8)Noble (2)Non-Profit (2)Nonprofit (1)Norval (2)NPR (13)NUMMI (75)NUMMI Tour (6)Nursing (99)NYT (2)NYTimes (85)O.R. (1)Office (8)Ohba (1)Ohio (1)Oil (1)OKRs (2)ONeill (57)Ontario (2)Operating Room (32)operations management (1)Operations Science (1)Organization Building (1)Organizational Behavior (2)organizational development (1)Oscars (6)Outpatient (1)Overburden (3)Overprocessing (14)Overproduction (20)Packaging (2)Par (1)Park Nicollet (14)Parodies (2)Parody (14)Parry (1)Pascal Dennis (16)Patient (5)patient care (1)Patient Experience (4)Patient Flow (79)Patient Focus (4)Patient Safety (392)Patient Satisfaction (10)Patients First Culture (1)Patrick_Anderson (5)Paul Akers (6)PBC Case Studies (38)PBC-Compare (4)PDCA (22)PDSA (71)People Development (1)Perfection (1)performance driver (1)Performance Measures (5)Performance Review (1)Performance Reviews (6)Pharmacy (41)Phlebotomy (1)Phoenix (1)Physician (17)Physicians (1)pink (1)Pittsburgh (2)Pivot (1)Pizza (4)Pod (1)Podcast (537)Podcast - Bodek (15)Podcast - CEO (45)Podcast - Deming (17)Podcast - Docs (45)Podcast - Healthcare (149)Podcast - Kaizen (12)Podcast - Lean Startup (14)Podcast - LEI (15)Podcast - Toyota (23)Podcast - Womack (6)Podcast 20 Years (5)Poka Yoke (5)Politics (2)Poll (2)Porsche (3)Power Of Kata (1)Practice (2)Practicing (1)Practicing Lean (25)Preventative (1)Primary (1)Primary Care (3)Prius (5)Private Equity (1)Problem (1)Problem Solving (175)Problem-Solving Approach (1)Problems (4)Process (4)Process Behavior Charts (116)Process Design (2)Process Improvement (5)Product Development (7)Product Market Fit (1)Productivity (10)Profit = Price - Cost (40)profitability (1)Pronovost (10)Psychological Safety (116)Psychology (2)Publishing (10)Pull (5)Punishment (3)Quaid (11)Quailty (1)Quality (338)Quality Circle (5)Quality Digest (20)Quebec (1)Quick Hits (1)Quotes (1)Radio (8)Radiology (10)Rapid Improvement Event (4)Reader Questions (55)Reading (23)Recruiting (3)Red Bead (16)Red-Green (6)Reflection (2)Remote Work (1)Research (1)Resilience (1)Resistance (7)resp (1)Respect (6)Respect for Business (1)Respect for People (280)Restaurant (55)Results (1)Retail (34)Retaurant (1)Review (3)Rewards (1)Rhode Island (1)Richardson (1)Rivian (1)ROI (3)Root Cause (4)Root Cause Analysis (3)RootCauseRacism (16)Rother (11)Russia (4)Safe Environment (1)Safety (177)Sales (4)San Antonio (1)Saskatchewan (9)Sayer (2)Scholtes (3)Scientific Thinking (1)Scotland (2)Scott & White (2)Searching (4)Seasonality (1)Seattle (25)Seddon (4)Senge (1)Sensei (3)Servant Leadership (2)Service (4)Services (3)Seth Godin (2)Shannon (7)Shewhart (2)Shingo (58)Shingujitsu (5)Shipping (1)Shook (62)SHS (18)Signs (14)Simmer (1)Simpsons (3)Sin (1)Siren Song (14)Six Sigma (102)Small Tests of Change (1)SMED (10)Software (77)South Africa (1)Southwest (3)Soviet (2)Space (4)SpaceX (1)Spaghetti Diagrams (1)Spain (1)Spanish (1)SPC (29)Speaking (10)Spear (36)Spearman (1)Sports (179)SQDC (4)Standardization (2)Standardized Work (221)Starbucks (57)Startup (2)Startups (30)Statistics (2)Strategy (19)Strategy Deployment (32)Strong America (2)Struggles (4)Studer (20)Stuff (1)Stupid (2)Suggestion (2)Suggestion Box (29)Suggestions (7)Supervision (1)Supply Chain (55)Surgeon (3)Surgery (6)Sushi (1)sustainability (1)Sustainable Workplace (1)Sutton (1)Swartz (13)Sweden (8)System Dynamics (2)Tacky Advertising (1)Taiichi Ohno (70)Takt (5)Targets (1)Taylor (5)Taylorism (33)Teaching (1)Team (1)Team Building (1)Teamwork (4)Tech Support (3)Technology (10)TechSolve (2)Telecom (1)Tesla (15)Tetreault (1)Texas (5)The Jerk (1)The Mistakes That Make Us (58)The Office (4)The Resident (1)ThedaCare (205)ThedaCare Center (9)Thelen (5)Throwback (59)Tiered Daily Huddles (2)Time (3)TMMTX (3)Toast (6)Tom Peters (12)Toronto (1)Toussaint (127)Toyota (648)Toyota 1992 Booklet (6)Toyota culture (4)Toyota Kata (19)Toyota leadership (1)Toyota management (3)Toyota mentality (2)Toyota Production System (6)Toyota system (1)Toyota Way (2)Toyotas (1)TQM (10)Training (11)Training Within Industry (67)Transformation (3)Transparency (2)Transportation (2)Trash (1)Travel (62)True North (1)Trump (3)Trust (5)TSSC (8)Turgeon (13)Twitter (19)UAW (1)Uber (3)Understanding Variation (4)Unicorn (1)Union (3)Unions (3)United Technologies (1)UPS (8)USA Today (15)User Experience (1)User Interface (1)VA (15)Vaccination (12)Value (29)Value Capture (31)Value Steam (1)Value Stream (9)Value Stream Mapping (39)ValuMetrix (2)Van Dongen (5)Variation (10)Veterinary (7)VetMed (7)VIBCO (21)Video (262)Virginia Mason (114)Virtual (2)Vision (1)Visual Displays (3)Visual Management (52)Voice of the Customer (3)Volkswagen (2)Wachter (5)Wagner (21)Waiting (7)Walgreens (3)Walmart (12)Walters (5)Warning (6)Washington (2)Waste (149)waste elimination (1)Water (2)Webinar (96)Website (1)Weekend (3)Weekend Fun (21)Weight (1)Welch (7)Wellman (4)Wells Fargo (2)Wetzel (1)Wheeler (1)Whiskey (28)Whisky (3)Whole Foods (3)Wine (12)Wiremold (5)Wisconsin (23)Womack (107)women leaders (1)work culture (2)Work Design (1)Workaround (8)Workarounds (1)WorkOut (1)Workplace Culture (2)Workshop (6)Workshops (1)Wrye (3)WSJ (203)Yahoo (1)Yokoten (1)Zappos (1)Zarbo (1)Zero Defects (1)Zero Harm (6)Zoom (2)
Archive of Free Webinar – Greg Jacobson, MD on Kaizen for Healthcare
Updated 11/8 to include a link to the recording and changing the post to past tense. Gregory Jacobson, MD, co-founder and CEO of KaiNexus (disclosure: I’m on the management team) gave a free webinar next Tuesday, November 6 at 3…
KaiNexus Education Video #7 – No Countermeasure? That’s OK
Here is the seventh in our series of short, simple Kaizen education videos from KaiNexus, a software startup where I am on the management team. We are embedding these videos into our web-based (and iOS) software, to provide short tips and hints…
Kaizen vs. the Suggestion Box: Why Employee Engagement Requires Leadership, Not a Tool
Suggestion boxes collect ideas–but Kaizen builds capability. In this short video, I explain why continuous improvement depends on leadership behaviors, not passive systems. The Lean Enterprise Institute recorded this short video while we were at the recent Northeast Shingo Prize…
Learning Jazz (and Lean?): Imitate, Integrate, Innovate
Although I don’t get to play much anymore, I used to be a pretty serious drummer (I almost said “musician,” but that invites jokes that drummers aren’t really musicians). I was more of a percussionist — playing everything from timpani…
Elon Musk Wrongly Pooh-Poohs Process as a Substitute for Thinking
I’ve always been intrigued by entrepreneur (and billionaire) Elon Musk. He founded PayPal (which I have used for over ten years), founded SpaceX (which I would love to use, but can’t afford), and is the CEO of Tesla (not really…
KaiNexus Update – User Badges & Sharing Improvements Widely
The team at KaiNexus (where I am the “chief improvement officer”) is always improving. I want to share a few of these improvements, as our CEO/co-founder Greg Jacobson, MD and I are presenting today at the annual conference of the…
KaiNexus Education Video #6 – Improve Continually
Here is the sixth in our series of short, simple Kaizen education videos from KaiNexus, a software startup where I am on the management team. We are embedding these videos into our web-based (and iOS) software, to provide short tips and hints…
Guest Post: Kaizen and Passion
Mark’s note: Today’s guest post is from a friend of mine from The Netherlands. I had a chance to visit Marc and his hospital back in 2009 and I’ve seen Marc and colleagues the last three years at the Lean…
How Do You Find a Lean Healthcare Person?
Mark’s Note: Today’s guest post is from a great friend of mine and this blog, Dean Bliss, of the Iowa Healthcare Collaborative. Check out my podcast with him. By Dean Bliss As someone who’s been doing Lean in healthcare for…
Guest Post: Kaizen’s Test for the Best
Today’s guest post is by Duke Rohe, a Quality Improvement Education Consultant at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. I know Duke from his heavy involvement with the Society for Health Systems. Kaizen’s Test for the Best Idea…
Guest Post: The Tides of Change
Mark’s note: Ankit Patel is a returning guest blogger and a good friend in the world of Lean and Lean Healthcare. Check out his blog and website. By Ankit Patel: In all my years of practicing lean/process improvement I’ve…
