Tag: Leadership

Leadership That Builds Better Systems, Better Results, and Better Work

Leadership isn’t about titles, charisma, or quick decisions—it’s about creating systems where people can do their best work and continuously improve. This archive brings together blog posts, podcasts, and reflections on leadership through a Lean lens, drawing on ideas from Deming, Toyota, healthcare, and real-world management practice. The common theme: leaders shape culture, influence behavior, and own the systems that produce results—for better or worse.

Labor Day Reflections for a Safer Week (and Years) Ahead

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I didn't have a post yesterday because it was the Labor Day holiday here in the U.S. While I'm not a "worker," in the...

Characteristics of Lean Leaders

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Ted Stiles is one of the handful of key recruiters I know in the world of Lean healthcare.  Disclosure: I recently joined the advisory...

Podcast #157 – Nick Sarillo, ‘A Slice of the Pie’ –...

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Joining me for episode #157 is Nick Sarillo, founder of Nick's Pizza & Pub and author of the new book (out September 13) called...

The Two Root Causes of Everything?

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One thing I have enjoyed in the past few years is meeting and working with more people with direct experience working at Toyota (including...

Learning from Medical Mistakes: Why Preventable Errors Keep Repeating in Healthcare

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Preventable medical mistakes remain one of the most serious challenges in healthcare, yet many hospitals still struggle with learning from medical errors and preventing...

Podcast #152 – Matt Stewart, “Walk On,” Lessons from Northwestern’s Unlikely...

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My guest for podcast #152 is Matt Stewart, and we are talking about his book The Walk-On: Inside Northwestern's Rise From Cellar Dweller To Big...

“Why Charter Schools Work” – Questions of Autonomy, Responsibility, Standardized Work...

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My mom is a retired public school elementary teacher, so I've heard plenty of stories about bad management decisions within a school system and...

Jerks Can Be Creativity Killers, Alright

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Saw this in the most recent Fast Company:   Is Your Manager A Creativity Killer? If the manager is something like a case study from...

New Book by @PaulFLevy – “Goal Play!” with Lessons for Healthcare

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Paul Levy, the former CEO of Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, is a long time friend of mine and this blog (read his...

More Than Grammar in This WSJ Grammar Quiz

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Last week, my dad pointed out this grammar quiz on the Wall Street Journal website (as part of the article "This Embarrasses You and...

Changing Leadership Styles with Lean

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As I've heard people say, Lean management isn't necessarily complicated - it's just very different. In an organization that is undergoing a "Lean transformation," leaders...

Robert Andino of the Baltimore Orioles & Dr. W. Edwards Deming

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Dr. W. Edwards Deming famously said that managers can't hope to motivate employees, as they can only hope to not demotivate them. I wrote...
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