Tag: PDSA
Anti-Racism: A River WE Must Cross
Starting With the Grand-Daddies of Quality
A few years back I developed a blog series titled, "The Grand-Daddies of Quality"-- my goal was to delve...
Continuing to Continuously Improve My Online Scheduling Process
For years, I've scheduled many phone calls and web meetings. That's only increased during this current Covid-19 era. Sooooo many Zoom meetings. I do...
Performance Reviews vs. Continuous Improvement: What Leaders Treat as “Must-Do” Work
TL;DR: Most organizations say continuous improvement matters, but treat it as optional--while performance reviews are non-negotiable. That choice reveals more about leadership priorities than...
Maybe “Just Do Its” Should Be Called “Just PDSA Its”?
tl;dr: We often label small changes as "Just Do Its," but that can skip over useful thinking. Even the simplest Kaizen can follow a...
The Problem with the “Wedge” Metaphor in Lean Standardized Work
TL;DR: The wedge metaphor, often used to represent standardized work in Lean, can send the wrong message. Instead of assuming people will backslide without...
What ESPN’s MNF Graphics Teaches Us About Real-World PDSA Cycles
tl;dr: ESPN's quick change to a confusing MNF scoreboard graphic shows how fast feedback and responsiveness can turn a misstep into a learning moment....
What My Antiperspirant Taught Me About Standardized Work and PDSA
tl;dr: A small personal annoyance led me through an informal PDSA cycle and revealed how flawed mental models and vague "standardized work" can create...
What Wineries in Spain and France Can Teach Us About Experimentation...
tl;dr: Wineries in Spain and France--many with centuries of history--continue to improve through experimentation. They run small tests, learn from both successes and failures,...
A PDSA Cycle in the Early Days of Baseball Uniforms
TL;DR: Early baseball teams experimented with position-specific uniforms, quickly learned it created confusion, and abandoned the idea. It's a classic example of Plan-Do-Study-Adjust--small tests,...
Jeff Hunter on Patient-Centered Strategy and Building Learning Systems in Healthcare
Joining me today for Episode #312 of the podcast is Jeff Hunter, author of the excellent book "Patient-Centered Strategy: A Learning System for Better Care."
Jeff was with the ThedaCare in Wisconsin, where he was Senior Vice President, Strategy and Marketing for the health system. After retiring from ThedaCare, he has been a faculty member for Catalysis and has started his own consulting firm, Jeff Hunter Strategy.
In today's podcast, we discuss a number of topics, including how a good strategy is a necessary input for a "strategy deployment" management process, some of the problems with traditional approaches to strategic planning, and why an iterative PDSA approach works better than static plans.
Unleashing Potential: Shohei Ohtani, Takashi Harada, and Norman Bodek’s Approach to...
I first learned about an approach to personal development called "The Harada Method" when Norman Bodek co-authored a book with Takashi Harada: The Harada Method: The Spirit of Self-Reliance.
Norman was a guest on my podcast in 2013 to talk about this...
The Harada Method has been on mind again recently thanks to the success of Major League Baseball player Shohei Ohtani, from Japan.
Practicing What I Preach: My Recent Kaizen Improvements in Blogging and...
I do my best to practice what I preach. I'm not perfect, by any means, but I'm pretty good about practicing the "Kaizen" style of continuous improvement. In this post, I share three recent examples of my Kaizen efforts for LeanBlog.org, JapanLeanTrip.com, and LeanHospitalsBook.com.
