Sunday, September 08, 2013

Podcast #187 - Joe Swartz, "Healthcare Kaizen"

Joining me for episode #187 is Joe Swartz, my friend and esteemed co-author for our books Healthcare Kaizen: Engaging Front-Line Staff in Sustainable Continuous Improvements and The Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen: Leadership for a Continuously Learning and Improving Organization. You can learn more about our books here.

Joe is Director of Business Transformation at Franciscan St. Francis Health System in Indianapolis (his full bio is here). In the episode, we talk about his background with Kaizen and how he got into healthcare. Joe discusses how Franciscan got started with Kaizen, some of his favorite Kaizen examples, why it would have taken too long to engage everybody through Lean Six Sigma projects, what they are teaching managers about leading in a Kaizen culture, and the work that still needs to be done in their cultural transformation.

For a link to this episode, refer people to www.leanblog.org/187. 

Please leave a comment and join the discussion about the podcast episode.

For earlier episodes of the Lean Blog Podcast, visit the main Podcast page at www.leanpodcast.org, which includes information on how to subscribe via RSS or via Apple iTunes.

You can also listen to streaming episodes of the podcast via Stitcher: http://landing.stitcher.com/?vurl=leanblog

If you have feedback on the podcast, or any questions for me or my guests, you can email me at leanpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave a voicemail by calling the "Lean Line" at (817) 776-LEAN (817-776-5326) or contact me via Skype id "mgraban". Please give your location and your first name. Any comments (email or voicemail) might be used in follow ups to the podcast.

186 - Jon Miller, "Creating a Kaizen Culture"

My guest for episode #186 is my friend Jon Miller, CEO of Kaizen Institute and long-time blogger at Gemba Panta Rei. Today, we're talking about his upcoming book, Creating a Kaizen Culture: Align the Organization, Achieve Breakthrough Results, and Sustain the Gains (co-authored by Mike Wroblewski and Jamie Villafuerte. I can't believe I haven't had Jon on the show before... hopefully this won't be the last time.

In this episode, we'll talk about "artifacts" of a Kaizen culture and why core beliefs, including safety and security, are so important. What are some of the other core beliefs in a Kaizen culture? Why are some of these beliefs and behaviors "not natural Japanese behaviors" and what are the implications for those of us doing this in other countries?

For a link to this episode, refer people to www.leanblog.org/186. 

Please leave a comment and join the discussion about the podcast episode.

For earlier episodes of the Lean Blog Podcast, visit the main Podcast page at www.leanpodcast.org, which includes information on how to subscribe via RSS or via Apple iTunes.

You can also listen to streaming episodes of the podcast via Stitcher: http://landing.stitcher.com/?vurl=leanblog

If you have feedback on the podcast, or any questions for me or my guests, you can email me at leanpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave a voicemail by calling the "Lean Line" at (817) 776-LEAN (817-776-5326) or contact me via Skype id "mgraban". Please give your location and your first name. Any comments (email or voicemail) might be used in follow ups to the podcast.

185 - Karen Dunn Skinner & David Skinner on Lean in Law Firm

My guests for episode #185 are Karen Dunn Skinner and David Skinner and our topic, for the first time on the Podcast, is Lean in law firms and the legal profession. David and Karen are husband and wife, attorneys, from Quebec, and consultants for their firm Gimbal.I had a chance to meet up with them in Montreal earlier this year, after connecting via social media, and they're a delight to talk to - in person and in our podcast.

I think there are a lot of fascinating parallels between Lean in healthcare and Lean in law. There are opportunities to focus on payment for value instead of activity, big opportunities to reduce waste and errors, and to make sure people are doing the right work for their job level. "The way it's always been" seems very powerful in both professions and the "but we don't make cars" objection can be powerful.

In the episode, we discuss topics including:
2022 How do Lean methods apply in a Law firm?
2022 What are some benefits to the clients and the firm itself?
2022 How do you get past the "we don't build cars" objection?
2022 How widespread is Lean in the legal profession?
2022 How did Karen and David discover Lean (and Six Sigma) as attorneys?
2022 What's the balance between using Lean and/or Six Sigma in law?
2022 How can standardized work and checklists help?
2022 Why are legal clients dissatisfied with the pricing and quality of legal work?
2022 How do you strike a balance between law being an art vs. being a process?

For a link to this episode, refer people to www.leanblog.org/185. 

Please leave a comment and join the discussion about the podcast episode.

For earlier episodes of the Lean Blog Podcast, visit the main Podcast page at www.leanpodcast.org, which includes information on how to subscribe via RSS or via Apple iTunes.

You can also listen to streaming episodes of the podcast via Stitcher: http://landing.stitcher.com/?vurl=leanblog

If you have feedback on the podcast, or any questions for me or my guests, you can email me at leanpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave a voicemail by calling the "Lean Line" at (817) 776-LEAN (817-776-5326) or contact me via Skype id "mgraban". Please give your location and your first name. Any comments (email or voicemail) might be used in follow ups to the podcast.

185 - Karen Dunn Skinner & David Skinner on Lean in Law Firm

My guests for episode #185 are Karen Dunn Skinner and David Skinner and our topic, for the first time on the Podcast, is Lean in law firms and the legal profession. David and Karen are husband and wife, attorneys, from Quebec, and consultants for their firm Gimbal.I had a chance to meet up with them in Montreal earlier this year, after connecting via social media, and they're a delight to talk to - in person and in our podcast.

I think there are a lot of fascinating parallels between Lean in healthcare and Lean in law. There are opportunities to focus on payment for value instead of activity, big opportunities to reduce waste and errors, and to make sure people are doing the right work for their job level. "The way it's always been" seems very powerful in both professions and the "but we don't make cars" objection can be powerful.

In the episode, we discuss topics including:
2022 How do Lean methods apply in a Law firm?
2022 What are some benefits to the clients and the firm itself?
2022 How do you get past the "we don't build cars" objection?
2022 How widespread is Lean in the legal profession?
2022 How did Karen and David discover Lean (and Six Sigma) as attorneys?
2022 What's the balance between using Lean and/or Six Sigma in law?
2022 How can standardized work and checklists help?
2022 Why are legal clients dissatisfied with the pricing and quality of legal work?
2022 How do you strike a balance between law being an art vs. being a process?

For a link to this episode, refer people to www.leanblog.org/185. 

Please leave a comment and join the discussion about the podcast episode.

For earlier episodes of the Lean Blog Podcast, visit the main Podcast page at www.leanpodcast.org, which includes information on how to subscribe via RSS or via Apple iTunes.

You can also listen to streaming episodes of the podcast via Stitcher: http://landing.stitcher.com/?vurl=leanblog

If you have feedback on the podcast, or any questions for me or my guests, you can email me at leanpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave a voicemail by calling the "Lean Line" at (817) 776-LEAN (817-776-5326) or contact me via Skype id "mgraban". Please give your location and your first name. Any comments (email or voicemail) might be used in follow ups to the podcast.