Lean Blog Interviews: Real-World Lean Leadership Conversations in Healthcare and Beyond

My guest for episode #183 is  Scott Sambucci , who I met at the 2012  Lean Startup Conference . Scott is author of an excellent book,  Startup Selling: How to sell if you really, really have to and don't know how . Scott is also founder of   SalesQualia , a firm that helps people improve sales performance. His latest project is the  Sales Model Canvas , an online tool. Scott and I talk about getti...

Joining me for episode #182 are Michael Grogan and Dr. Brenda Dmello, joining me via Skype from Tanzania where they are working together to use Lean to improve health care at the  Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation in Tanzania  (CCBRT) . Michael is Irish born and left his career in the United States to work in Africa (which you can read about in his  guest post that I published earlier t...

My guest for Podcast #181 is a good friend,  Ron Pereira  of  Gemba Academy , an outstanding provider of online Lean (and now Six Sigma) education. Ron's blog posts can now be found at  the Gemba Academy blog . I was recently a guest on episode #8 of his podcast series. Ron was also the guest host for  episode #143 of my podcast , where he interviewed me with follow up questions from a  webinar I...

Joining me for episode #180 of the Lean Blog Podcast is Dan Florizone, who served from 2008 until last month as  Deputy Minister of Health  in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Dan has just recently transitioned into  his new role as the Deputy Minister of Education  and he will also focus on the application of Lean principles across all departments of the government. Dan previously had over...

My guests for Podcast #179 are my friends Judy Worth and Tom Shuker, two of the co-authors of the book  Perfecting Patient Journeys , which was  published  earlier this year by the  Lean Enterprise Institute . About the book: “Perfecting Patient Journeys” is a guide for leaders of healthcare organizations who want to implement lean thinking. Readers will learn how to identify and select a problem,...

Joining me for Podcast #178 is  Drew Greenblatt , President and Owner of  Marlin Steel Wire Products , a manufacturing company based in Baltimore. I was really impressed with Drew's keynote talk at the  recent AME Southwest Region conference  here in San Antonio. Drew's company is successfully competing against cheap Chinese imports by using Lean and “ theory of constraints ” methods, being passio...

My guest for Podcast #177 is a returning guest, Bob Emiliani. In this episode, we're talking about one of his latest eBooks:  Nobody Is Exempt From Improvement . Check out our previous podcasts together – Episodes  132 ,  77 ,  48 ,  38 , and  30 . Bob is a professor at Central Connecticut State University and a prolific  author  on Lean management. Also check out his new  book  – “The Lean Profes...

Show notes: https://www.leanblog.org/176   Remastered June 20201 Today, we discuss his latest book,  The Harada Method: The Spirit of Self-Reliance . Joining me once again for episode #176 is my mentor good friend  Norman Bodek , who has been a  guest many times here . You can also learn more about the  book  and Norman's  workshops  at his website,  PCSPress.com . As always, it's great to hear No...

My guest for podcast #175 is Mike Taubitz of the firm Sustainable Lean and  FDR Safety . Mike is a retired GM employee (including a stint as Global Safety Director)  and we met at the  Michigan Lean Consortium  conference in 2011. We quickly discovered our shared interest in Dr. Deming, Lean, and, most importantly, safety improvement. I hope you enjoy our chat about his background and lessons from...

My guest for podcast #174 is  John Hunter , a long-time friend and fellow blogger – at his  Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog  and, more recently, as a  blogger for the W. Edwards Deming Institute . John has recently published a book through  LeanPub.com  titled “ Management Matters .” In this episode, John joins us from Malaysia, where he has been living, and we talk about his quality backg...

My guest for podcast #173 is Alan Gleghorn, CEO of  Christie Clinic  in central Illinois. Alan is one of the keynote presenters at the upcoming  Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit , to be held June 5-6, 2013 in Orlando. Alan has been CEO for 14 years, leading Christie Clinic in their Lean journey that started in 2005 when he saw  ThedaCare's current CEO Dr. Dean Gruner  present at a conference....

Joining me for episode #172 is Jerry Bussell, previously a  guest on episode #137 . Today, we're talking about his recent book,  Anatomy of a Lean Leader .  I just saw Jerry talk about the book yesterday at the  AME spring conference here in San Antonio . Jerry talks about how he defines a “Lean leader” and why President Abraham Lincoln fits into that description. He'll talk about some of the mode...

My guest for episode #171 is  Chad Walters , a friend and a Lean consultant. He is owner of  Lean Blitz Consulting  in Augusta, Georgia, a firm focused on continuous improvement for small businesses and sports organizations. I'm a big fan (and frequent commenter) on  Chad's blog  and he's contributed  guest posts here on my blog . He has been cited and mentioned on  ESPN.com  and  CNBC.com . Today...

My guest for episode #170 is  Stephen Parry , joining us from England. He is a  keynote speaker at the upcoming Lean Kanban North America conference  in late April. I will also be a  main stage speaker  at the event. Parry has experience leading Lean transformation efforts in industries ranging from telecommunications, IT, shared services, financial services, and the public sector. He is the autho...

Joining me for Episode #169 is Leonard L. Berry, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Marketing in the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University. We are talking about his article that he co-authored with John Toussaint, MD Mayo Clinic Proceedings: 201CThe Promise of Lean in Health Care201D (PDF) - which I blogged about earlier. In this podcast, Len talks about his time being embedded in ThedaCare an...

My guest for episode #168 is Carolyn McCulley, from CityGate Films, and  she is a co-director and producer of the upcoming documentary called "Breaking the Wall of Silence." Through March 31, you can sponsor this project through the Kickstarter website (with a minimum contribution of $15) and I hope you'll join me as a supporter of this important work. Learn more at www.leanblog.org/168. As Caroly...

My guest for episode #167 is  Clare Crawford-Mason , the producer of the landmark 1980 NBC documentary that featured W. Edwards Deming,  “ If Japan Can Do It, Why Can't We? ” You can  view the documentary here . I was fortunate to meet Clare and her husband  Bob  back in 2007 or so when I was teaching a Lean healthcare seminar near their home in Washington, DC. Clare and Bob led the efforts to cre...

My guest for episode #166 is  Julie Bartels ,  Executive Vice President, National Healthcare Information at the  ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value . In this episode, we are talking about their new program, the  Healthcare Clinical Business Intelligence Network (CBIN) . Julie tells us about “business intelligence” and how data and transparency relate to Lean improvement efforts. Why is “the dev...

My guest for episode #165 is  Chris Vogel , President & CEO of  Compass Affiliates . I've met Chris before at an  LEI   Lean Transformation Summit  and he is doing a learning session at this year's  Summit , to be held March 13 and 14 in Orlando. Chris specializes in the Development of Lean Leaders and Administrative Lean. He has over 15 years of Lean Administrative and Process Improvement experie...

My guest for episode #164 of the  Lean Blog Interviews Podcast  is  Rachelle Schultz , CEO of  Winona Health  (based in Winona, Minnesota). Rachelle was a part of the CEO panel that I moderated at last year's  Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit  and her comments on leading a health system's Lean transformation were well received. In this discussion, she says, “Everything I do has to drive Lean,...

My guest for episode #163 is  Dr. Gregory R. Johnson, the Chief Medical Officer at Parkview Health  in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In this episode, we talk about how Parkview is using Lean to cope with today's challenging environment, how Dr. Johnson encourages Lean thinking among physicians, and the role of standardization in medicine. Dr. Johnson says Parkview is moving toward “having everyone operatin...

My guests for episode #162 are  Patrick Vlaskovits  ( @pv )  and   Brant Cooper  ( @brantcooper ), previously guests on  episode #99 . I recently ran into them at the  Lean Startup Conference  and today we are speaking about their newest book (coming in February)  The Lean Entrepreneur: How to Create Products, Innovate with New Ventures, and Disrupt Markets . You can learn more via their website:...

Steve Bell, author (most recently) of the book  Run Grow Tra n sform: Integrating Business and Lean IT   is my guest for episode #161 of my podcast series. Steve is a fellow  faculty member for the Lean Enterprise Institute  and he is also a founder of  Lean4NGO.org ,  working with non-profits in the developing world. He is also founder of  Lean IT Strategies, LLC , coaching IT professionals as th...

My guest for podcast #160 is  Joseph S. Guarisco, M.D., FAAEM, FACEP . Dr. Guarisco is currently Chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine and System Chief of Emergency Services for the Ochsner Health System. Dr. Guarisco is a keynote speaker at the upcoming  Society for Health Systems conference  (which I'll be attending) and we are both part of the  American Academy of Emergency Physician...

A returning guest for episode #159 is  John Toussaint, MD , the CEO of the  ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value  and the author of the books  On the Mend: Revolutionizing Healthcare to Save Lives and Transform the Industry  and  Potent Medicine: The Collaborative Cure for Healthcare . John was a guest on episodes  54 ,  62 ,  72 , and  146 . Today's main topic is a new report, published last mon...