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

Craig Deao, Effectively Engaging Employees

Joining me for Episode #303 is Craig Deao, a senior leader with Studer Group. From his bio: "Since 2006, Craig Deao, MHA, has been an integral part of Studer Group as a senior leader for the organization's speaking and conferences teams, and he now directs thought leadership across Huron [Consulting Group]'s broader healthcare practice. Craig is a highly regarded national speaker on leadership, engagement, quality and patient safety. He works with medical staffs and healthcare executives to create highly reliable organizations where employees want to work, physicians want to practice and patients want to receive care." Today, we're talking about his book The E-Factor: How Engaged Patients, Clinicians, Leaders, and Employees Will Transform Healthcare. We'll talk about the differences between satisfaction and engagement, how to tell if people are engaged in their work, and how to engage various stakeholders, including employees, clinicians, and executives. We'll also talk about how Studer Group became a recipient of the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award in 2010.

Katie Anderson on Japan: Standard Work, Customers, and

My guest for Episode #302 is Katie Anderson, following up on her last appearances in Episode #233 (when she was living in Japan) and Episode #275 (after she returned to the U.S.).
Today, we're chatting because I've just returned from a short trip to Japan and Katie's going back in May (and you can join her).
We're sharing observations and reflections on topics ranging from standardized work to Kaizen. Would it be easier to "implement Lean" (or whatever term you'd use) if you're a Japanese organization? And what are some of the approaches you see with quality improvement and Lean in Japan's hospitals?
Our conversation also meanders into topics like eating sushi and more.

Joe Swartz, "Champions of Change" in Supply Chains

This podcast is sponsored by Cardinal Health. All opinions expressed here are those of Joe Swartz and not of his employer or any other organization. Joining me again for episode #301 of the podcast is Joe Swartz, my friend and co-author for our books Healthcare Kaizen and The Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen:. You can learn more about our books here. He also contributed a chapter to the book Practicing Lean. (read an excerpt). Today, we're talking about "Champions of Change," as I've been writing about for Cardinal Health.

Tracey & Ernie Richardson, The Toyota Engagement Equation *

Episode page
Remastered October 2022
My guests for Episode #300 of the podcast are Tracey and Ernie Richardson, authors of the excellent book titled:
The Toyota Engagement Equation: How to Understand and Implement Continuous Improvement Thinking in Any Organization
The book is full of solid insights and personal experiences from their time working for Toyota in Georgetown, Kentucky at the plant known as TMMK (Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky).
You can find their book's website. Tracey and Ernie are both faculty members for the Lean Enterprise Institute. Tracey's blog is called The Toyota Gal.
In our podcast, we talk about their experiences at Toyota, including lessons they've learned about problem solving, people development, and what they call “D and A” – discipline and accountability. We also talk about Ernie's experience within health clinics at Toyota and other healthcare organizations.
I hope you enjoy the discussion even if you work in healthcare or another realm outside of manufacturing.
 

Sustaining Healthcare Kaizen: Joe Swartz on 10+ Years of Continuous Improvement at Franciscan

Joining me again for episode #299 of the podcast 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.
Episode page with links and more.
You can learn more about our books here. He was previously the guest in episode #187. Joe is Administrative Director of Business Transformation for Franciscan St. Francis Health System in Indiana (his full bio is here). Today is the first part of a two-part discussion, where Joe reflects on the history and evolution of more than ten years of "Kaizen" or continuous improvement in his system. In our next episode together, Joe will be talking about "Champions of Change." I hope you enjoy the discussion!

Billy Taylor, Lean Manufacturing Leadership, Part 2

Joining me again for Episode #298 is Billy R. Taylor, for Part 2 of a discussion we started in Episode #293. Last week, a friend texted me last week and said he couldn't wait for Part 2. He said he pulled off the road to take some notes when he listened to Part 1. So without further ado, here is Part 2. Here, we discuss "extreme ownership," why creating ownership is more important than forcing accountability, and important lessons he's learned along the way.

JJ Villarreal, Ed.D., #Lean in Education

My guest for Episode #297 is John (JJ) Villarreal, Ed.D., the superintendent of the Rockwall I.S.D. here in the Dallas area. In this podcast, we talk about the applications of Lean in education, how to move beyond what JJ calls "the behavior waste of judgment and blame," and how visiting a factory was inspiring and helpful, among other topics. Even if you don't work in education, I hope you'll be inspired by this podcast.

Dr. Zeev N. Kain on #Lean and Clinical Variation

Joining me for Episode #296 of the podcast is Zeev N. Kain, MD. MBA, FAAP. He is a physician and a Chancellor's Professor at the University of California, Irvine. See his full bio. He has many additional roles and titles, including: Director, System Redesign & Value Based Care for the UC-Irvine Health Policy Research Institute Executive Director of the UCI-Yale Center on Stress & Health President of the American College of Perioperative Medicine Dr. Kain is "recognized as an international expert in the clinical management of perioperative fear and anxiety, and management of children undergoing invasive medical procedures. His research addresses major dilemmas encountered in the management of affected children." He's also an advocate for Lean and Six Sigma and the connections to reducing "clinical variation" in healthcare. So, that's what we're talking about today.

Lean Healthcare Innovation at Atrius Health: Building a “Care in Place” Model

My guests for Episode #295 are Sarah Steinberg of Atrius Health and Ted Toussaint, a healthcare innovation strategist, formerly of Atrius Health. Ted is also a faculty member for Catalysis.  Today, we're talking about some innovative work that they led at Atrius, using a variety of modern product development and innovation methods, including Lean, Lean Startup, Design Thinking, and more to create a new "Care in Place" model for home-based patient care that helps reduce trips to a clinic or hospital. Their work was featured in this HBR article: "How Atrius Health Is Making the Shift from Volume to Value."

Clay Linkous, Studer Group Principles & #Lean

Joining me for episode #294 is Clay Linkous, an account leader and speaker with Studer Group. He is an accomplished cultural transformation and leadership expert who has synthesized Lean and other improvement methods with Studer Group principles and practices. Today, we'll talk about Clay's career and his purpose and motivations - both for working in healthcare and improving healthcare. We're both firm believers in the combination of Studer and Lean practices, so we're also discussing that as our main topic. I hope you enjoy the discussion!