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

Lean Healthcare Leadership — Dr. Greg Johnson on Physician Engagement

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 operating in a Lean way, all 8200 co-workers” instead of just doing “Rapid Improvement Events.”
This episode is produced in partnership with the Healthcare Value Network. Dr. Johnson and I also talk about Parkview's participation in the Network, including hosting a “gemba visit” by other members.
For a link to this episode, refer people to www.leanblog.org/163.
Learn more about the Healthcare Value Network, the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value, and their annual Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit.
For earlier episodes, visit the main Podcast page, which includes information on how to subscribe via RSS or via Apple Podcasts.

Patrick Vlaskovits and Brant Cooper, ’The Lean Entrepreneur’

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:
www.LeanEntrepreneur.co
In this episode, we talk about:
What is Lean Entrepreneurship?
How does Lean create disruptive innovations?
Why is it better to fail fast and learn your idea isn't viable sooner rather than later?
Why is “follow your passion” really bad advice?
What's a value stream in the context of a startup?
Why would data “inform decisions” rather than “make” them for you?
Their books:
The Lean Entrepreneur: How to Create Products, Innovate with New Ventures, and Disrupt Market
The Entrepreneur's Guide to Customer Development: A cheat sheet to The Four Steps to the Epiphany
For a link to this episode, refer people to www.leanblog.org/162.
For earlier episodes, visit the main Podcast page, which includes information on how to subscribe via RSS or via Apple Podcasts.

Steve Bell, Author of ’Lean IT’ on Agile, Scrum, and Lean Startup - ’Run, Grow, Transform’

Steve Bell, author (most recently) of the book Run Grow Transform: 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 they partner with their business colleagues to meet the challenges and exploit the opportunities in the rapidly changing, technology-enabled business landscape.
In this episode, Steve talks about:
Why “Lean Thinking” is important in IT
What is “Lean IT,” including some success stories
How do agile, scrum, Lean IT, and Lean Startups fit together?
His upcoming LEI workshop in San Francisco this February
Lean4NGO initiative
Steve's Other Books:
Lean Enterprise Systems: Using IT for Continuous Improvement
Lean IT: Enabling and Sustaining Your Lean Transformation
For a link to this episode, refer people to www.leanblog.org/161.
For earlier episodes, visit the main Podcast page, which includes information on how to subscribe via RSS or via Apple Podcasts.

Dr. Joe Guarisco, Emergency Department Process Improvement through Lean

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 Physicians annual scientific assembly in February (where I'll be co-presenting with my Healthcare Kaizen co-author Joe Swartz on E.D. process improvement strategies). Here is a Q&A, hosted by SHS, with Dr. Guarisco.
In this episode, we talk about Dr. Guarisco's process improvement efforts at Oschner and how that was made necessary by Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath, where demand TRIPLED in their E.D. We also chat about standardized work and variation reduction fit in with the practice of medicine and improving E.D patient flow.
For a link to this episode, refer people to www.leanblog.org/160.
Conference links:
Society for Health Systems
American Academy of Emergency Physicians
Emergency Department Practice Management Association
For earlier episodes, visit the main Podcast page, which includes information on how to subscribe via RSS or via Apple Podcasts.
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) 993-0630 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.
Guest Bio:
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. He joined Ochsner as a staff physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine in August, 1980. In July, 1990, he pursued a fellowship in anesthesiology at Ochsner. In July, 1992, he returned to emergency medicine as Chairman and Medical Director of the Emergency Department and is currently serving in that position becoming System Chief Emergency Services in 2007.
Dr. Guarisco has extensive experience in ED informatics automation pertinent to the design, development and implementation of ED information systems. He has published and lectured widely on the use of automation in workflow redesign and ED process improvement and is well known for his work in physician performance profiling and data driven ED management. The 2005 Ochsner Clinic Foundation award for outstanding achievements in patient satisfaction was awarded to the Department of Emergency Medicine. Additionally, Dr. Guarisco has been recently recognized by Press Ganey for innovative use of data and process design in improving patient satisfaction at Ochsner and is the winner of the Press Ganey 2005 National Success Story Award. In 2008, Press Ganey awarded the Ochsner Health System the Compass Award for the largest improvement in patient satisfaction amongst its client base. He has pioneered ED workflow redesign through innovative adaptation of Lean engineering principles to ED patient flow processes. He is also responsible for pioneering web based wait times for emergency departments nationally.
Dr. Guarisco has a bachelor's degree in engineering and is board certified in emergency medicine. He is a fellow in both the American College of Emergency Physicians and the American Academy of Emergency Medicine.
In 2012, he was named Chair of the American Academy of Emergency Physicians (AAEM) Operations Management Committee.

John Toussaint, MD, on the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Report, Best Care at Lower Cost

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 month by the Institute of Medicine, titled “Best Care at Lower Cost: The Path to Continuously Learning Health Care in America.” John was a reviewer of this report and has key insights to share, as always, about the problem and things we can do to improve healthcare around the world.
For a link to this episode, refer people to  www.leanblog.org/159b/.
Helpful links:
IOM report main page  (with full report, briefs, sides, data, etc.)
A pilot workshop I will be teaching at the ThedaCare Center in December on the fundamentals of Lean in healthcare
Other workshops by the ThedaCare Center
For earlier episodes, visit the main Podcast page, which includes information on how to subscribe via RSS  or via Apple Podcasts.

Why Lean Must Be Led by the CEO — Art Byrne on The Lean Turnaround

My guest for podcast #158 is Art Byrne, author of the new book The Lean Turnaround: How Business Leaders Use Lean Principles to Create Value and Transform Their Company.
Art is very well known in the Lean community for his successful run as CEO of Wiremold, having previously worked at GE and Danaher.  He is currently Operating Partner at the private equity firm J. W. Childs Associates L.P. In this podcast, Art talks about operations improvement as a business strategy, why the CEO needs to be directly involved in a Lean transformation, why “stretch goals” aren't demoralizing when you have the right leadership and culture, and more.
Also, listen to my podcast with Bob Emiliani (who documented the Wiremold story in the book Better Thinking, Better Results: Case Study and Analysis of an Enterprise-Wide Lean Transformation), where he talks about what happened to Lean at Wiremold after the company was purchased and Art left.
For a link to this episode, refer people to  www.leanblog.org/158/.
For earlier episodes, visit the main Podcast page, which includes information on how to subscribe via RSS or via Apple Podcasts.

Nick Sarillo, ’A Slice of the Pie’ - Leadership Lessons from a Pizza Chain*

Show notes: https://leanblog.org/157
Remastered June 2021
Joining me for episode #157 is Nick Sarillo, founder of Nick's Pizza & Pub and author of the new book (out September 13) called A Slice of the Pie: How to Build a Big Little Business. I had a chance to meet Nick and visit one of his restaurants in 2010 after I blogged about an Inc. magazine article about their culture and their approach to operations.
It was great talking to Nick about his new book and what I call the “Like Lean” mindsets and approaches that remind me of the challenges and opportunities that organizations face with Lean Manufacturing or Lean Healthcare. I hope you'll take a listen.
For a link to this episode, refer people to  www.leanblog.org/157/.
Some questions, key topics and thoughts:
Was it just intuitive to you that getting everybody oriented around that purpose was important? How do you get others to share the sense of purpose?
Talk about what you see the “main job” of a manager to be…
Describe the process of “trust and track” and why it's better than fear-based management and “command and control?” Why do you think fear-based management is, sadly, so common in so many industries and companies of all sizes?
Can you talk about the role of transparency in your daily management and the impact it has on your employees?
How does Nick find managers who are “coaches, not cops”?
What's the difference between purpose, values, vision, and mission?
Why is trust so important in an organization?
Why does clarity have to exist around purpose in an organization?
Does the younger generation have a higher expectation of leadership today?
What are “ops cards” and how are they like standardized work?
For earlier episodes, visit the main Podcast page, which includes information on how to subscribe via RSS  or via Apple Podcasts.

Mike Stoecklein, Memories of Working with W. Edwards Deming

My guest for episode #156 is a friend, Mike Stoecklein, the Director of Network Operations for the Healthcare Value Network. I was able to work with Mike when I was an employee of the Lean Enterprise Institute, working closely with the HVN team and its members.
Our conversation is about Mike's reflections on meeting Dr. W. Edwards Deming in the late 1980s, volunteering to assist with some of his famed 4-day seminars around the country. You can read Mike's excellent blog post that was the basis for some of our discussion here. Why are we here? To learn… and to have fun, as Dr. Deming said!
For a link to this episode, refer people to www.leanblog.org/156/.
For earlier episodes, visit the main Podcast page, which includes information on how to subscribe via RSS or via Apple Podcasts.

Jim Benson of Modus Cooperandi on ’Personal Kanban’ and Setting WIP Limits

Joining me for episode #155 is Jim Benson, co-author of the book Personal Kanban: Mapping Work | Navigating Life. Jim is the founder of a company with a great name, Modus Cooperandi.
He is, most notably, the creator of the “personal kanban” approach for managing work. It's not kanban as in material management, but rather a way of visualizing work and setting WIP limits (much as kanban might be used to trigger or limit production in a factory) — but for knowledge workers and anybody! Learn more about this approach on his “Personal Kanban 101” site.
For a link to this episode, refer people to  www.leanblog.org/155/.
For earlier episodes, visit the main Podcast page, which includes information on how to  subscribe via RSS  or via Apple Podcasts.

Rick Morrow, Healthcare Process Improvement, High Reliability, and Lean Six Sigma

My guest for episode #154 is Rick Morrow, a director at Healthcare Performance Partners and author of the book Utilizing the 3Ms of Process Improvement in Healthcare: A Roadmap to High Reliability Using Lean, Six Sigma, and Change Leadership, from Productivity Press (which is my publisher, as well). We talk about the book as well as a favorite issue of mine – why we shouldn't ask patients to inspect the work of healthcare providers.
You can learn more about the book and interact with Rick at his website.
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For a link to this episode, refer people to  www.leanblog.org/154/.
For earlier episodes, visit the main Podcast page, which includes information on how to  subscribe via RSS  or  via Apple Podcasts.