Lean Blog Interviews: Real-World Lean Leadership Conversations in Healthcare and Beyond
Lean Blog Interviews: Real-World Lean Leadership Conversations features thoughtful, in-depth discussions with leaders, authors, executives, and practitioners who are applying Lean thinking in the real world.
Hosted by Mark Graban—author of Lean Hospitals, Measures of Success, and The Mistakes That Make Us—the podcast explores Lean as a management system, a leadership philosophy, and a people-centered approach to continuous improvement.
Episodes span healthcare, manufacturing, startups, technology, and professional services. Guests share candid stories about what actually works—and what doesn’t—when organizations try to improve.
This is not a podcast about chasing tools, jargon, or “Lean theater.” Instead, you’ll hear honest conversations about leadership behaviors, culture, psychological safety, learning from mistakes, and building systems that help people do their best work.
If you believe improvement starts with respect for people—and that better systems beat blaming individuals—this podcast is for you.
Find show notes and all episodes at LeanCast.org.
Learn more about Mark Graban at MarkGraban.com.
Episodes
Jul 21, 2011
Jul 21, 2011
27 min
U.S. Treasury Secretary from 2000 to 2001 and former CEO of Alcoa.
Show Notes: https://www.leanblog.org/124
Remastered June 2021
I have a very special guest for Podcast #124 – he is Paul O'Neill, the U.S. Treasury Secretary from 2001 to 2002 and former CEO of Alcoa.
2020 Update: Read my reflections on Mr. O'Neill's passing
Mr. O'Neill shares his thoughts on patient safety and healthcare, including his time spent as the Chair of the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative and his work with Dr. Richard Shannon in dramatically reducing hospital-acquired infections to near their “theoretical limit” of zero. Dr. Shannon will be a podcast guest next month. Mr. O'Neill talks about the leadership required to have such an impact on safety and quality, drawing on lessons from his years as Alcoa's CEO.
This podcast was produced in conjunction with the Healthcare Value Network as a continuation of their previous podcast series.
For a link to this episode, refer people to www.leanblog.org/124. Scroll down for quotes in readable form.
Quotes and Excerpts:
In summary, O'Neill talks about:
Leadership mindsets required for dramatic workplace safety and patient safety improvement, including a near 100% reduction in hospital-acquired infections at Pittsburgh's Allegheny General Hospital
Why the United States has accomplished “practically nothing” nationally since the famed 1999 Institute of Medicine report “To Err Is Human”
Why society's most lacking skill is “leadership”
Alternative ways of compensating patients who are harmed by the healthcare system while ensuring real improvements are made by learning from each problem
Why Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) needs to shift his focus from “financial engineering” to visiting ThedaCare to learn about “the real way” we should improve health care.
Jul 14, 2011
Jul 14, 2011
23 min
This episode is a discussion with two leaders from Group Health Cooperative, a consumer-governed, nonprofit health care system based in Seattle, Washington. My guests are Claire Trescott, MD, Primary Care Medical Director, and Alicia Eng, Vice President of Primary Care. We will be talking about their use of Lean principles in the design and management of their “Medical Home” approach to primary care and wellness. You can read a PDF of a Health Affairs article that describes the benefits to patients and caregivers.
This podcast was produced in conjunction with the Healthcare Value Network as a continuation of their previous podcast series.
For a link to this episode, refer people to www.leanblog.org/123. For a 2007 interview with Group Health leaders, visit www.leanblog.org/23.
About Medical Home (from Group Health):
The Group Health Research Institute conducted a two-year study of the Factoria Medical Home Pilot. Results of that study were published in the May 2010 issue of the journal Health Affairs.
The study compared the medical home prototype at Factoria to care at Group Health's other medical centers, and found that:
The quality of care was higher at Factoria; patients reported better experiences and clinicians said they felt less “burned out.”
Patients had 29 percent fewer visits to the emergency room and 6 percent fewer hospitalizations, resulting in a net savings of $10 per patient per month.
Patients with chronic conditions managed them more successfully, and followed medical orders better with the aid of everyone on the medical home team.
For every dollar Group Health invested, mostly to boost staffing, it recouped $1.50.
For earlier episodes, visit the main Podcast page, which includes information on how to subscribe via RSS or via Apple Podcasts.
Jul 4, 2011
Jul 4, 2011
23 min
This episode is a conversation with Paul Akers, founder and president of FastCap LLC, based in Bellingham, WA. FastCap is an international product development company founded in 1997 with over 2000 distributors worldwide.
Paul and FastCap have also embraced Lean, with an unmatched enthusiasm for kaizen – small, daily improvements made by people in the workplace, as you can see in their collection of Lean videos. We're also talking in this episode about his LeanAmerica.org initiative.
For a link to this episode, refer people to www.leanblog.org/122.
For earlier episodes, visit the main Podcast page, which includes information on how to subscribe via RSS or via Apple Podcasts.
Jun 27, 2011
Jun 27, 2011
20 min
Today's episode is a discussion with Mrinalini Gadkari, a Senior Lecturer at the Fisher College of Business. Today, we're talking about the new Master of Business Operational Excellence (MBOE) for Healthcare Program starting this fall. We'll talk about how the program is structured, who the intended students are, and delve a little into the curriculum that includes Lean, Six Sigma, and other improvement methodologies.
Mrinalini Gadkari is a physician trained in India. She practiced in India for three years as a family physician. She came to the US 9 years ago to pursue her passion in Process Improvement in Healthcare.
Mrinalini received MHSA (Masters in Healthcare Services Administration) from George Washington University. She worked as an administrative resident at the John's Hopkin's Bayview Medical Center focusing on Quality and Process Improvement. She worked at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital over five years and helped multidisciplinary teams apply lean principles to improve efficiency and safety of their clinical and business processes.
For a link to this episode, refer people to www.leanblog.org/121.
For earlier episodes, visit the main Podcast page, which includes information on how to subscribe via RSS or via Apple Podcasts.
Jun 21, 2011
Jun 21, 2011
38 min
Today's episode is a chat with Jody Crane, MD, MBA and Chuck Noon, PhD. They are talking about their outstanding book The Definitive Guide to Emergency Department Operational Improvement: Employing Lean Principles with Current ED Best Practices to Create the “No Wait” Department.
Dr. Crane is an Emergency Physician practicing at Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg, Virginia. From 2002 to 2009, he served as the Business Director of his group, Fredericksburg Emergency Medical Alliance. He currently serves as a faculty member in the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and is also faculty at the University of Tennessee's College of Business.
Dr. Noon is a Professor of the Management Science Program in the Department of Management. He joined the faculty in the fall of 1987 after completing his Ph.D. in Industrial & Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan. He is also a founding member of the UT Physician Executive MBA Program.
For a link to this episode, refer people to www.leanblog.org/120.
For earlier episodes, visit the main Podcast page, which includes information on how to subscribe via RSS or via Apple Podcasts.
May 31, 2011
May 31, 2011
15 min
Produced in partnership with the Healthcare Value Network, episode #119 is a discussion with Dean Gruner, MD, the president & CEO of ThedaCare. Here, we talk about Strategy Deployment as a Lean management system and how it fits into their ongoing management and improvement efforts in their health system.
To learn more about strategy deployment, visit YouTube for a free preview clip of a new educational DVD produced by the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value. You will also find a link to a free white paper about strategy deployment at ThedaCare, Group Health, and St. Boniface General Hospital.
For a link to this episode, refer people to www.leanblog.org/119.
For earlier episodes, visit the main Podcast page, which includes information on how to subscribe via RSS or via Apple Podcasts.
May 10, 2011
May 10, 2011
29 min
Show notes: https://www.leanblog.org/118
Remastered July 2021
Episode #118 is a follow up to podcast #116 with Jim Womack, founder and former Chairman of the Lean Enterprise Institute, now their Senior Advisor and author of the new book Gemba Walks, available in paperback, Kindle format, iBooks, and other formats.
In this episode, we talk about both GM and Toyota – their challenges, Jim's reflections on the companies, and thoughts about where they are headed in the future. Jim also answers reader questions about the word “lean” itself and the combination of the Lean and Six Sigma methodologies.
Apr 5, 2011
Apr 5, 2011
30 min
Episode Page
Episode #117 is a conversation with Prof. Samuel A. Culbert of the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Along with Daniel Pink, he is a fellow alum of Northwestern University. Prof. Culbert has a BS in Systems Engineering, the precursor of the Industrial Engineering department in which I was a student. Dr. Culbert then earned a PhD in clinical psychology from UCLA.
Today, we are talking about his most recent book, Get Rid of the Performance Review!: How Companies Can Stop Intimidating, Start Managing–and Focus on What Really Matters.
Much like Dan Pink's take on incentives in the workplace, Culbert is a contrarian about the generally accepted (yet dysfunctional) practice of the “annual performance review.” In his writing, Culbert calls them “corporate theatre,” as well as a “sham,” a “facade,” “immoral,” and “intimidating.” In the podcast, we talk about the problems and alternatives to this common management practice.
For a link to episode, refer people to www.leanblog.org/117.
Recent articles by Prof. Culbert via my blog posts:
Professor Channels Dr. Deming and Writes “Get Rid of the Annual Review”
New Book Gives Negative Review to Performance Reviews
Prof. Culbert mentioned that he only discovered the work of Dr. W. Edwards Deming a few years back, although they were both railing against the annual performance review in 1980. They must be “long lost cousins,” Culbert says, and I would agree.
Mar 23, 2011
Mar 23, 2011
24 min
Show notes: https://www.leanblog.org/116
Remastered July 2021
Episode #116 brings us Jim Womack, founder and former Chairman of the Lean Enterprise Institute, now their Senior Advisor and author of the new book "Gemba Walks," available in paperback, Kindle format, iBooks, and other formats (see lean.org for a link). Here, we talk about the new book, how a gemba walk differs from "management by walking around," some of his most memorable walks, progress in lean healthcare, and other topics. We recorded two podcasts in the same sitting. The next one will be out in a few weeks, with his thoughts on recent developments with GM and Toyota, his reflections on the word "lean," his thoughts on six sigma, and more. To point others to this, use the simple URL: www.leanblog.org/116. You can leave comments there, as well. 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. 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.
Mar 10, 2011
Mar 10, 2011
24 min
Episode #115 is a discussion with Eric Ries (@ericries), entrepreneur and author of the book The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses.
Remastered August 2021
Show notes: https://www.leanblog.org/115
You can also read a partial transcript of the podcast.
Today, we talk about how got introduced to Lean, core materials like books by Womack and Jones and Jeff Liker, and how he has put a lot of thought into how to take proven Lean principles – such as reduced batch sizes, 5 whys analysis, and faster time to market – and applied them to startups.
We both agree there are a lot of applications of these Lean Startup principles even if you are working on new products in larger, older, manufacturing settings – so I hope you'll take 20 minutes to listen regardless of your background, as Eric's work has pushed my attempts at Lean thinking in new directions.
You might also be interested in Podcast #99 with Brant Cooper and Patrick Vlaskovits on “Customer Development.“
To point others to this episode, use the simple URL: www.leanblog.org/115.
Book website: http://www.lean.st/
Buy the Book via Amazon: The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses
About Mark Graban
Mark Graban is an author, speaker, and consultant, whose latest book, The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation, is available now.
He is also the author of the award-winning book Lean Hospitals: Improving Quality, Patient Safety, and Employee Engagement and others, including Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More.
He serves as a consultant through his company, Constancy, Inc, and is also a Senior Advisor for the technology company KaiNexus.
Mark hosts podcasts, including “Lean Blog Interviews” and “My Favorite Mistake.”
Education: B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern University; M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, and M.B.A. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Leaders for Global Operations Program.