Lean Blog Interviews

My guest for episode #190 is a returning guest (from episode #151) is my friend Karen Martin, talking about her newly-released book, Value Stream Mapping: How to Visualize Work and Align Leadership for Organizational Transformation. You can order via Amazon and also learn more via Karen's website. In the episode, we talk about topics including how this book fits with her others, what some common struggles are faced when mapping value streams, why is it important for senior leaders to be involved with VSM work, how long mapping should take, the publishing value stream and the use of VSM in different industries. I hope you enjoy the conversation! For a link to this episode, refer people to www.leanblog.org/190.  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 podcas

Audio remastered June 2022 Episode page Joining me as my guest for episode #189 is Rich Sheridan, CEO and Chief Storyteller at Menlo Innovations, a software development company in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Rich is author of the new book that I'm really enjoying: Joy, Inc.: How We Built a Workplace People Love. Learn more about the author and the book at www.menloinnovations.com/joyinc. You can also download a free chapter here. There's so much to love about his book and what they are doing at Menlo. I think it's great to start a new year, 2014, with a look at a book that gives us hope about creating workplaces where employees are fully engaged and everybody wins – customers, company, and employees. I'll have a chance to visit Menlo in about two weeks when I'll be in Michigan for my public Kaizen workshop, so I'll report back on what I see during that visit. For a link to this episode, refer people to  www.leanblog.org/189. Some of the topics I was taking notes on as I read the book (through chapter six):

My guest for Episode 188 has been a leading voice in the Lean community for 25 years, Daniel T. Jones, founder and chairman of the Lean Enterprise Academy, based in the UK. Dan collaborated with Jim Womack on the books The Machine That Changed the World, Lean Thinking, and Lean Solutions and published other books through the LEA. Currently, Dan is helping promote Lean in healthcare and government and is learning about the Lean Startup community by becoming an advisor to the company Elastera. He has also recently joined Twitter as @DanielJonesLean. You can also watch recently-released free videos (via Gemba Academy) of Dan, Jim, and John Shook reflecting on 25 years of Lean and other topics. In this episode, we touch on all of these questions and also take a question via Twitter. For a link to this episode, refer people to www.leanblog.org/188.  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

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

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 i

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:- How do Lean methods apply in a Law firm?- What are some benefits to the clients and the firm itself?- How do you get past the "we don't b

It's great to have Dr. John Toussaint back for episode #184 of the podcast (see links to previous episodes below). He is, of course, CEO of the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value and the author of two Shingo Award-winning books, On the Mend: Revolutionizing Healthcare to Save Lives and Transform the Industry2028and Potent Medicine: The Collaborative Cure for Healthcare.In this podcast, we start by hearing John's thoughts on some of the top issues that healthcare CEOs are facing today, such as changes in payment structures and Accountable Care Organizations. We also talk about the "Enduring Excellence" program that Paul O'Neill and John are leading to teach healthcare senior leaders about Lean culture change and their important role.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/184. Please leave a comment and join the discussion about the podcast episode.For earlier ep

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 getting better at sales (something I've honestly struggled with, as an engineer, during my time with KaiNexus). Scott talks about how "sales is a process," what some of the biggest mistakes people can make with sales, what some common "vanity metrics" are (to be avoided), and how to look out for "vampires and gatekeepers" as you sell. For a link to this episode, refer people to www.leanblog.org/183.  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 A

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 this month - see link at www.leanblog.org/182 ). In the episode, we talk about their mission to reduce maternal death rates and "needless suffering" by creating "engaging, problem solving managers" as "everything rises and falls with leadership." They are developing leaders who can "stop blaming" and treat people with respect, eliminating the "culture of fear" that we see in far too many organizations around the world. Dr. Brenda says, "I don't think it's ethical to allow change to happen so slowly" and that "clinical skills alone" won't solve healthcare's problems. For a link to this episode, refer people to www.leanblog

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. You might also know Ron from his blog posts (and now, also, a podcast) at LSSacademy.com. 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 did for Gemba Academy on SPC. Before I moved to San Antonio, Ron and used to live just about five miles apart in Keller, Texas and would meet for coffee regularly... but, today, we are talking via Skype. We're talking about his background with both Six Sigma and Lean and about how these methods can be used together. Ron tells a story about a time he used statistical methods to solve something that might have been difficult with standard Lean approaches. For a link to this episode, refer people to www.leanblog.org/181 Conflict of interest disclosure: Gemba Academy is a formal partner of KaiNexus, a

Joining me for episode #180 of the Lean Blog Podcast is Dan Florizone (@DanDeputy), 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 25 years of healthcare management experience, including a five-year stint as CEO of the Five Hills Health Region. Dan and I first met a few years back when we were at a Lean healthcare conference hosted by Cindy Jimmerson. I really enjoyed talking with Dan and have closely followed the Lean healthcare transformation work being done in the province. In the episode, we talk about Dan's introduction to Lean, his 2005 visit to Seattle to learn more, and how Lean is part of their "patient first" model. Lean has been a shift from "traditional cost cutting" to a "patient-centered, not provider-centered" approach to

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. We'll talk about their book, what types of value streams and "extended value streams" are being worked on in healthcare (including "end-to-end" flows), breaking down silos, improving quality and cost as a result of taking time out of the value stream, and more. For a link to this episode, refer people to www.leanblog.org/179. 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.

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 passionate about serving customer needs, and making a commitment to (and investment in) his employees. Whether you're a manufacturer who is considering "re-shoring" your production (or avoiding off-shoring) or if you're an organization looking to success by partnering with all of your employees, I think you'll find Drew inspiring. For a link to this episode, refer people to www.leanblog.org/178, which includes links to the following: - Check out Bill Waddell's recent blog post about Drew and Marlin Wire. - Inc. Magazine article on Drew - Video of Eli Goldratt's last speech, shared by Drew online You can find links to posts relate

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 and blog - "The Lean Professor." http://leanprofessor.com/blog/ For a link to this episode, refer people to www.leanblog.org/177. You can find links to posts related to this podcast there, as well. 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 le

Joining me once again for episode #176 is my good friend Norman Bodek, who has been a guest many times here. Today, we are talking about his latest book, The Harada Method the Spirit of Self-Reliance. You can also learn more about the book and Norman's workshops at his website, PCSPress.com. As always, it's great to hear Norman talk about his interests and what he has learned in his trips to Japan, including Harada's work. To point others to this, use the simple URL: www.leanblog.org/176. You can find links to posts related to this podcast there, as well. 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 lean

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 his career, the integration of Lean practices and safety improvement, lessons from Paul O'Neill and other great topics. Like my dad, Mike is a graduate of the then General Motors Institute (now Kettering University). To point others to this, use the simple URL: www.leanblog.org/175. You can find links to posts related to this podcast there, as well. 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 stre

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 background (growing up in Madison, Wisconsin, influenced by his dad, William Hunter, Brian Joiner, George Box, Dr. Deming, and others). John also talks about his book and work, why long-term thinking is such a rare commodity, and some of the lessons from Dr. Deming that mean the most to him. To point others to this, use the simple URL: www.leanblog.org/174. You can find links to posts related to this podcast there, as well. 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 s

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. In this episode, Alan talks about how they got started with Lean, what they learned from Autoliv and the Shingo Prize assessment process (being the first healthcare organization to do that). He also talks about his Summit keynote and how their work with Accountable Care Organizations is leading to better value and outcomes for patients. This podcast was produced in conjunction with the Healthcare Value Network as a continuation of their previous podcast series. To point others to this, use the simple URL: www.leanblog.org/173. You can find links to posts related to this podcast there, as well. Please leave a comment and j

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 modern CEOs he would put on the list of great Lean leaders, including the owner of the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars. To point others to this, use the simple URL: www.leanblog.org/172. You can find links to posts related to this podcast there, as well. 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 o

My guest for episode #171 is Chad Walters (@leanblitz), 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, we talk about how Lean principles can apply to sports operations, including the stadiums and events you attend. We'll talk about concepts of value and waste from the sports fan perspective, specific challenges in the sports and entertainment fields and some examples related to baseball (play ball!, the season just started) and The Masters, which starts Thursday. To point others to this, use the simple URL: www.leanblog.org/171. You can find links to posts related to this podcast there, as well. Please leave a comment and join the discussion about the podcast episode. For earlier episodes of the Lean Blog Podcast,