When I’m speaking with central improvement office teams about Patient-Centered Strategy: A Learning System for Better Care I’m often asked, “This makes so much sense to me, but how do I get the senior leadership team to do this?” This captures a common frustration among improvement professionals Many tell me things like “my senior leaders say they support lean, but they don’t model the principles and behaviors that embed lean thinking in the organization.” Continue reading →
A while back at Catalysis we did an ice-breaker before a value stream mapping event that demonstrated how the meaning of words can differ from person to person.
First, the facilitator tells the story of a man who was found dead inside a cabin and nobody else was around. The team takes turns asking questions to try to figure out what happened to the man. People guess things like: “he fell,” or “there was an avalanche.” The team is taking the word cabin to mean a log building out in the woods or the mountains. But in this case, the man died from a plane crash; he was found in an airplane cabin. Continue reading →
Often improvement team members are in the position of coaching someone who is a senior leader in the organization and who may even have positional authority over them. This can often be nerve-racking and make these coaches feel like they are not equipped to succeed. Continue reading →
Many organizations we work with have management systems and problem-solving processes and tools already in place. They often wonder how and where kata fits into what they are already doing. Kata does not replace these tools; instead kata can be used as an opportunity to enhance the processes and methods that you are currently using.
There are two patterns of kata, improvement kata and coaching kata. Improvement kata is simply a routine to engage a team around process improvement, whereas coaching kata is a method or routine for coaching a person through problem-solving. Continue reading →
Healthcare leaders all have the best intentions to become better leaders and transform the culture at our organizations. Maybe there are behaviors we want to work on, or maybe we just need to get to gemba more often. The problem is that things tend to get in our way, there is always some other work to be done that we may deem as a higher priority. But what is a higher priority than the culture of our organizations?
We need to make the time and be intentional about making a change. Continue reading →
You may recall from science class that catalysis is the acceleration of a reaction by a catalyst. We chose that name because our goal is to inspire healthcare leaders and accelerate change throughout the healthcare industry; change to deliver higher value for patients. Continue reading →
On March 30, 2008, the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value started writing blog posts highlighting successful transformations of healthcare systems. Over the course of the past eight years, the depth and scope of the Center Point Blog has widened to include the entire spectrum of payment, delivery and transparency. And as the landscape for improving healthcare has changed, we have changed with it, to supply the needed information to help guide our readers with objective and trusted viewpoints. Continue reading →
The holidays at the end of the year are a time of reflection. During this time we pause to look back and take stock of significant events in our lives during the previous 11 months. This year I would like to offer some of my personal reflections from my collaboration with many committed, visionary, and courageous industry leaders and coaches. Here they are, in no particular order: Continue reading →
Would healthcare be better if everyone understood and applied the five lean principles described in the book Lean Thinking? As part of our team development at the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value, several of us have embarked on the process of taking the Lean Bronze Certification examination. To prepare, we are studying the various books that are required reading. As I was reading Lean Thinking I was struck by how much of our current healthcare system goes against these five simple principles. Continue reading →
Jim Marks, the Chief of Staff and Chief of Anesthesia at San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH), in this open letter to his colleagues, details the importance of teaching the principles and thinking behind lean management, the work ahead of his organization, and what they’ve accomplished so far. The shift in thinking required to switch to a lean management system is difficult work, but as he explains below, it’s well worth the effort.Continue reading →
