Lean Blog Interviews

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 and pre-order 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? Their books: - The Lean Entrepreneur: How to Create Products, Innovate with New Ventures, and Disrupt Market - The Entrepreneur2019s Guide to Customer Development: A cheat sheet to The Four Steps to the Epiphany To point others to this,

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 that works 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

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.

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.

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.To point others to this, use the simple URL: www.leanblog.org/158. 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

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. To point others to this, use the simple URL: www.leanblog.org/157. 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

My guest for episode is #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 their 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 hear? To learn... and to have fun, as Dr. Deming said! To point others to this, use the simple URL: www.leanblog.org/156. 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 episo

Joining me for episode #155 is Jim Benson, 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. - see leanblog.org/155 for links. You can learn more about the book and interact with Jim at http://www.personalkanban.com/pk/ To point others to this, use the simple URL: www.leanblog.org/155. 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

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:http://www.rpmexec.com/ This podcast episode is brought to you by Creative Safety Supply, Leaders in Visual Safety, floor marking,label printing and more. Visit their website at www.creativesafetysupply.com/leanpodcast/ for a special listener discount. To point others to this, use the simple URL: www.leanblog.org/154. 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

Joining me for Podcast #153 is Robert Maurer, PhD, Director of Behavioral Sciences for the Family Practice Residency Program at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and a faculty member with the UCLA School of Medicine. We are talking about his excellent book titled, One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way. I discovered Maurer's book when doing research for our recently-published Healthcare Kaizen. It's really interesting to hear about applying the Kaizen approach in the realm of psychology and therapy instead of the workplace. Maurer writes about the brain chemistry that causes people to "fear change" - except when it's small change. Fascinating stuff and I'm thrilled to have spoken with him a few months back. To point others to this, use the simple URL: www.leanblog.org/153. 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

My guest for podcast #152 is Matt Stewart (@MattKCTV5) and we are talking about his book The Walk-On: Inside Northwestern's Rise From Cellar Dweller To Big Ten Champ. Matt and I are both graduates of Northwestern University. While he played football on a championship team, I was on the field as a marching band drummer. There are a lot of football stories in the book, but our podcast focuses on the lifelong leadership lessons that come from the rise of Northwestern's program - how do we motivate people to tackle seemingly insurmountable challenges? Matt's book website: www.MattStewartBooks.com. This podcast episode is brought to you by Creative Safety Supply, Leaders in Visual Safety, floor marking,label printing and more. Visit their website at www.creativesafetysupply.com/leanpodcast/ for a special listener discount. To point others to this, use the simple URL: www.leanblog.org/152. You can find links to posts related to this podcast there, as well. Please leave a comment and join the discussion about the po

Joining me for episode #151 is my friend Karen Martin, talking about her newly-released book The Outstanding Organization: Generate Business Results by Eliminating Chaos and Building the Foundation for Everyday Excellence. Karen is the founder of Karen Martin & Associates and she is previously the co-author of The Kaizen Event Planner: Achieving Rapid Improvement in Office, Service, and Technical Environments. www.ksmartin.com To point others to this, use the simple URL: www.leanblog.org/151. 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 leanpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave a voicemail by c

My guest for episode #150 is Jeffrey M. Lobosky, MD, the author of the book "It's Enough to Make You Sick: The Failure of American Health Care and a Prescription for the Cure." Dr. Lobosky talks about what he thinks is lacking in current healthcare reform efforts driven by Washington D.C. We talk about how he defines the crisis in healthcare - "why are things going bad?" After we diagnose the problem, what are some treatments, cures, or solutions? To point others to this, use the simple URL: www.leanblog.org/150 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,

My guest for episode #149 is Gregory Jacobson, MD, the co-founder and CEO at KaiNexus (www.KaiNexus.com). We'll be talking about his early work with Kaizen in emergency medicine settings - how did he get introduced to Kaizen principles and how did get train others in getting started? Bio: Greg graduated from Washington University in St Louis in 1997 with a BS in Biology. He attended Baylor College of Medicine from 1997 to 2001. From 2001 to 2004, he completed a residency in Emergency Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center where he then stayed on as faculty. Starting in 2004, it was his observation and research of operational inefficiencies and unrealized improvement opportunities that resulted in the creation of a rudimentary software tool at VUMC and, ultimately, the founding of KaiNexus. Jacobson is co-author of Kaizen: A Method of Process Improvement in the Emergency Department published in the journal Academic Emergency Medicine. Conflict of interest: I have been on the management team at KaiNex

Episode #148 is a conversation with a returning guest, Naida Grunden, and her co-author Charles Hagood (of Healthcare Performance Partners), talking about their new book Lean-Led Hospital Design: Creating the Efficient Hospital of the Future. It's an outstanding book and I was happy to endorse it, as have John Toussaint, MD and many others. In the podcast, we talk about what lean-led hospital design entails, including getting staff involved, how to tie processes and space together, and how to collaborate with architects and construction companies to build space and processes that best serve the patients and healthcare professionals. To point others to this, use the simple URL: www.leanblog.org/148. 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 Stitch

Episode #147 is a part two of a conversation with Scott Patten and Peter Armstrong from LeanPub.com (listen to part one in episode #140). They want to be THE website for publishing "in-progress books". In this episode, we are talking about how they are applying the concepts of the Lean Startup methodology to their service and their business. We'll talk about some of my own experiences as an early adopter and later as an actual user -- what have they learned along the way and how do they use lean methods to be innovative? Conflict of interest disclosure: I have published two blog compilations via their service, a Best of Lean Blog 2011 book and a Best of 2012 book that is being published incrementally throughout the year. I'm a huge raving fan of their service and the way Scott and Peter have worked with me as I learned and used Leanpub.com.  To point others to this, use the simple URL: www.leanblog.org/147. Please leave a comment and join the discussion about the podcast episode. For earlier episodes of the L

Episode #146 is a discussion with a returning guest (#54, #62, #72), John Toussaint, MD, the CEO of the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value. Today, we're talking about his latest book, recently released, called "Potent Medicine: The Collaborative Cure for Healthcare." John talks about the three aspects of his collaborative cure: patient-centered care redesign, transparency, and payment for outcomes. A lot of the discussion follows on my conversation with Dean Gruner, MD in Podcast #144, talking about the experiments with "Accountable Care Organizations" at ThedaCare and other organizations. To point others to this, use the simple URL: www.leanblog.org/146 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

Episode #145 is a conversation with Natalie J. Sayer, co-author of the recently updated 2nd edition of the book Lean For Dummies. I was able to meet Natalie at the recent ASQ Lean and Six Sigma Conference, where she was also a presenter. While I was a bit resistant at first to the "for Dummies" being associated with Lean (given that "dummy" is a sort of disrespectful word), I came around when I read the first edition and found it to be a fun, solid overview of Lean concepts and a great first read for people who are new to Lean. In the podcast, Natalie shares what's new in the second edition and shares some of her history and experience with Lean, including some time learning at the famed NUMMI plant while working for GM. ADVERTISEMENT: This podcast episode is brought to you by Creative Safety Supply, leaders in Visual Safety, floor marking, label printing and more visit their website at www.creativesafetysupply.com/leanpodcast for a discount. To point others to this, use the simple URL: www.leanblog.org/145 Y

Episode #144 is a discussion with Dean Gruner, MD, the president & CEO of ThedaCare, previously a guest in episode 119, talking about strategy deployment. Here, the topic is Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and how ThedaCare is using them, with Lean methods, to improve the coordination of care for patients. Dean will be presenting at the upcoming Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit, June 6-7, 2012 in Minneapolis. I hope to see you there! I'll be attending and moderating the CEO panel again this year. Summit info: http://leanblog.org/healthcaresummit To point others to this, use the simple URL: www.leanblog.org/144 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: htt

Like podcast #143, this episode is a Q&A that follows up a webinar I did for my good friends at Gemba Academy recently, on the topic "Using Statistical Process Control (SPC) to Make Better Management Decisions." You can view a recording of the webinar here (http://www.leanblog.org/SPCwebinar) or on the Gemba Academy website. This might seem like an esoteric topic, but it's one I've found to be VERY practical and helpful in my career and with my clients. Some feedback I got included, "That wasn't nearly as boring as one might have expected." :-) To point others to this, use the simple URL: www.leanblog.org/143 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.