Wow! The daily lessons served up by the current political climate in the United States just keep coming. I’m quite certain nobody intended to help us gain these insights, but why bypass the opportunity! So here we go. Some people call their improvement cycle PDCA, as outlined by Walter Shewhart, while others refer to it as PDSA, as evolved by W. Edwards Deming. Whatever the terminology, we often forget that this IS a cycle. We write it in a linear fashion because that is the way our language ope...
Feb 13, 2017•11 min
Our CEO, Dr. Greg Jacobson, has a cartoon hanging in his office. It must be pretty popular, because I found out Mark Graban actually referenced it a few years ago in this post. The cartoon depicts a medieval king preparing to fight a battle with swords and shields - and a guy selling machine guns. The king is so focused on his next task, he is ignoring the salesman trying to sell him modern weapons, which would easily carry his army to victory if he took a moment to think about it. This cartoon ...
Feb 13, 2017•7 min
An increasing number of institutes of higher education are introducing the principles of Lean and other continuous improvement methodologies in order to improve efficiency and operational effectiveness. This might be surprising - even a bit controversial - in a sector that doesn’t produce products per se, but the underlying principles of respect for people, incremental change, and the elimination of processes and activities that do not add value absolutely have a place in an educational environm...
Feb 13, 2017•6 min
KaiNexus is pretty lucky in that it has a staff of amazingly talented and knowledgeable individuals. Our Vice-President of Improvement & Innovation Services, Mark Graban, is certainly no exception. Graban has over 20 years of experience practicing Lean both in manufacturing and in healthcare, is the author of several books including Lean Hospitals, and is the founder of LeanBlog.org. Recently Jeff Roussel, Vice-President of Sales for KaiNexus, hosted a webinar wherein Graban shared some of h...
Feb 08, 2017•6 min
Corrective and Preventative Action (CAPA) is an effective improvement technique that helps organizations investigate the root causes of any known problems or potential risks. The corrective action addresses something problematic that has happened, while the preventative action aims to avoid potential future problems. Corrective actions happen in response to things like product defects, identified waste, or customer complaints. Preventative actions may be applied to potential safety risks, compet...
Feb 06, 2017•7 min
As a sales executive for KaiNexus, I speak with Lean leaders and continuous improvement gurus daily. Most of them are excited about continuous improvement, but they are frustrated with the lack of supporting technology. However, once they decide to solve the technology problem, the face a new challenge - getting a new tool or platform approved and purchased. This is called the Buyer’s Journey, and it’s a foreign concept for so many people. Enter KaiNexus. The first three steps in most of my cust...
Feb 01, 2017•6 min
The 5S technique is part of a broader set of management practices known as visual management or visual control. Although these tools are often used by organizations that employ the Lean management or the Toyota Production System, they can be used by any organization seeking to optimize workspaces and processes. 5S can be implemented without technology to support it, but our clients have found that the digital approach can smooth the process and amplify the results.
Jan 31, 2017•4 min
Visual management, sometimes called visual control, is the technique of communicating information using visual signals rather than text or written instruction. People process visual images much more quickly than text, so the approach is an excellent way to achieve efficiency and clarity of communications. We often think of huddle boards or Kanban cards when we think about visual management, but it can take many forms. For example, some organizations have different colored uniforms for different ...
Jan 26, 2017•4 min
According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a rapid improvement cycle is a, "Quality improvement method that identifies, implements and measures changes made to improve a process or a system.” In other words, it is an organized approach to making processes better in short order. You don’t use a rapid improvement cycle to shoot for the moon, but rather to make incremental changes that add up to major success. Each cycle builds on the work done during the last and suddenly that mountain doesn...
Jan 25, 2017•4 min
How to Manage Your Improvement Metrics More Efficiently and Effectively In this webinar, you will learn: Some of the common mistakes people make when looking at performance metrics and the resulting problems Simple, but statistically valid and effective methods for creating, maintaining, and reviewing charts over time When to react and ask “what happened?” when reviewing new data points in a chart When to stop overreacting to individual data points and improve the overall system, instead How to ...
Jan 24, 2017•54 min
Kaizen events are an effective way to implement significant improvements in short order. They are used to tackle all sorts of issues from workplace organization, to process optimization and everything in between. Because Kaizen events are resource intensive, usually pulling people from their ordinary work for three to five days, it is essential to get the most out of every one. We’ve had lots of in-depth conversations with clients who’ve conducted rapid improvement events of all sorts. Some of t...
Jan 24, 2017•4 min
Strategy Deployment is a hot topic in continuous improvement circles these days. We’re delighted to see that because effective strategy deployment can make the difference between reaching the goals of the organization in the expected time frame and failing to achieve the breakthrough objectives. Of course, strategy deployment isn’t easy and few companies really excel at the practice. Strategy deployment software has been developed to help provide a structure for the practice and keep organizatio...
Jan 18, 2017•5 min
A post by Jeff Roussel, read by Mark Graban Every time we walk into a facility and see a Kaizen board, we are reminded about the excitement and sense of anticipation that most teams have when the Kaizen board is first introduced. But very often, when we ask front line employees about them the response is tepid at best. There may still be huddle meetings where the progress of each improvement is discussed, and a card might get moved from one stage to another from time to time, but the initial exc...
Jan 16, 2017•5 min
When I sat down to write about sustaining innovations, the word that popped into my mind was “entropy.” While entropy is a scientific term related to the degradation of the matter and energy in the universe to an ultimate state of inert uniformity, it is also used to refer to a process of degradation or running down or a trend to disorder. Entropy is a very real thing in organizations. Practices are implemented and improvements deployed, yet over time, things seem to revert to the way they were ...
Jan 16, 2017•4 min
A common mistake companies make when rolling out a new culture of continuous improvement is to fail to provide leadership training to the people leading it. When you're responsible for leading a cultural transformation, there are a lot of unique leadership skills that you need to employ. You need to be firm and empathetic, have high but reasonable expectations, communicate effectively, be present - the list goes on and on. It's a hard balance to strike, particularly for people who don't have a l...
Jan 13, 2017•6 min
Once organizations realize the value of daily continuous improvement and learn to leverage employee ideas for innovation, they often turn their focus on how to accelerate the pace of improvement. There are many ways that teams can get the most out of their improvement efforts. Workflow software is one tool that helps companies manage more improvement projects at the same time and pave a faster path to tangible results.
Jan 11, 2017•4 min
There’s an interesting thing about the definition of the word culture - it shares a root with the word “cultivate,” which means, “to foster the growth of; to improve by labor, care, or study.” Cultivation requires intention, action, and attention. Kaizen culture does as well.
Jan 10, 2017•4 min
Earlier in the day, at one of her company’s regular monthly meetings, she decided to offer a $100 bill to the first employee who could name all four of the company’s top-level strategic goals. What she got was crickets. Not a single person could name them all and few could come up with any of them at all. Ouch.
Jan 09, 2017•4 min
A blog post by Matt Banna Think about all the points of contact that customers go through with your company throughout their time in your sales pipeline and then as customers. Smart organizations realize that every one of these points of contact, frequently called touchpoints, are extremely important and valuable. Whether it's the first time you talk to someone, a customer changing their service, or a prospect buying your product, every touchpoint a person goes through shapes the way they feel a...
Jan 05, 2017•4 min
Post by Sam Turner: "Achieve Performance Excellence with Baldrige: The Framework You've Been Needing"
Jan 04, 2017•4 min
Kaizen events are a big deal. They pull people away from their regular jobs for a number of days; they require training, leadership must make necessary resources available, and internal or external facilitation is needed. Not every improvement project should involve a Kaizen event. But there are some situations that call out for them. To determine if a Kaizen event is the right approach to a particular situation, ask yourself these questions.
Jan 03, 2017•4 min
A blog post from 12/30/16 by Mark Graban Toyota famously changed automobile manufacturing forever by focusing on continuous improvement, particularly on the never-ending process of waste elimination. Over the years, eight specific types of waste were identified. They are now referred to as the 8 wastes of Lean. While Lean was originally developed in the automotive manufacturing sector, every business experiences waste in one form or another. In fact, if you keep your eyes open, you’ll notice was...
Dec 29, 2016•7 min
One of the many things we love about this time of year is the opportunity to reflect back on what we’ve accomplished (or survived) over the past twelve months. It’s also a great moment to set the stage for success in the year to come. If you practice the Lean management approach or plan to do so in 2017, one way to ensure that you get the most out of your improvement and waste reduction efforts is to invest in Lean software. Doing so gives you a number of advantages that will amplify your result...
Dec 29, 2016•5 min
Two posts by Dr. Mark Jaben
Dec 28, 2016•12 min
Continuous Improvement Resolutions for the New Year As 2016 draws to a close, our thoughts turn to what’s ahead in the coming year. Many of us vow to hit the gym or lay off the Doritos. We might even resolve to be a little kinder and more generous in the months to come. This is a good time of year to make some business-related resolutions as well. If you are reading this blog, continuous improvement is probably something that matters to you, so we’d like to offer some ideas for continuous improv...
Dec 27, 2016•4 min
Presented by Jeff Roussel, Hosted and Moderated by Mark Graban In this webinar, you will learn: - The importance of measuring and reporting the ROI of continuous improvement - What metrics to use to measure your success - How to report your impact in a way that senior leaders will care about - How to justify increasing your budget for continuous improvement
Dec 15, 2016•1 hr
Hosted by Mark Graban of KaiNexus, presented by Tania Lyon from St. Clair Hospital. In this webinar, you will learn: The preconditions for a successful rollout The levers for driving KaiNexus adoption How to develop and rely on the organizational helpchain to manage training Tania Lyon Dr. Lyon has spent the last 7 years leading St. Clair Hospital, a large award-winning community hospital in Pittsburgh, PA, through a “lean” transformation as their first Director of Organizational Performance Imp...
Nov 30, 2016•1 hr 1 min
In episode #10 of our series, Greg Jacobson, MD & Mark Graban talk answer questions such as: - What would you tell high school juniors about healthcare improvement? - Why can it be hard for some experienced leaders to understand or embrace Lean? - How does one make time for documenting processes? - How can we identify the leading indicators (daily measures) at Gemba that contribute to lagging indicators (monthly or quarterly measures)? - What methodology would you recommend for an organizati...
Oct 16, 2016•31 min
In this webinar, you will learn: How communication breaks down silos and to create a cross functional effort for continuous improvement The value of communication when it comes to educating vs. cheerleading How to leverage PMO and CI efforts for key strategic projects Get a snapshot of a new innovation team model that merges the best elements of CI and a PMO Originally Aired: September 20, 2016 from 1:00 - 2:00 pm EDT Length: 1 hour Hosted By: Mark Graban and Erin Edwards
Sep 24, 2016•1 hr
Webinar presented by Harry Kenworthy of QPIC, hosted by Mark Graban and KaiNexus on September 13, 2016. Ten Commandments for Lean in Government (and Beyond) In this webinar, you will learn: - The top 10 commandments for creating a Lean culture - The benefits of creating Dynamic Daily Data Collection for greater employee engagement - The only 3 things Lean leaders truly need to do - The "True North" principles in a Thinking People System (TPS) - How to start a Lean organizational journey About th...
Sep 13, 2016•1 hr
