Lean Blog Interviews: Real-World Lean Leadership Conversations in Healthcare and Beyond

http://www.leanblog.org/377   My guest for Episode #377 is Ritu Ward, an experienced healthcare executive who has had success delivering quality, growth, and strategy while leading high performing teams. We have known each other for a while through Lean healthcare circles and she presented a webinar in our KaiNexus series titled, “Leadership Behaviors to Guide Effective Change.” She was, until recently, the Regional Vice President for Mercy Labs in the West Region. Ritu also worked previously for Carolinas Healthcare, in a Performance Excellence role. She's currently looking for her next opportunity. Today, we'll talk about the leadership styles that help create a Lean culture. She also shares thoughts on how her leadership style had to change during the Covid-19 crisis, thoughts on leading change, and more.

http://www.leanblog.org/376  Joining me for Episode #376 of the podcast is Lauren Hisey, a continuous improvement coach and consultant at her firm, Lauren Hisey Consulting.  Before becoming a consultant, Lauren worked for AT&T and Nielsen in various technical and Lean Six Sigma roles. She has a BA in Political Science and Government and an MBA. Read more about Lauren via her bio. Today, we talk about the interface and overlap between concepts like Lean, Six Sigma, and Artificial Intelligence. Why do companies need to avoid jumping to solutions, including technology solutions like Robotic Process Automation? Why does the "respect for people" principle of Lean, from Toyota, mean that we shouldn't focus on replacing people with technology? I hope you enjoy the conversation, whether you listen or watch.  

http://www.leanblog.org/375   My guest for Episode #375 of the podcast is Mohamed Saleh, Ph.D.   Dr. Saleh has been a practitioner in Lean & Six Sigma transformations, in both manufacturing and service sectors. Mohamed was directly mentored by one of the country’s foremost experts on enterprise-wide Lean transformation and the Toyota Production System (TPS).   He has extensive experience in hands-on healthcare, manufacturing, supply chain, network optimization and enterprise information systems. Mohamed’s academic credentials include a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt from Kaplan University, a Masters in Technology Management & Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from Central Connecticut State University and a PhD in Business Administration from Northcentral University.    Mohamed is:   Founder of Vizibility llc, a Lean consulting and training company  An M Plus Group Managing Partner, an advisory-coaching firm devoted to knowledge sharing, event planning and helping clients achieve organizational transformation. One of his partners, Crystal Y. Davis, was my guest in Episode #363.   Today, we talk about his background and education in Lean and we delve into what it was like to lead a Lean transformation at a large health system in Connecticut. Mohamed also shares a little bit about his Ph.D. research.   I hope you enjoy the conversation!  

http://www.leanblog.org/374   Joining me today for Episode #374 of the podcast are two colleagues, Brittany Wilson and Mark Valenti.   The topic, as Mark and I discussed in Episode #306, is "Motivational Interviewing." We will all be exploring this topic in the context of talking to people about wearing masks during the pandemic. But, there are many applications to workplace situations, as well.   Mark and Brittany do a series of very engaging webinars, which you can find on their YouTube channel.   I hope you enjoy the conversation!  

http://www.leanblog.org/373 Joining me today for Episode #373 of the podcast is Professor Peter Hines, author of many books including Staying Lean: Thriving, Not Just Surviving. Peter founded S A Partners in 1994 as a spin-out from his activities in running the Lean Enterprise Research Centre at Cardiff University. Before this, he worked in supply chain and distribution and manufacturing industries. Peter has a degree from Cambridge University and an MBA and PhD from Cardiff University. He is also an accredited Senior Shingo Facilitator and is a Visiting Professor at Waterford Institute of Technology. He is also founder of the Enterprise Excellence Network, which invited me to do a webinar recently. In the episode, we talk about the challenges involved in creating and sustaining a culture of continuous improvement. Who should be the "Lean Champion" for an organization? Are there different success factors in the UK vs other countries? Is humility an innate trait or can it be developed? We talk about that and more. I hope you enjoy the conversation!

http://www.leanblog.org/372 My guest for Episode #372 is Karen Gaudet, author of the excellent book Steady Work, which was published by the Lean Enterprise Institute. In the interest of full disclosure, I am a former employee of LEI and they provided a review copy of the book. In today's episode, we discuss her experience with Lean at Starbucks. It's a fascinating story that includes a transition from the old way (the Seattle HQ figuring out "best practices") to a new way (where store managers and baristas were taught how to design "playbooks" and to continuously improve the way the work is done in a particular store).

http://www.leanblog.org/371 For Episode #371, we bring the discussion back to Lean Manufacturing applications, as our guest is Marc Lushington-Murray. He currently lives in the Fort Worth, Texas area but, as you'll discover from his accent, he was originally born and raised in England. Marc is currently searching for a new opportunity, but he brings a great deal of experience from his time working for Nissan and then Parker Hannifan. He was originally self-taught but then had the opportunity to learn from the famed Shigijitsu consulting group and others. He has worked in internal Lean roles, but has always been pulled into plant management or other direct line management roles. I hope you'll enjoy the conversation as Marc shares his reflections on his career to date and his hopes for what is still yet to come.

http://www.leanblog.org/370 Joining me for Episode #370 is Edward Blackman, the founder and managing partner of Kelda Consulting. He has previously had Lean and process improvement-focused roles at organizations as varied as Whirlpool, Amway, and Spectrum Health. Today, we are discussing behavioral science and the need to combine practices and lessons from that field with Lean and continuous improvement. Edward earned a Masters degree in Behavioral Science, along with undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Mathematics. He is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt by the American Society for Quality; is certified in Labor Standards by HB Maynard; is a Lean (Toyota Production System) Instructor/Coach; a Kata Coach; a certified Scrum Master; and an Agile Coach. Read his full bio.  

http://www.leanblog.org/369   Joining me again for Episode #369 of the podcast is Dr. Rachel Mandel, a self-described "healthcare whisperer" and Washington D.C.-based consultant for healthcare organizations. She has her own practice and also works as a Senior Healthcare Advisor for Operational Performance Solutions, Inc.   She was a guest recently for Episode #367, but we had recorded that before the pandemic. So, we decided to do another episode, this time as a live YouTube stream, to talk about issues of the moment, and the future, related to Lean and Covid-19 -- leadership, respect, and safety among other themes.   Again, she is a physician (OB-GYN) and previously served as the Vice President of Medical Affairs for a health system in Maryland. Read her full bio here.  

http://leanblog.org/368   My guest for Episode #368 is somebody I've met fairly recently through his excellent posts on LinkedIn, Steve Feltovich.   He is the president of SJF Consulting, Inc. and he previously had a long career in the automotive industry, in particular collision and repair.   Steve learned about Dr. Deming's approach and also learned the Toyota Production System from Toyota and Toyota University, so he has an interesting perspective that I really appreciate.   I hope you enjoy the discussion!