I admire, generally, leaders and change agents were able to go against the accepted grain in their industry, leading to dramatic improvements in results. Some of these people would include Dr. Richard Shannon, who is now at the University of Pennsylvania, who was an early innovator in using lean and Toyota methods to dramatically reduce hospital acquired infections. Another hero is somebody who talked Dr. Shannon, Paul O’Neill, the former CEO of the company Alcoa, who applied similar thinking to the dramatic improvement of employee safety. Another hero would be Dr. John to sign the former CEO of the health system ThedaCare. John is one of many healthcare CEOs I admire for their willingness to look in the mirror and change their approach to management and leadership as well as leading their hospitals to providing better patient care.

What do you do when you are not working?

It seems like I’m always working these days, with the multiple projects and things I’m involved in. I’m lucky to say the cliché about it not feeling like work applies to me, as I really enjoy everything that I’m working on. but when not working, I enjoy cooking (and eating!), drinking wine, watching comedies on TV, and traveling.

What is a skill or strength that sets you apart from others?

I’ve been told that one strength I have is the ability to synthesize ideas from different sources, industries, and methodologies and to explain those in a way that is consistent and understandable to others. My own understanding of lean principles has greatly benefited from working in different industries, including different types of manufacturing, healthcare, and at this point to different software companies.

What (or who) inspires you?

Well, again, people who are able to drive change and do great things particularly in healthcare. This includes not just CEOs, but especially front-line staff in hospitals, including nurses, who are so dedicated to their patients in their profession. Even when they work in physical layouts and with processes that do not support fully what they need to provide the best patient care, these everyday heroes go above and beyond to make sure their patients are safe and looked after. So what we need to do is an industry, is to make sure we provide better systems and support structures, so that they don’t have to be constantly going above and beyond and fighting through bad systems.

How has social media changed your life?

In the 3 1/2 years that I’ve been on twitter, I found that it’s actually a great way of networking and meeting new people, which might be surprising to some. I can’t say that it’s changed my life, but it’s generally enhance my life, through new instructions and being exposed to new articles, books and videos that people share via social media.

Do you blog? Your blog and twitter link if you would like to share with the readers?

Yes I have blogged since early 2005 at www.leanblog.org. My twitter handle is @leanblog.

The first book, “Lean Hospitals” is an overview and introduction to lean concepts and methods for healthcare.It was released in late 2008 and was the recipient of a Shingo award in 2009. A revised 2nd edition will be available later in 2011. The reception for this book has been very gratifying, as it is being translated currently into 7 different languages. My new book is titled “Healthcare Kaizen: Engaging Front-Line Staff in Sustainable Continuous Improvements.” It should be available in spring 2012 and provides a deeper dive into specific methods for encouraging and managing small continuous improvement activities. The word kaizen, of course, it is a Japanese word that can be translated to mean “change for the better” or “continuous improvement.”

Personal growth and continuous learning – how important is this in our times?

This is incredibly important, especially in times where the pace of change is increasingly fast and there is an ever-increasing amount of ambiguity and uncertainty in our careers, our workplaces, and the world around us. Having a degree or certification or in “black belt” is no more than the ticket to entry to any sort of improvement activity. It should be a starting point for a lifelong of continuous learning through formal education and practical practice. For example, I’ve been practicing lean professionally for 16 years and I continuously read both new books that are published in this field, as well as going back to read some of the original books from 20 or 25 years ago.

Quality – what is your definition or understanding?

I think there are multiple definitions of the word quality. We can define quality is doing the right thing for the customer (meaning the patient and healthcare) and we can also define quality as doing those things correctly. In healthcare, we cannot gauge quality merely by doing things in an error-free way. The healthcare profession and industry needs to challenge itself.  An example will be to keep people healthy as opposed to just providing error-free sickness care. So from a personal example, the physician needs to determine what surgical procedure, if any, is appropriate for my condition. And when they perform that surgery, they need to do so in a way that does not create any harm to the patient.

Name your favorite work related book?

I think I have to favorite books. One is the classic “Out of the Crisis” by the late Dr. W Edwards Deming. This book should be required reading for anybody who is doing work with lean methodologies, as the managerial teachings of Dr. Deming are so deeply embedded in the Toyota Production System. Another book I really recommend is called “Understanding Variation” by Dr. Donald Wheeler. This is a short little book that gives such insights on using statistics to manage in an effective, fact-based way. Incredibly influential in my work.

He is the author of the book Lean Hospitals: Improving Quality, Patient Safety, and Employee Satisfaction (Productivity Press), which was selected for a 2009 Shingo Research and Professional Publication Award and is being translated into seven languages. A 2^nd revised edition will be available in October, 2011. Mark is also currently co-authoring a new book, titled “Healthcare Kaizen: Engaging Front-Line Staff in Sustainable Continuous Improvements,” due out in early 2012. He is the founder and lead blogger and podcaster at LeanBlog.org, started in January 2005.

To learn more about him read on.

You recently joined a software company – KaiNexus. Is it harder to apply lean six sigma methodology to Software Company compared to manufacturing?

You certainly can’t apply all of the classic lean tools in a software setting, but the mindsets are very much the same. Focus on the customer obsessively. Practice “respect for people,” meaning your employees, partners, and customers. When problems arise, look for the root cause in a non-blaming way and put in place process changes that help prevent future errors. The iterative nature of “lean startup” style software development is very similar to the iterative design processes of lean that might be used to design a new factory or a new hospital.

What are some challenges you have faced when implementing lean projects in any organization?

A major challenge is getting people to understand that lean is not just about tools and projects. To be fully successful with lean, it requires a willingness to change the culture and the management system of an organization. If senior leaders think lean is something to be delegated to others, without also looking in the mirror to decide how they are going to change, lean efforts are likely doomed in the long-term. Lean is a mindset that must be embraced by people at all levels, changing the way we behave, manage, and improve each and every day.

This is an old quote that has always intrigued me and in today’s world it is the new reality. Competition, economic conditions and doing more with less are a few reasons why change is more visible and wide spread than it was a couple of years ago. Customers demand more and want quality. Organization push their employees to do more, faster and deliver with quality. Change is not easy.  Its not easy for the people demanding the change nor is it easy for the people who have to adapt to the change. What ever be the reason behind the change we are all equally responsible for making it work or at least trying to make it work. We all need to be change agents or change leaders.

There are two types of changes – evolution and revolution.

Evolution (aka adaptation) – This happens slowly within an organization. This evolves over time and is not easily noticeable. With these changes the language and culture changes over time.

Revolution (aka reconstruction) – This is usually dramatic changes and can happen at multiple levels simultaneously. Some examples are business realignment or reorganizations.

Managers are people who do things right, while leaders are people who do the right thing. — Warren Bennis, Ph.D.

Going back to change leaders. This is a term I love. Change leaders are not managers. They can be anyone in the organization who can help lead the change. They are like swans. They take turns when flying, they encourage each other and they lead. Leaders are not managers. Change leaders enable, inspire and engage their team to be successful. In my next post I will talk about how changers influence and work to help organizations. How it is important to have them on your side.