by Ted Eytan, on 12 Jul 2006 09:02 pm
The Journey
Overwhelmed with possibility
Lee and I toured the manufacturing plant at Genie Industries today, in neighboring Redmond, WA. He’s going to report on what he saw separately, but I was beyond overwhelmed by what I saw.
As I am one to do, I kept looking at some of the principles and asking myself, “Could our patients benefit from that approach? Could a health care system benefit?” Each time, the answer was “yes.” Things like, judging quality in real time, visual controls for training, and a team approach to delivering for the customer.
When we walked the floor, different roles were pointed out to us - one, the engineer designing the scissor lifts, another, the team lead, another, a skilled worker. The key was that they had to be pointed out to us - their role was not quickly identifiable by what they wore or how they interacted with their colleagues.
The focus on continuous improvement and each person’s role in supporting this was unmistakable. It permeated every part of the plant. With single piece flow, each person could tell where the product was and could have an emotional stake in its successful build. It seemed to me that people were not left to fend for themselves - there was a real interest in supporting their work for the customer by allowing them the creativity - every single day - to try new things.
Could LEAN prinicples used to manufacture scissor lifts be used in health care? Why would a physician make a house call to a scissor lift plant to improve their practice of medicine?
I think that’s not the best question. A better one is “does the calling to be a physician include continuous learning and doing everything you can to create the best health system for your patients?”
As I watch this team work, I am also humbled by our responsibility as a profession, to support each person’s ability to achieve their personal and professional goals through good health. We can be students as well as teachers, and use the gift that we are given by society to guide the delivery of the best health care, with the help of smart people everywhere. I’m up for it.
One Response to “Overwhelmed with possibility”
on 05 May 2007 at 1:14 pm 1.DailyKaizen » “These are things company executives are not going to figure out for you.” said …
[...] is part quote of the week and part memorable statement, made by our hosts at Genie Industries, when we toured the facility in July, 2006. We were being shown a workstation in the plant, and various modifications that had been made over [...]