DailyKaizen

Lee and I are doing a little switcheroo. I was out of the country for a bit so he was on the “blog service” for our team. Now, he’s leading two workshops, so it’s my turn to tell the story here, and I am happy to do so.

I returned from my time away to find our team back at a rapid improvement event for our quality improvement efforts, right at the gemba. It’s been about 6 months since we participated in one of these regularly recurring experiences, where we go physically to a care site with programmers and process experts to solve clinical problems for patients. We had to take a break so we could complete a major software upgrade (which we did).

I think a measure of the value of this approach is whether it is one that is relevant and lasting after a break like this. It completely distorts my work schedule; it prevents me from regular check-ins with my business peers; it takes me a way from planning activities that are my responsibility; it requires a level of intellectual versatility that can be exhausting (the care teams we work with know how they serve patients, our task is to keep up). One of my colleagues is actually assigned as lead physician already and is in ready attendance.

In short, I’m really not supposed to be here. However, it’s exactly where I’m supposed to be. My job is to support our members and those who take care of them, and I am watching a high performing care team solve important problems using our next-generation tools. I thank the organization I am a part of for letting me be where I am supposed to be during this week.