DailyKaizen

I was allowed to observe a group receiving this (the training) yesterday, courtesy of the aforementioned sister organization, that is letting me watch their journey. This was in the afternoon. In the morning, I was invited to sit in on a problem solving discussion about an important clinical issue, one that in fact we had had a discussion about back in Seattle not too long ago. A reminder to me that if some issues were easily fixed, they would have been fixed already - everyone wants things to work for the patient, always. We do this work because it’s hard, not because it’s easy.

In the training, I picked up some useful knowledge about sampling populations. I was mostly interested in observing the training process and seeing what cross section of the organization is involved. I learned that the instructor actually came from the financial services industry where he had applied LEAN and Six Sigma Techniques. Very cool - yet another industry where we can look to for knowledge about improving the care experience. I was allowed to provide a little context for a few minutes from the things I’ve done back in Seattle, which I turned into a sort of “LEAN is not a fad” speech. My thinking is that if I have five minutes to talk about LEAN, it is to say that it reinforces philosophy that we bring to health care - respect for the people we serve (our patients, our staff, society), and because of that, it can transcend the potential buzzword/jargonization that comes with any unknown. It’s the right thing to study, and it’s worth the effort.

It’s a good question for this audience, though - if you had 5 minutes to talk about LEAN to individuals new to the field, what would the theme of your discussion be?

I appreciate the time and experience of the group(s) I was able to meet yesterday. I continue to appreciate the fact that an organization committed to LEAN is one that wants to share and learn more, always.

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