The world of sports is rife with statistics and hockey is no exception, especially here in Canada. Over the past few weeks, local Toronto hockey fans anxiously watched or listened for the results of every Toronto Maple Leafs hockey game – all the while hoping for a win and a shot at making into the playoffs. As has been the case for the past many […]
Are you Winning? A Hockey Lesson for Lean Metrics.
Toyota #1 for a Reason
Experience is often gained by making mistakes, however, we don’t have to repeat them for the sake of experience.  This is one of the reasons I decided to read “Toyota Under Fire” by Jeffrey K. Liker and Timothy N. Ogden.  Aside from the many positive reviews this book has already received, it claims to present “The definitive inside account of Toyota’s […]
Hanging from a thread – Lean Healthcare
Background It seems that Lean Healthcare is getting a lot of exposure here as of late. Â I will qualify this by saying “in practice” rather than “name”. Â The Toronto Star published yet another article, Sunnybrook cuts wait for prostate diagnosis down to 72 hours, that once again demonstrates that improvements can be made if we put our minds to it. […]
Are you an Excel Hero?
Background Not too long ago, I was approached by a systems consultant to consider writing an Excel solution to create a weekly production schedule for one of his clients. Â The reason for using Excel will become clearer in a moment. The current process Sales representatives submit a unique Excel spreadsheet / file for each customer order. Â All orders are saved […]
Lean Healthcare – Sunnybrook Surgeons given a hands-off way to Kinect
An article in today’s Toronto Star titled “Surgeons given a hands-off way to Kinect” clearly demonstrates how improvements can be realized in our work environment. Â One of the concerns in the operating room is maintaining a sterile field during surgery. Â Doctors cannot physically touch any devices away from the sterile field for fear of breaking it and have only 1 […]
Lean – Sunnybrook Doctors Benefit From Gaming Technology
Lean: Beyond Reach!
Almost everything I read or learned suggests that lean was never intended to be complicated. The simplest definition of lean I have read to date follows: Focus on what matters and eliminate what doesn’t This is not to suggest that lean is easy. In actual practice I find that some companies have sufficiently compounded the definition of lean to exclude […]
Lean – Walk and Talk
In my article “Waste: The Devil is in the Details“, I discussed the importance of paying attention to the details. From a company or personal perspective, the underlying theme to identify waste (or opportunity) is to be continually cognizant of what it is we’re doing and asking “Why?” I have continually stressed the importance of conducting process reviews right where the action is.  It seems […]
Waste: The Devil is in the Details …
I planned to publish this yesterday but for some reason I felt compelled to wait. I doubt it was fate, but as you will see, Toyota once again managed to serendipitously substantiate my reason for it. I was originally  inspired to write this post based on a recent experience I had at a local restaurant. After I was seated, I ordered a coffee to start […]
The Art of Deception – All Decisions are NOT Equal
As I discussed in “What did you expect? Benchmarking and Decisions – For Better or Worse” we are confronted with decisions every day. Â I even went so far as to suggest that an underlying benchmark is at the root of all decisions. Â As you will soon find out, not all decisions are equal. Most of us understand visual or optical […]