Problem Solving in Healthcare


Improvement is not something to fear. It is something to embrace and enjoy. 

A high school teacher was teaching a unit on problem solving and asked his class what a good leader should do first when a business problem is identified. Several hands went up, and the teacher called on one of the students. The student confidently replied, “Find out who is to blame and fire them.” At first the instructor thought the student was joking, but quickly realized by the nodding of heads in the room that he was not. Pointing fingers at someone else has been modeled over and over in our society by leaders in all types of arenas. The last thing any organization needs is a group of employees who think finding fault and blaming others supersedes root cause analysis.


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TOPICS: Management and Leadership, Lean Six Sigma, Healthcare

Seeing Improvement Opportunities in Healthcare


World-class healthcare organizations around the globe are realizing that there are substantial opportunities for improvement and cost savings by teaching and preaching the mindsets and toolsets housed within the Lean Six Sigma process improvement structure.

There is a popular cliché that says, “If it ain’t broke – don’t fix it,” and I subscribe to that philosophy. The problem I often see in healthcare is that a lot of workers don’t see broken processes. Perhaps they subscribe to another cliché: “What you don’t know can’t hurt you.” Unfortunately, I have learned through experience that this is not accurate. What you don’t know or can’t see can actually hurt severely.

World-class healthcare organizations around the globe are realizing that there are substantial opportunities for improvement and cost savings by teaching and preaching the mindsets and toolsets housed within the Lean Six Sigma process improvement structure. The goal is to help employees see broken processes and waste known to add large costs with no value. The foundational mindset can be summarized in three simple statements.


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TOPICS: Management and Leadership, Lean Six Sigma, Healthcare

Quality Improvement Is Fun

I recently read an article with advice on how healthcare organizations can avoid burnout associated with improvement. Huh? If you have a burnout problem because employees are tired of things getting better, you need to get some perspective. Most organizations are dealing with the burnout associated with having to deal with the same old repeatable problems that never seem to get fixed. They would love to deal with “too much” improvement.


Quality improvement, or finding and fixing the things that frustrate workers and patients, is one of the best things you can do with your day.

I do understand that change is not easy, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m referring to the sense of accomplishment that comes with figuring something out and solving the problem. Who doesn’t like that? I would find it hard to believe that there is anyone walking the planet hoping that their work day is filled with defects or rework. It truly goes against our human instinct. I think I’m actually allergic to rework. It makes my blood pressure skyrocket, and sometimes my skin gets itchy when I have to re-do something that I already checked off my to-do list.


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TOPICS: Management and Leadership, Lean Six Sigma

Five Tips for Implementing Lean Six Sigma in Healthcare


There are five best practices that many organizations have shared based on things they did right and things they would do differently if starting again.

In my 20+ years of working in quality improvement using Lean and Six Sigma process improvement concepts and tools, I have witnessed two foundational ways in which organizations approach the implementation of quality initiatives.

  1. Some organizations give it their own unique name. Something similar to XYZ Organization Quality First, Quality Vision, or Quality Care. Next, the program is rolled out with all the pomp and circumstance of the newest windfall. They train employees on the tools, run projects, and celebrate success. These organizations consider themselves healthcare organizations with a quality improvement program.
  2. Other organizations go a different direction. They want to become continuous improvement establishments. No unique names, no program timelines. They simply start training the entire organization on the mindset and toolset of continuous improvement (also known as ”kaizen”). The work is not something that is added to the culture, it just becomes the way that work is completed.


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TOPICS: Management and Leadership, Lean Six Sigma, Healthcare

The Morning After: How to Make Training Stick After the Event

Does this sound like a familiar scenario to you?

The training program you recently launched that was developed and delivered for you by a top-notch consultant was well received. The participant evaluations were excellent and full of praise for the trainer; business partners were pleased that you managed the project within budget and ahead of schedule; and the participants left the session enthusiastic, energized and with action plans full of good intent.


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TOPICS: Management and Leadership, Corporate Training

The Six Best Charts for Root Cause Analysis and Other Data Revelations

If you want to identify the root cause of a problem and prevent rework, start by visualizing the relevant data using a variety of charts and graphs. This Tool Kit is an excellent reference to help you and your team select the right visual for your data set.  It provides an overview of the six of the best charts for root cause analysis. Once the root cause of a problem is identified, you can determine a solution to prevent the cause of the error and eliminate rework. 


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TOPICS: Management and Leadership

Three Things You Need to Know About Data Analysis


Looking at accurate data through different types of charts and graphs will provide the awareness you need to solve problems and make good decisions.

Sports fan or not, you’ve probably watched, at least once in your life, some type of game or match (think Super Bowl, World Cup, Wimbledon etc.) where the ruling on the court or field was questioned.  The play then is reviewed, usually from many different camera angles. You might see it from the overhead view followed by the field view and finally a zoomed view of the exact same play or volley. After reviewing all the angles, the situation is clear.  The ground caused the fumble or the player stepped out of bounds. Think of data analysis in the same way.  It provides you with various camera angles into the situation so you can determine what is going on.  Do we have more defects on Mondays than other days? Is the XYZ region doing something different than the ABC region? Does it take longer to onboard a residential customer than a commercial customer?  The list of questions that can be answered with data is as extensive as the comfort level of the leader asking the questions.


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TOPICS: Management and Leadership

How to Present Data That Tells The Story


Leveraging data to create an information-rich, easy to understand visual will greatly improve your influencing power.

I remember it like it was yesterday. Our team had made a breakthrough discovery about a process problem that had plagued our organization for years. We needed to show the leadership team the findings and convince them to invest in a new system. While the upfront investment was significant, the broader cost savings would justify it. I was nervous, but confident they would jump out of their seats with appreciation for what we had uncovered. As I scanned the familiar faces looking back at my slides with deer in the headlights type of looks, I feared I had lost them. My fear was validated when the general manager raised his hand and asked me what the heck he was looking at while we showed them a boxplot graph of data. He said it looked like someone’s DNA chart. I learned on that day there is a difference between Exploratory Analysis and Explanatory Analysis and I invite you to learn from my mistake.

  • Exploratory Analysis is used to understand the data and discover patterns and new insights that often lead to deeper analysis and questions.
  • Explanatory Analysis offers an explanation of that analysis in a way that tells a story.

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TOPICS: Management and Leadership

Ask Four Essential Questions to Solve Problems Faster


The best thing managers can do to solve any problem and make better decisions is to learn how to ask good questions and look for factual answers.

Every year, there are thousands of mystery novels released and I’m not ashamed to admit that I enjoy reading as many as my time allows. Solving “mysteries” is also a big part of my career, having spent the last 25 years managing quality in several large organizations. There is nothing more gratifying to me than solving the mystery of defects or discovering hidden non-value-added costs. I have learned the best thing managers can do to solve problems faster and make better decisions is to learn how to ask good questions and look for factual answers. I use these four essential questions to guide me through the process.


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TOPICS: Management and Leadership

Will becoming a Project Management Professional enhance my future career?

Raw talent can only take you so far. Companies looking to promote or hire project managers for those truly challenging projects need talent with proven leadership and project management abilities. Certification as a Project Management Professional® (PMP®) not only sharpens your skills but gives your employer confidence that you're trained and endorsed as a competent and capable project leader.


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