Jun 8 2016
This Doctor is Upset, But It Doesn’t Really Sound Like Lean | Mark Graban | leanblog.org
“[…] it’s a first-hand story and an opinion piece. […] Dr. Cotton describes the poor treatment he’s received from a 40-something internal “Lean consultant” named Dean. […] Dr. Cotton describes a typically hectic E.D. scene where he’s “six patients behind” and he’s spent some time talking to a patient’s mom in an attempt to comfort her and explain the situation… a perfectly human and caring response. Then, Dr. Cotton describes an interaction that I’d hope would never happen[…]: ‘And that’s when Dean confronted me. ‘He wasn’t your patient! You are six patients behind!” Dean was the hospital’s MBA consultant for LEAN management.”
Sourced through Scoop.it from:www
Michel Baudin‘s comments:
I think what happened to Dr. Cotton is primarily the result of 25 years of Lean bandwagon jumping. Ever since the name was coined, all sorts of consultants and gurus have rebranded their offerings as “Lean,” misleading their audiences and living off the reputation of the Toyota Production System.
Given the absence of consensus on a Lean body of knowledge or control on the appellation, this was inevitable. But this process has besmirched the “Lean” label, and I am not sure it is salvageable.
Dr. Cotton seems to have it in for MBAs, which Mark may think unfair because he has one. Mark’s saving grace, however, is that he is also a mechanical engineer.
See on Scoop it
June 8, 2016 @ 6:30 pm
I’m not sure if the doctor would be any more impressed with my engineering degrees 🙂
The problem isn’t the word “Lean” per se, but the lack of understanding amongst those who do all sorts of awful things under the banner of Lean… it’s very frustrating.
June 8, 2016 @ 10:08 pm
Some systems thinking practitioners (John Seddon of Vanguard Consulting especially) won’t use the word Lean because ‘it’s been so corrupted by the consultants’.
And also, for some reason that I’ve never been able to completely fathom, health professionals/clinicians love to misrepresent Lean, seemingly for the express purpose of discrediting it.
June 9, 2016 @ 3:57 am
For the longest time, Seddon called what he did “Lean Service” though.