Beyond Heroes in Healthcare: Kim Barnas on Lean Leadership and Management Systems

My guest for episode #197 is a hospital leader I really respect, Kim Barnas, author of the new book Beyond Heroes.  Until very recently, Kim was a Senior VP at ThedaCare, leading Appleton Medical Center and Theda Clark Hospital. I've seen Kim speak to groups at ThedaCare and a few conferences and she has a lot to teach us about Lean leadership, using her stories and experiences in a way that's very powerful. I hope you'll check out the book. Read a press release about it here. In the podcast today, we talk about topics including her initial reactions to Lean when first introduced to it as a hospital leader, why “heroes” are overrated and sometimes create “chaos” in healthcare, and the importance of moving beyond tools and projects to a Lean culture and management system. 2018 Update: What's Going on at ThedaCare? Kim talks about the need to “create more value” (not just reduce waste), saying “just trying to do more with less makes no sense – you need a plan.” We also talk about programs like GM's “Speak up for Safety,” where she says that speaking up “needs to be a conversation, not a reporting” transaction. For a link to this episode, refer people to  www.leanblog.org/197. For earlier episodes of my podcast, visit the main Podcast page, which includes information on how to subscribe via RSS or via Apple Podcasts.