Gemba calls again and again

The training sessions for the senior management in Lean philosophy and techniques continue, in an effort to integrate that approach with the ongoing BIDMC SPIRIT program. Each session involves a visit to a front-line process or clinical area. Here you see Suzanne Albright, a recruiter in our human resources department, explaining the steps in recruiting, screening, interviewing, and hiring to Mark Gebhardt, Chief of Orthopaedics.

Above, you also see the group at play, with a simulation of a meeting to discuss process improvement. Each person is labeled with a characteristic -- unknown to him or her -- that causes the other participants to treat him or her in a stereotypical fashion. The lesson is clear within just a few minutes: If you draw assumptions about your colleagues with regard to their ability to participate fully in process improvement, it is a self-fulfilling prophecy. The result is a diminution of the ability of the group and the organization to learn from one another and achieve the best results.