Guides, quick-reference sheets, templates, and book previews from my work on Lean, psychological safety, and better use of metrics. Everything here is free. Most of it downloads directly. A few items ask for an email address so I can send the file.
Start here
Free ebooks
Field guides for leaders
Short guides on accountability without blame, why people stop speaking up, suggestion systems, scorecards, PDSA, and Toyota’s 1992 TPS booklet.
Free book chapters
Read before you buy
Previews of The Silence Tax, The Mistakes That Make Us, Measures of Success, Lean Hospitals, and Healthcare Kaizen.
Quick-reference sheets
One or two pages each. No sign-up. Print them for your next huddle or metrics review.
Measures of Success – PDF
Rules for Finding Signals
The three X Chart rules and the MR Chart rule, with an example chart showing each signal.
Measures of Success – PDF
10 Key Points
The core ideas of Measures of Success on one page: signal versus noise, and what to do about each.
Article – PDF
Good Change
My 2014 article for Industrial Engineer magazine on Kaizen and continuous improvement.
Lean Hospitals
Real results from Lean in healthcare
An excerpt from Lean Hospitals with examples of results hospitals have reported from Lean.
Templates and tools
Editable templates and online tools you can use with your team.
Excel and Google Sheets
Process Behavior Chart template
A spreadsheet template for building Process Behavior Charts from your own data.
PDF and PowerPoint
Kaizen templates
Idea cards, the Quick and Easy Kaizen report, and a Kaizen Wall of Fame poster, from Healthcare Kaizen.
Online simulator
Red Bead Game simulator
Run Deming’s Red Bead Experiment in your browser and see how much of the variation is the system.
Briefing paper – email required
Healthcare Kaizen for senior leaders
A three-page introduction to Kaizen for executives, drawn from The Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen.
Guides to read online
Lean Blog
Process Behavior Charts: a leader’s guide
How to tell signal from noise in performance data, and stop reacting to every up and down.
Red Bead Experiment
Red Bead Experiment resources
Materials for running or discussing Deming’s Red Bead Experiment with your team.
For readers
The Silence Tax resources
Extras for readers of The Silence Tax.
For readers
Measures of Success resources
Extras for readers of Measures of Success.
If these were useful, the books go further
The books go further than anything on this page, with more stories, more examples, and the practical how-to.
The Silence TaxHow Leaders Drive Out Fear and FutilityPre-order a signed copy
The Mistakes That Make UsCultivating a Culture of Learning and InnovationAbout the book
Measures of SuccessReact Less, Lead Better, Improve MoreAbout the book
Lean HospitalsImproving Quality, Patient Safety, and Employee EngagementAbout the book
Healthcare KaizenEngaging Front-Line Staff in Sustainable Continuous Improvements (with Joe Swartz)About the book
See all books and signed copies
Looking for something you saw in a talk or workshop that isn’t listed here? Let me know and I’ll point you to it.