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.
