ABSTRACT
A Team Journey The Virginia Mason leader ship team was formed 4800 miles from the medical center campus on Seattle’s First Hill. In 2002, when Dr. Gary Kaplan led his executive team to Japan for immersion in the study and practice of the Toyota Production System, there was one of those defining moments, when those present recall it years later as though it happened yesterday. The moment occurred in a conference room after the group had been in Japan for 14 days. This group had been through a grueling experience for more than a year. They all had major responsibilities within the organization, but for more than 12 months they had also all been involved in a deep dive into the methods and tools of the Toyota Production System. They had read thousands of pages from books and articles. They had visited lean manufacturing companies in Seattle and Hartford. And now they had completed an exhausting period of work, study, and observation in a factory. A moment that would be seen in retrospect as one of the most pivotal in the 94-year history of Virginia Mason was upon them.
