ABSTRACT
Quality systems, like Lean Six Sigma, by definition are change models, intended to stimulate creativity and mold the environment for change within the organization. When applied systemically in a standardized, disciplined manner, quality systems add the important element of learning loops, thereby enabling managers within the organization to learn from their collective successes and failures. All too often, health care senior leaders, unlike their manufacturing senior leader counterparts, fail to recognize that a quality system is an organization-wide change model, as opposed to simply Joint Commission compliance or patient safety or other delegable objectives, and, thereby, fail to benefit from the power of quality constructs like Lean, Six Sigma, and the Toyota Production System.
