Interview with
Dr. Gary Kaplan, Virginia Mason Medical Center
Dr. Gary Kaplan
CEO & Chairman
Virginia Mason Medical Center
Seattle, WA |
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Q. How long have you worked with Shingijutsu?
In 2002, we went to Japan on our first
study mission for Genba kaizen. Since then, I have personally
led nine trips because the mission is that important to me: the
experience is transformational. All department chairs and VP’s
must go if they want to become executives with us. Furthermore, if a VP can’t
lead a workshop and maintain Kaizen certification, he or she doesn’t belong
here.
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We try to have Shingijutsu’s
head sensei help us for two to three weeks a year and we also
engage some of Shingijutsu’s other sensei for events in
between.
Q. What makes Shingijutsu unique?
For us, the unique factor is Shingijutsu’s
head sensei. He brings both powerful thinking and brilliance.
He holds our feet to the fire and spurs us on.
None of the other consulting firms can match him. While others
are doing project-based improvement, under his teaching we
are doing transformation. Once, after I described our plans
for the Virginia Mason Production System at a conference
on health care, James Womack, author of “The Machine
That Changed the World,” remarked
to the audience and me, “You will
never pull this off; health care is just too complicated.” Our
experience demonstrates otherwise. [See the Harvard Business
School case study on Virginia Mason Medical Center, HBS Case
Study 9-606-044 by Richard M.J. Bohmer and Erika M. Ferlins,
revised January 11, 2006.]
Interview with Carolyn Corvi, Boeing Corporation
Carolyn Corvi
Vice President
of Airplane Production
Boeing
Commercial Airplanes Seattle, WA, Retired |
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Q. How long have you worked with Shingijutsu?
From 1995 to 1998, Boeing sent 1500 VP’s, directors
and supervisors on one-week study missions to Japan with
Shingijutsu. The factory floor supervisors were the team
leaders!
In 1996, we contracted with Shingijutsu to send sensei
and ultimately adopted Shingijutsu’s concept
of a Kaizen Promotion Office and built internal capability. |
Q. What makes Shingijutsu unique?
Shingijutsu’s lineage to Mr. Ohno. They [the principals] worked
for him and absorbed his thinking and philosophy. Then they created
a way to pass this on to others.
Their way is very Zen-like. They are able to link to people by using
everyday examples to explain their thinking. Genba kaizen — getting
people out of their offices [to see how work is actually performed
in workplaces with their own eyes] — is unique.
Shingijutsu sensei have no hesitation about correcting others, regardless
of who they are.
Shingijutsu’s methods of simulation and moonshining add to
their uniqueness. The excitement that they engender among people
at a 3P event creates ownership and responsibility.
Q. What personal stories can you tell about Shingijutsu?
One story occurred in one of my factories. The sensei asked
me to stand in an imaginary circle, which he drew on the floor
with a wave of his arm, and to report what I saw. After standing
there for three minutes, I realized that I couldn’t see anything.
Why? The material racks were too high. So the sensei handed me
a marker and asked me to mark everything that had to be cut down
to height (about 5 feet or 1.5 meters) — including the columns
holding up the roof! I later decided that it would be better to
move the factory to a newer building that didn’t have columns. Another story occurred in Japan again. Quite unexpectedly, the
sensei asked me to teach one of our study mission classes about
the “heart
of kaizen.” After a few seconds of thought, I spoke
about the human dimension — what kaizen means to people
and their motivation and fulfillment. When I finished, the
sensei seemed pleased. |
