CLN Member Jeffrey Weide at SHAPE Consulting LLC
How did you get your start in lean?
I have been working in Lean for over 15 years. I first started process improvement in the Air Force and working QI projects and process evaluations for 6 years. As I finished my Air Force commitment, I was trained through Villanova as a Lean Six Sigma Blackbelt with a Healthcare focus and received my DBA in Project Management. I then worked in multiple health organizations for process improvement and helped revitalize the Denver Health Lean Academy.
What excites you about lean?
Lean is the culmination of understanding when done right. It is not just about tools, A3s, or Kaizen events. It is about truly understanding the purpose behind things, helping others become more successful, and providing an exceptional experience for customers and staff.
What is your proudest lean accomplishment?
During my tenure at Denver Health, I was a part of the development of their latest free-standing clinic that included the first urgent care in the community for DH, pharmacy, radiology, lab, primary and specialty care, and health education. We took a holistic and comprehensive approach to design using Lean 3P principles. The result was a fabulous building that shattered out projections for patient need, especially with the Urgent Care. Outside of that, I used Lean as part of my larger toolset when I was contracted to help lead the staffing augmentation efforts for a vendor with CDPHE during the COVID-19 pandemic. We were able over 2.5 years to staff over 4300 sites, travel over 230K miles, and service over 30K patients while maintaining over 96% attendance by augmented staffing during a volatile pandemic.
What is something unique about you or your lean journey that you would like to share?
It is not all the same. I come from a very different career trajectory where I was a computer science major in college my first time around, moved into the Air Force following 9/11, then changed from aircraft/deployment operations to business analysis and process improvement. So, what I tell people is that you can learn at any position, organization, or project as long as you let it give you the learning experience.
What is your favorite lean tool? And why?
I helped out with many physical flow issues over the years in multiple organizations, so I always had a soft spot for spaghetti diagrams. I think there is a beauty in showing someone the chaos of foot traffic and equipment movement in a space. It gains an appreciation, especially with those fast-paced occupations like Emergency Department and Inpatient Nursing services.
What do you enjoy most about being active in the Colorado Lean community?
Ever since I left the Air Force and came back to Colorado, I became active in the CO Lean community. This included working with the CLN on summits and projects and being the first-ever Education Champion (prior to the switch to the Board model). I have also spoken at the CLN events along with other events in the state and nationally on Lean. It is just exciting to talk to my peers on what they are doing and how we can help each other.
What have you learned from your participation in CLN that you have been able to apply?
I learned so much from my peers that includes how to approach teams, clients, and leaders. I have learned different application of techniques, importance of change management and stakeholder engagement, as well as the more fundamental elements of Lean beyond just a tool or cycle.
What do you love about lean?
As I stated before, it is the understanding of everything. To me, Lean is all about how to help others, so the understanding element is the excitement for me to continue using this.
Who are your customers?
With SHAPE Consulting, I use my background in Strategy, Healthcare, Analytics, Projects, and Education to provide services to clients that need help in those areas. This has ranged from start-up entrepreneurs to multi-clinic health systems to educational systems. My customer is anyone needing help understanding how to optimize and put their customers and staff first.
Connect with Jeffrey on LinkedIn
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreyweide
