Lean Coffee Chat Summary: August 2025
The scent of coffee hung in the air, a familiar signal that our monthly “lean coffee” chat
was underway. Professionals from various backgrounds, united by a shared dedication
to continuous improvement, gathered to explore what “lean” truly means to our
community. The conversation, as always, flowed organically, connecting disparate
topics into a tapestry of shared understanding.
Our first discussion sprang from a vote on process mining. The question was a simple
one: were any tools being used, and were people happy with them? The immediate
sentiment was a collective sigh of frustration. One participant perfectly captured the
issue, noting that “finding the data is the hardest part”. The conversation revealed a
major barrier: organizational systems are fragmented and not integrated, making it
impossible for data to “talk to data”. One person shared a solution they were exploring,
a simulation tool that allows you to model processes and test different scenarios.
Ultimately, everyone agreed that without healthy, integrated processes to begin with,
process mining is a nonstarter. This led to a consensus that the primary opportunity lies
in overcoming the fragmentation of data, which is often owned by different people who
are reluctant to share.
This challenge of fragmentation and silos unexpectedly resurfaced during a later
discussion on Continuous Improvement in healthcare. A practitioner in the field
highlighted how difficult it is to break down the silos between different hospital
departments. In one story, a new billing policy required accurate cost estimates at the
point of scheduling. The problem wasn’t the policy itself, but a hidden, flawed process:
schedulers were using an outdated, handwritten list of procedure codes. The solution
was a classic lean approach—”cooking quality into the process itself” by mistake-
proofing the design and hard-coding the correct codes into the system. This
underscored the challenge of getting departments that feel they are “perfect” to see the
horizontal impact of their processes and the imperfections hidden within them.
The conversation then took a turn toward a topic that connected process with people in
a deeply meaningful way: lean and neurodiversity. The discussion started with a
powerful framing of the “eighth waste” as underutilized human potential. It was noted
that an estimated one in five individuals are neurodiverse, encompassing conditions like
ADHD, dyslexia, and autism. The group agreed that neurodiverse people are often
“pretty well-wired to be problem solvers and outside-the-box thinkers” because they’ve
had to intuitively solve problems and build their own accommodations to navigate the
world. The consensus was that creating inclusive processes isn’t just a compassionate

act—it’s good for business. In one example, a grocery store in the UK implemented
“quiet hours” for shoppers with sensory issues, leading to increased customer loyalty.
Another person shared how something as simple as providing meeting agendas and
notes in multiple formats benefits not only neurodiverse team members but also those
working in an international context where language barriers are a factor. This led to a
key takeaway: making neuroinclusive practices part of a team’s “standard work” helps
everyone and “doesn’t just benefit, you know, neurodivergent context, it’s many facets of
life”.
In our final conversation, we discussed tips for starting an internal lean coffee. A key
insight from this discussion was the importance of language and communication. The
group noted that the word “lean” itself can carry negative connotations and create
resistance. A great suggestion was to re-frame the effort as “eliminating frustration or
fixing your problems”. This ties back to the earlier discussion on neurodiversity, where
we learned about the importance of being mindful of how questions are asked. It also
connects to the healthcare discussion, where a disconnect was noted between the
mission-driven work of saving lives and the business-focused KPIs of lean. The
takeaway was clear: to get people engaged, we must meet them where they are and
speak in a language that resonates with their goals, whether that’s patient care,
eliminating frustration, or simply creating a welcoming, inclusive community.