Lean Management

Jeanine, you need to become a leader in the healthcare field.  Today, the father of my son-in-law talked with me at some length about empire building, how agencies create buildings that they do not need and cannot afford, simply to increase the scope, prestige, and budget of the agency's turf.  There s a field of study called "Lean Management" which comes from the field of "Lean Manufacture."  "Lean" means learning how to do more with less.  I strongly urge you and other members of our course to explore how "Lean" applies to their fields of interest and how they can prepare themselves to be "Lean" experts and leaders in it.  For instance, in our town, the school board has resisted adding new building for age-4 kindergarten.  Instead, it will outsource the service to private vendors!  This avoids building programs which the voters here wisely have resisted when put on referenda.  In contrast, in my son-in-law's father's town, nearby, they are pushing to build an entirely new building for this service!  I told the father that he needs to "hammer" his school board with my town's example.  Moreover, my town just hired a woman as new superintendent.  She, yes, comes to us from being VP of finance for the Wisconsin State Department of Public Education (DPI) - with her office right next door to Dr. Tony Evers, the State Superintendent of Schools.  She wanted to get back to hands-on education.  She has a law degree from the U of Minnesota and is no pushover.  She also has 11 years of K-12 superintendent behind her.  We get experience - plus somebody who is "street smart" about where all of the state and federal grants are!  We got the best of both - a lover of education and somebody with the key to the bank for funding that does not come from local tax dollars.  I am impressed.  I hope my relative uses this.