Josh Howell, LEI president, explores the topic of daily management with Joe Seestadt, Director Lab Outreach for Bronson Healthcare and a faculty member and coach with LEI. Joe trained as an industrial engineer and worked in manufacturing, and has now spent some 18 years in healthcare. He was instrumental in developing the Cleveland Clinic’s daily management system, which has been recognized across the industry. Joe is unique in that he is both a lean guide to others as well as an owner and user of a system and concepts that he’s helping individuals grasp as they try to transform their own organizations. He describes the importance of daily management as having the ability to know every day if you are ahead or behind, having a mechanism to solve problems at a daily beat in any type of operation (healthcare, service, or manufacturing), and as a means to bring strategy/hoshin kanri to fruition.
The Management Brief is a weekly newsletter from the Lean Enterprise Institute that bridges the gap between theory and practice in lean management. Designed for leaders focused on long-term success, it delivers actionable insights, expert perspectives, and stories from real-world practitioners. Each edition explores the principles of lean management—strategy deployment (hoshin kanri), operational stability and continuous improvement (daily management), and problem-solving (A3)—while highlighting the critical role of leadership. Subscribe to join a growing community of leaders dedicated to creating organizations built for sustained excellence.
