Lean Enterprise Institute Logo
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter Signup
  • Cart (0)
  • Account
  • Search
Lean Enterprise Institute Logo
  • Explore Lean
        • What is Lean?
        • A Brief History of Lean
        • Lexicon Terms
        • Topics to explore
          • Operations
          • Lean Product & Process Development
          • Administration & Support
          • Problem-Solving
          • Coaching
          • Executive Leadership
          • Line Management
  • The Lean Post
        • Subscribe to see exclusive content
          • Subscribe
        • Featured posts
          Handling the Heat of the Kitchen

          Handling the Heat of the Kitchen: A...

          Manager reviewing financials and noticing a discrepancy in clam sales.

          Saving $30,000 Worth of Clams with a...

          • See all Posts
  • Events & Training
        • Custom Coaching and Learning Experiences
        • Co-Learning Partnerships
        • Forms and Templates
        • Featured learning
          • Improvement Kata/Coaching Kata Remotely

            June 06, 2022 | Online Live Course

          • Developing Structured Problem-Solving and Leadership Skills using A3 Thinking: Managing to Learn Remotely

            September 19, 2022 | Online Live Course

          • Hoshin Kanri Remotely: Aligning and Executing on Your Organizational Objectives

            September 23, 2022 | Online Live Course

          • Designing the Future Remotely: A Lean Product Development Immersive Learning Experience

            September 26, 2022 | Online Live Course

          • See all Events
  • Store
        • Shopping Cart
        • Featured books
          Adopting a system driven mindset for continuous improvement

          The Power of Process – A Story of Innovative Lean Process Development

          Toyota Way of Dantotsu Cover

          The Toyota Way of Dantotsu Radical Quality Improvement (Paperback)

          • See all Books
  • About Us
        • Our people
          • Senior Advisors and Staff
          • Faculty
          • Board of Directors
        • Contact Us
        • Lean Global Network
        • Press Releases
        • In the News
        • About us

The Lean Post / Articles / Adopting a system driven mindset for continuous improvement

Adopting a system driven mindset for continuous improvement

Executive Leadership

Adopting a system driven mindset for continuous improvement

By Lean Leaper

January 6, 2020

In this podcast, Dr. Pat Greco discusses how she managed to align students, teachers, administrators, and the board of education around a clear set of goals and systemically improved everyone’s performance through rapid PDCA cycles at the Menomonee Falls School District in Wisconsin.

Facebook0Tweet0LinkedIn0Email0Print0Comment0

In 2011, Dr. Pat Greco began as the superintendent of the Menomonee Falls School District in Wisconsin. She faced no shortage of problems: a suspension rate seven times higher than the state average, performance gaps across income and race, cost overruns, and a failure to meet performance goals defined under the No Child Left Behind Act among others. Not to mention a new administration was upending collective bargaining for public sector employees instilling fear within the teachers she was setting out to lead.

On her third day as superintendent, she was busy introducing herself to the community and sending out letters to parents announcing their school was in ‘need of improvement’. The Milwaukee Journal had labeled the district as high-spending and under-performing.

A problem she did not face was a lack of students who wanted to learn and teachers who loved to teach. In the podcast, we’ll discuss how she managed to align students, teachers, administrators, and the board of education around a clear set of goals and systemically improved everyone’s performance through rapid PDCA cycles. We’ll learn how students keep a learning journal to reflect on learning objectives and methods with their teachers; how nurses and facilities personnel cooperate to proactively ensure a safe environment for students; and how leaders demonstrated the right behaviors to enable a culture of continuous improvement.

By the end of her tenure, Menomonee Falls schools ranked at the top across the state and the nation. Now Dr. Greco is helping educators and policymakers to shift from a program driven mindset to a system driven mindset, where culture is driven by continuous improvement.

Have a listen here.

Facebook0Tweet0LinkedIn0Email0Print0Comment0

Written by:

Lean Leaper

About Lean Leaper

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related

Cashier

Executive Leadership

Helping Companies Thrive by Creating Good Jobs

Article by Lean Leaper

speech bubbles with industries

Executive Leadership

Ask Art: How Does Lean Apply to Every Company?

Article by Art Byrne

How the Toyota Way and Toyota Kata Fit Together

Executive Leadership

How the Toyota Way and Toyota Kata Fit Together

Article by Jeffrey Liker

Related books

The Gold Mine (Audio CD)

The Gold Mine (Audio CD)

by Freddy Ballé and Michael Ballé

The Gold Mine Trilogy 4 Book Set

The Gold Mine Trilogy 4 Book Set

by Freddy Ballé and Michael Ballé

Related events

July 13, 2022 | District Hall, 75 Northern Ave, Boston, MA

Lean Leadership Forum

Learn more

September 19, 2022 | Online Live Course

Developing Structured Problem-Solving and Leadership Skills using A3 Thinking: Managing to Learn Remotely

Learn more

Explore topics

Executive Leadership graphic icon Executive Leadership

Subscribe to get the very best of lean thinking delivered right to your inbox

Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Facebook

©Copyright 2000-2022 Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.
Lean Enterprise Institute, the leaper image, and stick figure are registered trademarks of Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Learn More. ACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!