When Leaders Collaborate (Webinar)

Finding the “Aha” Moments that Lead to Lean Transformation

How peer learning, shared experiments, and leadership behavior accelerate change

In this webinar, John Toussaint and Paul Pejsa from Catalysis share real examples of how collaboration between healthcare organizations leads to breakthrough learning and faster Lean transformation.

Rather than trying to invent everything internally, these leaders describe how structured peer-to-peer learning helps organizations avoid common pitfalls, shorten the learning curve, and engage senior leaders in meaningful ways.

This session goes beyond tools and projects. It focuses on how leaders learn together and how that learning changes behavior, systems, and results.

The Catalysis Perspective on Transformation

Why Lean healthcare change requires more than tools

Toussaint introduces the Catalysis “transformation house,” a framework that emphasizes:

• Clear purpose and True North metrics
• Defined values and guiding principles (including Shingo principles)
• Scientific problem solving and integrated support functions (finance, HR, IT)
• A Lean management system that changes leadership behavior

A key warning: many organizations attempt an “inch deep, mile wide” approach. Catalysis advocates for “inch wide, mile deep” model cells that become exemplars for broader spread.

The Healthcare Value Network

Learning faster through structured collaboration

Payer explains how the Healthcare Value Network began as an experiment in peer learning and has evolved into a nine-year collaborative community of healthcare organizations committed to Lean transformation.

The goal is simple: spread best known practices faster in a rapidly changing healthcare environment.

Benefits members report include:

• Accelerated transformation through shared learning
• Reduced implementation costs by avoiding others’ mistakes
• Honest sharing of both successes and failures
• Strong peer connections among CEOs, physician leaders, and improvement leaders

Story 1: Designing the “Clinic of the Future” at HealthEast

Fresh eyes from outside healthcare

HealthEast partnered with architecture firm HGA, Herman Miller, and Epic to design a future ambulatory clinic using 3P design principles. Starting with a blank warehouse space, they reduced a 20,000 sq ft design to just over 13,000 sq ft while improving patient flow.

Aha moment: Bringing in expertise from outside healthcare accelerates innovation that healthcare alone has not yet developed.

Story 2: Revenue Cycle Collaboration — Intermountain & Cleveland Clinic

Learning by going to see

A simple conference call about revenue cycle improvement turned into site visits, model cell creation, and deeper collaboration between Cleveland Clinic and Intermountain Health.

Cleveland Clinic built a finance model cell led by senior leaders to test Lean management practices in revenue cycle work.

Aha moment: Peer learning plus “go and see” leads to faster results than working alone.

Story 3: Lean Coffee in Indianapolis

Finding collaborators in your own backyard

Five Healthcare Value Network members in Indianapolis wondered if others locally were on a Lean journey. They started a monthly Lean Coffee that now draws 50–60 participants from healthcare and beyond.

Aha moment: You likely have peers nearby facing the same challenges—invite them in.

Practical Action Plan for Leaders

Toussaint and Payer close with three practical steps any organization can take:

1. Know thyself — Understand your current Lean maturity and gaps
2. Build your network — Create a rhythm of collaboration locally or nationally
3. Practice yokoten (sharing) — Create forums to share successes, failures, and translated improvements across departments

They emphasize recognizing and celebrating translated improvements—especially when frontline staff coach peers in adopting new practices.

Key Takeaway

Lean transformation is not a solo effort. The most successful organizations create intentional learning relationships with peers, build model cells for deep practice, and change leadership behavior through shared experience.

Collaboration is not optional. It is a catalyst for transformation.

About the Presenters:

John Toussaint is the CEO and Founder of Catalysis, originally formed as the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value. He is widely recognized as one of the pioneers in applying Lean principles to healthcare delivery. Prior to founding Catalysis, Dr. Toussaint served as CEO of ThedaCare, where he helped lead one of the earliest and most well-known Lean healthcare transformations in the United States.

He is the author of three Shingo Award-winning books: On the Mend, Potent Medicine, and Management on the Mend. Through his writing, speaking, and advisory work, he continues to help healthcare leaders rethink care delivery, leadership behavior, and organizational design through Lean thinking.

Paul Payer is the Director of the Healthcare Value Network at Catalysis. He brings more than 25 years of experience in healthcare operations, along with a background as a Six Sigma Black Belt, Master Black Belt, and Lean leader. Prior to joining Catalysis, Paul served as Executive Director for Continuous Improvement at the BloodCenter of Wisconsin, where he led the development and deployment of Lean systems and continuous improvement methods.

Together, John and Paul work with healthcare organizations around the world to accelerate Lean transformation through peer learning, leadership development, and structured collaboration.