How Lean & Continuous Improvement Build Agility in a Crisis — and Beyond

Why Lean Organizations Adapt Faster in Uncertain Times

During the pandemic, some organizations struggled to respond while others adapted rapidly—redeploying people, redesigning processes, and solving problems in real time.
What made the difference wasn’t luck or resources. It was Lean thinking and daily continuous improvement.

This expert panel explores how Lean management systems help organizations become more nimble, resilient, and adaptive—not only during a crisis, but in any environment of constant change.

View all previous KaiNexus Continuous Improvement Webinars

What You’ll Learn

This session challenges common misconceptions about Lean and shows how structure actually unleashes flexibility and creativity.

You’ll gain practical insight into:

• How standard work enables agility instead of limiting it

• Why continuous improvement strengthens adaptability during disruption

• How frontline problem-solving accelerates crisis response

• The role of leadership behaviors in sustaining resilience

• What healthcare organizations learned during COVID-19 that applies everywhere

Key Insights

• Standardization creates clarity, allowing teams to adapt faster when conditions change

• Lean is not about efficiency alone—it’s about learning and responsiveness

• Daily improvement habits build cultures that outperform during uncertainty

• Empowered frontline teams solve problems leaders can’t see

• Organizations with strong improvement systems respond better to the unexpected

Who This Webinar Is For

• Healthcare leaders and improvement professionals

• Executives navigating uncertainty and change

• Lean practitioners building resilient organizations

• Anyone responsible for operational excellence, quality, or culture

Why This Matters Now

Uncertainty isn’t temporary.
Organizations that rely on command-and-control or ad-hoc problem solving will continue to struggle.
Those that build daily improvement, shared responsibility, and structured learning will continue to adapt—no matter what comes next.

This conversation offers real-world lessons you can apply immediately, regardless of industry.

The Presenters:

John Toussaint

John is an Internist, former healthcare CEO and is one of the foremost figures in the adoption of organizational excellence principles in healthcare. He founded Catalysis a nonprofit education institute in 2008. Catalysis has launched peer-to-peer learning networks, developed in-depth workshops, and created many products – including books, DVDs and webinars. Dr. Toussaint has written three books all of which have received the prestigious Shingo Research and Publication Award: 1) On the Mend 2) Potent Medicine 3) Management on the Mend.

Skip Steward

Mr. Steward currently serves as Vice President and Chief Improvement Officer at Baptist Memorial Health Care headquartered in Memphis, TN where he develops, directs, and implements performance improvement activities identifying inefficiencies; implementing strategies to improve quality, service, and finances; and fostering a culture of continuous improvement and excellence.

Greg Jacobson

Greg graduated from Washington University in St Louis in 1997 with a BS in Biology. He attended Baylor College of Medicine from 1997 to 2001. From 2001 to 2004, he completed a residency in Emergency Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center where he then stayed on as faculty. Greg is the Chief Executive Officer and a co-founder of KaiNexus. He is an ER doctor that is fanatical about the single biggest barrier holding companies back from greatness - their lack of continuous improvement work. It has taken him down the path of developing KaiNexus