It's one of those questions in life where you can ponder for hours and hours and still not get any closer to the answer. In a way I liken it to a similar question that has puzzled scholars over the millennia ‘what's the meaning of life?' or from my perspective ‘what is Lean?'

Imagine the scene. There's a blinding white light, the glow of satisfaction, the sheer joy of having finally achieved the Holy Grail that is a world class, highly efficient and highly effective healthcare organisation. In this place there are no dissatisfied patients, no objecting clinicians, there are no hospital acquired infections and achieving government targets is a cinch! Simply put you're on top of the world and to paraphrase the great Mel Brooks ‘Its good to be the King!'

Technology - (you can tell there will be an imminent rant but later)- I'm writing this (slowly however) on my new mobile phone. It is a hugely capable device that does all the usual tricks of phoning, video calling, camera and java, but this one also has windows software, email and high speed internet. This means I can stay in touch when and how I want. Now just suppose for a second, the NHS would make use of this technology.

For me, it’s been a busy few weeks. In fact 6 diagnostics of potential projects in 6 weeks and I have to say that these diagnostics have been made much easier by the very high standard of Problem Statements, or as I prefer, Opportunity Statements presented to me.

Now you're probably wondering why on earth I would be ‘selling' or promoting the Lean Healthcare Academy on my blog, after all you're already on the LHA website? You never know but you might also be thinking that perhaps my Boss has paid me a glorious bonus to write my wonderfully compelling blog? The answer is actually far more compelling.

The beauty of Lean is that the principles can be applied in any organisation that delivers a product or service. It can help make things better, more efficient and improve quality. Also, what is important to me, is that improvements come from the teams and people that actually do the work. This makes Lean, so much more satisfying and workable than "top down" initiatives.