Transformative Culture - a guest editorial

I have mentioned the Marcus Evans conference in Melbourne, and the presentation by Don.Mikkelsen, National Manager Operation, New Zealand Blood Service on transforming the laboratory culture to one supportive of culture.  You can visit his presentation at www.POLQM.ca  
Don has tapped into the key and transformative next step, absent in so many laboratories.  

The following is supplemental  comment is provided by Don.

Modern quality improvement methodologies originate in industries that
are significantly different from Medical Laboratories.  The thinking and
terminology is foreign to Pathologists and Scientists and often rejected
on that basis.  However those laboratories that have accepted and
embraced the change have made considerable improvements in quality.

A key element in change is finding the imperative to make the change. In
the New Zealand Blood Service this imperative has come from safety
related incidents.

By harnessing the fairness implicit in "just Culture" whilst managing
significant safety incidents team member's minds are opened to the need
for change and the possibilities for genuine improvement that exist from
concepts embedded within Lean thinking and 6 sigma.

You can develop a culture of fairness and turn the thinking towards
generating genuine quality improvements with greater system robustness
built in.  The culture becomes fertile for the introduction of these new
ideas rather than being suspicious or hostile towards them.

More discussion on the Culture of Quality to follow.  In the meantime, check out my presentation on Culture of Quality from the same meeting.  Same topic, different approach, same message.
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