Chugachmiut is an Alaska Native tribal organization that introduced lean thinking as its management system in 2004. After 7 years of implementation in a non-­‐traditional field, our lean efforts are going well. Our no blame, no shame philosophy is our organizational culture. We strive to be fact based and non-­judgmental—viewing problems we encounter as treasures to be improved. Our statement of employee values is followed. Instead of employees accomplishing just one or 2 improvements in a value stream, they are learning to improve continuously. We no longer consider lean thinking as tools to achieve value, but as a culture to live in.

We have implemented ideas from past TWI Summits including use of TWI for our Employee Core Competence training program; our Program Manager Training Matrix; an ideas program and the use of Job Relations to solve our few employee issues.

Our successful implementation of lean thinking has led to new thinking about lean design. We are in the process of selling an inefficient health care clinic and using lean design to plan the replacement clinic. We hope we can achieve this in about 18 months.

Lean Thinking has also led us to search for the "Root Cause" of many health issues facing our tribal members. As a result, we have started our Restoration to Health Strategic Initiative that will merge our primary care and behavioral health systems. We held a 3P (Production Planning Preparation) Kaizen to plan this merger. We have 10 separate strategic initiatives under way to achieve the integration.

Without Lean Thinking, Chugachmiut would be like other tribal organizations in Alaska—worried about funding cuts, cutting back services and "fire-­‐fighting" through multiple meetings that never quite resolve serious issues. Instead, we are able tobconcentrate on the well being of our tribal members.

Upon completion of this session, participants will learn…

• How to extend Lean Thinking to non-traditional areas

• Exercising Lean Leadership to build a culture of Lean

• Using Lean Thinking in Design and Program Development

• How healthcare in the U.S. can be substantially improved

About the Presenter(s)

Patrick Anderson is the Executive Director of Chugachmiut, Inc., a non-­‐profit tribal consortium serving seven Alaska Native Tribes in South Central Coastal Alaska. Formerly a practicing attorney in Alaska, Mr. Anderson joined Chugachmiut in 2003 where he introduced the culture of Lean Management in 2004. A graduate of Princeton University (1975) and the University of Michigan Law School (1978), he has a variety of experience including the practice of law, teaching as the University level, grant and program management, and legislative advocacy.