Table 3 Initial Hypotheses Regarding Lean and Leadership

1. Aligning the aims and objectives of health regions across the province;

2. Authorizing attention and resources to quality improvement and change management;

3. Providing an integrated set of tools for particular tasks;

4. Changing leaders’ attitudes or beliefs about appropriate leadership and management styles and behaviours, through the enculturation inherent in Lean leadership training;

5. Demanding increased levels of expertise, accountability and commitment from leaders;

6. Measuring and using data effectively to identify actual and relevant local problems and the root causes of problems, rather than making assumptions;

7. Creating or supporting a ‘learning organization’ culture in which mistakes are opportunities for learning; consistent implementation of no-blame approaches to mistakes and errors.