1 00:00:03,360 --> 00:00:08,400 Hi, this is Mark Raben. This is episode 338 of Leanblog 2 00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:11,480 Audio. This is a post that published on 3 00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:16,000 August 22nd, 2023. It was hard to write. 4 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:19,840 It's hard to read. The headline of the post is 5 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:24,160 remembering and honoring Chris Burnham, a friend and colleague. 6 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:31,840 You can find the blog post at leanblog.org/audio 338. 7 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:36,920 I was stunned and saddened by the recent passing of a good 8 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:39,440 friend and colleague, Chris Burnham. 9 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:46,640 He was just 48 years old. Word had started the spread on 10 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:50,840 LinkedIn. I feel bad about having to share 11 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:55,400 this news here and and and not having done so yet. 12 00:00:55,400 --> 00:01:00,140 But we're waiting for the family to to make an announcement and 13 00:01:00,300 --> 00:01:04,739 my colleagues at Kynexis to put together some some thoughts. 14 00:01:05,019 --> 00:01:08,500 You you can read his obituary, It's LinkedIn. 15 00:01:08,500 --> 00:01:13,660 The blog post again that's leanblog.org/audio 338. 16 00:01:14,900 --> 00:01:18,900 There will be a Celebration of Life event on Sunday that I will 17 00:01:18,900 --> 00:01:22,460 be fortunate to attend. Chris was most recently the 18 00:01:22,460 --> 00:01:25,940 Senior Director of Lean Strategy at Kynexis, a company I've been 19 00:01:25,940 --> 00:01:31,070 involved with since 2011, Chris for the last two years or so. 20 00:01:32,030 --> 00:01:35,590 Many of his conex's colleagues will also be there to pay our 21 00:01:35,590 --> 00:01:39,510 respects, to honor him, and to support his loved ones. 22 00:01:40,310 --> 00:01:43,670 I I say this with with all sincerity that Lean or that that 23 00:01:43,670 --> 00:01:46,950 Chris was one of my favorite people in the Lean community. 24 00:01:47,710 --> 00:01:51,590 I appreciated his positive and thoughtful approach to lean and 25 00:01:51,590 --> 00:01:54,910 into our work. We shared a love of discovering 26 00:01:54,910 --> 00:01:59,310 new bourbons to share and discuss, which then I guess kind 27 00:01:59,310 --> 00:02:02,870 of you know, lubricated both the social fun and the work 28 00:02:02,870 --> 00:02:07,630 discussions that that occurred at conferences and settings like 29 00:02:07,630 --> 00:02:10,190 that. Chris and I first got to know 30 00:02:10,190 --> 00:02:13,470 each other. I think it was early 2015. 31 00:02:13,470 --> 00:02:19,250 I I know that's when he invited me to be the first guest, the 32 00:02:19,250 --> 00:02:22,250 honor to be the first guest on his podcast called the Lean 33 00:02:22,250 --> 00:02:27,170 Leadership Podcast. As he shared with me then, these 34 00:02:27,170 --> 00:02:29,130 were his goals for starting the podcast. 35 00:02:29,530 --> 00:02:32,810 You know, I'm generalizing here. I'm going to share his thoughts. 36 00:02:33,530 --> 00:02:36,130 He was looking to be of service to others. 37 00:02:36,130 --> 00:02:38,570 He wasn't the type who did these types of things to draw 38 00:02:38,570 --> 00:02:42,730 attention to himself, Chris said in his e-mail to me. 39 00:02:44,390 --> 00:02:46,830 In my experience, leadership has been the difference between 40 00:02:46,830 --> 00:02:50,310 success and failure and successful lean or continuous 41 00:02:50,310 --> 00:02:53,670 improvement implementation. That is the niche in the lean 42 00:02:53,670 --> 00:02:56,110 world that I want to focus on and serve. 43 00:02:56,830 --> 00:02:59,670 My goal and mission is to equip other continuous improvement 44 00:02:59,670 --> 00:03:02,710 agents of change with the experiences and setbacks of the 45 00:03:02,710 --> 00:03:06,230 lean leaders who have had a positive influence on my career. 46 00:03:07,190 --> 00:03:10,670 It is my hope that the stories resonate with the listener and 47 00:03:10,670 --> 00:03:18,570 enables them to breakthroughs. So in 2018, Chris was working at 48 00:03:18,570 --> 00:03:21,490 the time for a company that became a Kinexus customer. 49 00:03:21,970 --> 00:03:24,770 This meant we had opportunities to compare notes and hang out at 50 00:03:24,770 --> 00:03:27,650 the annual Kinexus Customer User Conference. 51 00:03:27,650 --> 00:03:30,690 I I always sought him out, enjoyed our time. 52 00:03:30,690 --> 00:03:33,650 I really enjoyed our time together very much. 53 00:03:34,330 --> 00:03:38,210 His father is a surgeon, so we always had a lot to discuss, not 54 00:03:38,210 --> 00:03:42,140 just about Lean or Lean healthcare, but about healthcare 55 00:03:42,140 --> 00:03:45,300 and the challenges there in general. 56 00:03:46,180 --> 00:03:49,220 During that era. I hosted A Kinex's webinar that 57 00:03:49,220 --> 00:03:54,780 Chris presented in June of 2019 that's embedded in the blog 58 00:03:54,780 --> 00:03:56,580 post. That webinar was titled 59 00:03:56,580 --> 00:04:00,060 Solutions for Sustaining an Improvement Program. 60 00:04:01,660 --> 00:04:04,620 It's it's nice to have these things and and and Chris's 61 00:04:04,620 --> 00:04:08,620 presentation and words save for posterity. 62 00:04:08,620 --> 00:04:10,780 I know I will want to revisit them. 63 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:17,839 Maybe not right now but at some point now. 64 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:22,440 Chris was also a guest host with me in the early episode of the 65 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:28,640 Lean Whiskey podcast in 2019. That's also embedded in the blog 66 00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:33,040 post and you know, I after that. I was thrilled when Chris joined 67 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:37,000 the Kynexis team as an employee and as a leader. 68 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:40,320 He hired 2 Lean strategy team members. 69 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:45,120 You you can see one one of them Linda in in a photo with a 70 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:49,080 number of us including Chris that was taken at the 2022 71 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:51,720 Catalysis Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit. 72 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:57,720 Also in the post embedded a photo from the 2022 AM E Annual 73 00:04:57,720 --> 00:05:02,920 conference. Matt and Kim from the Kinesis 74 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:05,200 team, our mutual friend Deandra Wardell. 75 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:10,190 In that photo, Chris loved events like this. 76 00:05:10,190 --> 00:05:15,910 He loved working at Kinexus. He he passed away a few days 77 00:05:15,910 --> 00:05:20,910 before our planned mid annual all employee meeting and and and 78 00:05:20,910 --> 00:05:23,990 during that week and especially during an evening remembrance 79 00:05:23,990 --> 00:05:27,390 event that we held for Chris almost everybody in the company 80 00:05:28,230 --> 00:05:33,870 all forty of us shared some sort of story about how Chris had 81 00:05:33,870 --> 00:05:38,850 positively connected with them and and impacted them in some 82 00:05:38,850 --> 00:05:44,090 way, large or small you know Chris had serious goals this is 83 00:05:44,090 --> 00:05:47,170 serious work but he also had a way of being positive and upbeat 84 00:05:47,930 --> 00:05:51,130 lifting others up including myself and I. 85 00:05:51,570 --> 00:05:56,410 There's times I I need that I don't remember Chris complaining 86 00:05:56,410 --> 00:06:01,250 or being cynical about anything while being mindful of the real 87 00:06:01,250 --> 00:06:05,590 challenges we all face. He loved dad jokes and you know, 88 00:06:05,590 --> 00:06:11,190 it seemed he loved being a dad. There's another video I embedded 89 00:06:11,190 --> 00:06:15,990 in the blog post video we did together about why he joined the 90 00:06:15,990 --> 00:06:19,270 CONEXIS team and what his role was and was going to be. 91 00:06:20,390 --> 00:06:22,430 I encourage you to go and check that out. 92 00:06:23,590 --> 00:06:28,030 And you know, as as we prepared for that event in Austin to 93 00:06:28,030 --> 00:06:32,310 honor and remember Chris, our CONEXIS CEO, Greg Jacobson had a 94 00:06:32,310 --> 00:06:35,360 great idea that we should scroll back through text message 95 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:39,400 histories to find pictures and fun things that we had shared 96 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:43,440 with each other. Those photos in my, you know, 97 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:47,920 messages with Chris included a few bottles of whiskey that he 98 00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:52,000 had sent me. Those of you who know whiskey, 99 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:55,680 if you see the picture, you'll you'll recognize, especially the 100 00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:58,400 bottle on the right bottle of Blantons, he texted. 101 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:00,960 Oh, I got this on Kentucky Derby day. 102 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:06,560 That bottle Blanton's is not easy to find at retail stores. 103 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:10,600 It's especially hard to find it anything near its suggested 104 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:16,800 retail price. But wouldn't you know, I stopped 105 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:18,720 at a random small liquor store in Austin. 106 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:21,040 It was frankly just the most convenient. 107 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:24,840 Between the kind of access office and my hotel. 108 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:28,760 I was going to buy a bottle to bring to the event that evening. 109 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:33,720 And wouldn't you know there was a the single loan kind of dusty 110 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:36,240 bottle of Blanton's on the shelf. 111 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:39,200 I don't know why. It was sitting there long enough 112 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:42,920 to get dusty. And it was, it was just $70.00, 113 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:46,960 which isn't that bad of a markup compared to what a lot of stores 114 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:49,720 do. So I bought the bottle, we 115 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:53,640 shared it, we finished it and it was a big group at the event as 116 00:07:53,640 --> 00:07:57,960 as people shared stories and pictures and memories and songs. 117 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:02,720 I think Chris would have appreciated that and I think he 118 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:06,480 made sure that bottle was there for us as as we tried to be 119 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:11,760 there for him in different ways. And so as I went through photos 120 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:16,840 of Chris, I found a photo I shared in this blog post that 121 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:21,280 that really illustrates his humble, continuous improvement 122 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:24,440 driven spirit. I've shared this photo in a few 123 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:29,070 presentations that I've given with his permission want to talk 124 00:08:29,070 --> 00:08:33,110 about learning from mistakes And I also shared a story that ended 125 00:08:33,110 --> 00:08:36,669 up in my book, The Mistakes that make Us. 126 00:08:38,470 --> 00:08:42,070 It'll share an excerpt from the book that talks about Chris and 127 00:08:42,270 --> 00:08:47,310 and so to describe the photo he's he's standing in front of 128 00:08:47,310 --> 00:08:49,030 the room. You know I think in a fairly 129 00:08:49,230 --> 00:08:52,950 humble if not contrite looking pose that I captured. 130 00:08:52,950 --> 00:08:58,290 He's standing in front of a slide that has the title What 131 00:08:58,290 --> 00:09:02,290 Went Wrong? And and this is part of what we 132 00:09:02,290 --> 00:09:05,370 do at these kind of annual meetings, it's not about beating 133 00:09:05,370 --> 00:09:08,450 ourselves up, but just, I think, the healthy reflection of what 134 00:09:08,450 --> 00:09:12,370 went well, what went wrong in the previous six months. 135 00:09:13,610 --> 00:09:18,770 And on that slide it says in plain language, I made mistakes. 136 00:09:21,250 --> 00:09:23,970 And so here's what ended up in the book. 137 00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:27,800 Psychological safety doesn't just appear. 138 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:32,080 Leaders at conexes very often and very visibly behave in ways 139 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:35,280 that create the conditions for employees to decide. 140 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:39,000 They can feel safe speaking up in some settings, emitting a 141 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:42,920 mistake can feel risky, if not dangerous if people think 142 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:45,840 leaders will punish them. But leaders can create 143 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:48,760 conditions where that risk seems very low or nonexistent. 144 00:09:49,680 --> 00:09:53,640 When leaders admit mistakes with the focus on learning, that's 145 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:56,480 the first step in cultivating psychological safety. 146 00:09:57,560 --> 00:10:00,320 The second step is rewarding and not punishing employees who do 147 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:03,560 the same. One of those leaders is Chris 148 00:10:03,560 --> 00:10:07,400 Burnham, the senior director of lean strategy at Kynexis. 149 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:12,480 During a biannual meeting, Chris candidly told the entire company 150 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:16,400 I made mistakes. He reviewed what had gone well 151 00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:18,480 in the first half of the year and what had gone wrong, a 152 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:21,160 standard that everybody follows and giving updates. 153 00:10:22,230 --> 00:10:24,710 Chris explained his mistakes, what he learned and how he 154 00:10:24,710 --> 00:10:30,310 planned to adjust the decidedly positive view of mistakes. 155 00:10:31,150 --> 00:10:36,030 Chris told me I make mistakes every day, some big, some small, 156 00:10:36,710 --> 00:10:39,870 but I own them all. Mistakes are how I learn and 157 00:10:39,870 --> 00:10:43,670 gain experience. Chris believes his transparency 158 00:10:43,670 --> 00:10:45,870 helps his teammates feel comfortable bringing him 159 00:10:45,870 --> 00:10:48,990 problems they can solve together. 160 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:57,160 That's the end of the excerpt I I I found in my e-mail history 161 00:10:57,160 --> 00:11:01,080 the the first questions that Chris had sent me in early 2015 162 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:06,040 about being a guest on his Lean Leadership podcast and. 163 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:10,120 And that's in the blog post. I don't think I'll, I'll read it 164 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:16,080 all, but you can find it again leanblog.org/audio 338. 165 00:11:16,630 --> 00:11:19,910 So Greg Jacobson, who I mentioned earlier, he's one of 166 00:11:19,910 --> 00:11:22,150 the cofounders of Kinex's, he's our CEO. 167 00:11:22,830 --> 00:11:26,110 He was also later a guest on Chris's podcast and that's 168 00:11:26,150 --> 00:11:31,310 embedded in the post. But to to honor Chris, Greg and 169 00:11:31,310 --> 00:11:34,310 I are planning on doing a series of discussions on the Kinex's 170 00:11:34,310 --> 00:11:38,430 podcast where we go through and answer those questions from 171 00:11:38,430 --> 00:11:42,470 Chris's document as Chris would have asked us and I'm sure he 172 00:11:42,470 --> 00:11:47,150 asked us some of those questions in in the episodes he had a 173 00:11:47,150 --> 00:11:50,230 song. So I have one final memory of a 174 00:11:50,230 --> 00:11:54,270 time Chris shared an opportunity for improvement with me. 175 00:11:54,350 --> 00:11:57,710 It was earlier this year. It was the second time I was 176 00:11:57,710 --> 00:12:02,950 experimenting with what we call an audience view approach using 177 00:12:02,950 --> 00:12:05,750 Zoom webinars as as I had blogged and shared about. 178 00:12:06,390 --> 00:12:10,270 Well, in that iteration of of that process, I had some kind of 179 00:12:10,270 --> 00:12:14,390 Xians, including this time Chris, set up to be panelists. 180 00:12:16,230 --> 00:12:19,230 That meant that the presenter could see them to have smiling 181 00:12:19,230 --> 00:12:23,390 and nodding faces to speak to when doing the webinar. 182 00:12:24,030 --> 00:12:28,350 But the attendees couldn't see them or hear them since their 183 00:12:28,350 --> 00:12:31,230 view was locked in to see speaker only. 184 00:12:32,270 --> 00:12:36,910 But during the Q&A, I wanted the attendees to see what's called 185 00:12:36,910 --> 00:12:40,430 the gallery view of basically me and the presenter together at 186 00:12:40,430 --> 00:12:43,030 the same time. That meant I had to ask the 187 00:12:43,980 --> 00:12:48,500 audience panelists to leave before the Q&A and and this 188 00:12:48,500 --> 00:12:52,540 meant I clicked to remove Chris from the webinar. 189 00:12:53,180 --> 00:12:56,740 Well, I I I thought I had explained the plan clearly, but 190 00:12:56,740 --> 00:12:59,300 look, that was on me. Chris was confused. 191 00:12:59,380 --> 00:13:02,500 He was surprised. Afterwards, he he candidly 192 00:13:02,500 --> 00:13:04,940 shared that he wasn't happy that he couldn't get back in. 193 00:13:04,940 --> 00:13:10,260 He wanted to hear the Q&A live. And as as it was happening, so 194 00:13:10,260 --> 00:13:13,630 Chris helped me realize the problem wasn't that I hadn't 195 00:13:13,630 --> 00:13:17,590 communicated the plan clearly. The problem was actually more 196 00:13:17,590 --> 00:13:21,710 like kicking out the audience panelists wasn't the right 197 00:13:21,710 --> 00:13:25,070 approach. So thanks to the feedback from 198 00:13:25,070 --> 00:13:28,430 Chris, I adjusted that approach for future webinars, allowing 199 00:13:28,790 --> 00:13:33,470 the audience panelists to remain and leaving the attendee view as 200 00:13:33,470 --> 00:13:37,150 speaker only during the Q&A. That's a more elegant and 201 00:13:37,150 --> 00:13:43,870 frankly a better solution. So Chris spoke up in a direct, 202 00:13:43,870 --> 00:13:49,750 candid and respected, respectful and constructive way that that 203 00:13:49,750 --> 00:13:53,910 was Chris, that that's part of why he was respected and and 204 00:13:53,910 --> 00:13:59,230 liked by people he worked with. I still can't believe that he's 205 00:13:59,230 --> 00:14:03,110 gone. I send him my my most sincere 206 00:14:03,110 --> 00:14:05,950 condolences to all who knew and loved him. 207 00:14:06,550 --> 00:14:09,310 You know, we can thankfully continue to enjoy the recordings 208 00:14:09,310 --> 00:14:14,180 of Chris continuing to absorb what he had to share and and and 209 00:14:14,180 --> 00:14:16,740 how you know the way in which he shared it. 210 00:14:17,780 --> 00:14:23,500 We're all better off for having known him as as Chris ended most 211 00:14:23,700 --> 00:14:29,940 conversations he would say I love you brother and now I miss 212 00:14:29,940 --> 00:14:37,870 you. So again, you can find today's 213 00:14:37,870 --> 00:14:40,390 blog post. I encourage you, please listen 214 00:14:40,390 --> 00:14:44,950 to Chris's podcast, whether it's the one with me in them or not. 215 00:14:45,990 --> 00:14:52,270 The video I think you'll enjoy watching or revisiting that. 216 00:14:52,270 --> 00:14:57,550 Again you can find thatleanblog.org/audio 338.