Stephen Weller Receives Shingo Publication Award for 'The Progressive Hospital: A Lean Hope'

LOGAN, Utah — The Shingo Institute, part of the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University, has announced that The Progressive Hospital: A Lean Hope by Stephen Weller has been awarded the Shingo Publication Award. This honor recognizes exceptional works that advance the global understanding and application of the principles of organizational excellence.

The Progressive Hospital: A Lean Hope brings the principles of Lean leadership and continuous improvement to life through a compelling story set in a healthcare system under extraordinary pressure. Against the backdrop of a global pandemic, readers follow Tim Anderson, a young analyst tasked with helping a financially struggling hospital improve its operations while navigating the complex realities of patient care, organizational change and servant leadership.

Through an engaging narrative, Weller explores the challenges healthcare organizations face as they strive to improve performance while remaining deeply committed to the people they serve. The book illustrates how Lean principles can be applied not only to processes and systems but also to leadership, culture and the development of people. By weaving practical improvement concepts into a relatable story, The Progressive Hospital demonstrates what can be achieved when organizational transformation embraces both operational excellence and humanity.

More than a novel, The Progressive Hospital offers leaders a powerful reflection on the role of purpose, empathy and continuous improvement in creating sustainable results. Its healthcare setting provides a timely and relevant lens through which readers can examine universal challenges of leadership and organizational culture, making the lessons accessible to practitioners across industries.

“The Shingo Publication Award recognizes works that inspire leaders to think differently about excellence and the systems required to achieve it,” said Ken Snyder, executive director of the Shingo Institute. “The Progressive Hospital: A Lean Hope offers a compelling and human-centered portrayal of Lean transformation. Through storytelling, Stephen Weller demonstrates how principled leadership, continuous improvement and respect for every individual can help organizations navigate complexity while remaining true to their purpose.”

The book’s unique blend of operational excellence, servant leadership and storytelling has earned recognition from leaders in healthcare and business alike:

“This fictional journey of Lean as depicted by author Stephen Weller was without a doubt the most compelling and inspiring story of a Lean transformation effort. The realism to which Stephen arduously articulates the professionals within a business system and how decisions are made is what I loved the most about this book. His focus on the ability to coach, model, and persuade others, as well as how he relates the emotional attributes of driving Lean with the humanistic aspects of delivering on the outcomes by engaging individual hearts and minds is simply spot on. The roller-coaster ride is worth every minute of the read.”

—D.J. Duarte, Owner, Makoto Flow Ltd.

"Stephen Weller has accomplished something rare: he makes Healthcare operational excellence genuinely enjoyable to learn. The Progressive Hospital reads like a thriller, teaches like a professor, and leaves readers with practical ideas they can apply immediately to improve healthcare delivery."

—Jeffrey D. Kerr, MD

“As an Operational Excellence coach, I constantly search for ways to provide the highest level of continuous improvement training to my customers while also incorporating personal life elements into the curriculum to keep learning entertaining and engaging. The Progressive Hospital accomplishes both of these tasks effortlessly and beautifully. The book’s depth creates an experience that is both enjoyable and informative, and its complexity appeals to a wide range of readers. Whether you are a healthcare professional, administrator, process improvement practitioner, or a general fiction reader, this book is for you.”

—Jazz Patterson, President, Process Village LLC

“For more than five years, I have used Stephen Weller's The Progressive Hospital as a core teaching resource for Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA) students. Few books effectively combine storytelling with Lean principles, and none do so with the creativity and practical relevance demonstrated in this work.

"The book vividly illustrates the transformative power of Lean methodologies in complex healthcare environments. Through relatable and realistic characters, Weller captures the diverse personalities and situations that future healthcare leaders are likely to encounter throughout their careers. The challenges presented in the story encourage students to think critically about leadership, problem-solving, and change management. As they follow the characters’ journeys, students gain a deeper understanding of how Lean principles can be applied to improve hospital processes, enhance patient care, and drive organizational performance.

"The Progressive Hospital remains required reading in my process improvement curriculum because it consistently delivers meaningful learning outcomes and provides students with practical insights they can apply throughout their professional careers. It is an invaluable resource for both academic instruction and leadership development.”

—Robert Simmons, Adjunct Instructor, UNT Health

“As a former neurosurgeon, healthcare executive, and Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award examiner, I found The Progressive Hospital by Stephen Weller both engaging and authentic. Although presented as a novel, don’t be fooled by its format. The story provides realistic examples of how systematic process improvement can emerge organically within a hospital. It isn’t because someone arrives with a perfect plan. It is because committed people begin improving the system one step at a time using a structured approach. I found myself wishing someone had handed me this book during my first few years in medicine. It demonstrates that quality improvement does not require perfection before you begin. A disciplined methodology such as DMAIC may not solve every problem, but it consistently moves organizations in the right direction. The author's practicality and realism stand out throughout the book. Rather than presenting quality improvement as a collection of abstract tools, he illustrates how meaningful change can occur in healthcare organizations by bringing people together around a structured approach to improvement. I enthusiastically recommend this book to hospital CEOs, physician leaders at every level, nurse leaders at every level, and healthcare quality professionals. For those new to quality improvement, it makes the concepts feel approachable and achievable. For experienced professionals, it offers excellent examples of how to communicate improvement opportunities in ways that engage rather than alienate colleagues. In fact, I think this would make an outstanding gift from a senior executive to a new physician or nurse leader.”

—Mark S. Schnitzer, MD, FACHE (Retired), Executive Advisor, InnovationMed Institute, LLC

The Shingo Publication Award recognizes authors whose work significantly advances the understanding and application of principle-based leadership. The Progressive Hospital: A Lean Hope exemplifies this distinction. By illustrating the transformative potential of Lean thinking in healthcare and highlighting the human side of organizational change, Weller contributes meaningfully to the global conversation on building cultures that achieve exceptional results while caring for the people who make those results possible.

The author will be formally presented with the award at the Shingo Connect Awards Gala in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 17, 2027. Shingo Connect includes workshops, site tours, keynotes and sessions focused on achieving organizational excellence. Learn more at shingo.org/events. To purchase a copy of The Progressive Hospital or other Shingo publications, visit https://shingo.org/books.

About the Author

Stephen Weller is an operations leader, Lean practitioner, and author with extensive experience helping healthcare organizations improve performance through Lean and Six Sigma. Having worked with more than 50 hospitals and healthcare facilities, he has led improvement efforts focused on quality, safety, productivity, and patient outcomes.

Inspired by his work in healthcare, Weller wrote The Progressive Hospital: A Lean Hope to bring the principles of Lean leadership and continuous improvement to life through fiction. His unique approach combines real-world operational excellence experience with engaging storytelling, helping readers explore the human side of organizational transformation.

About the Shingo Institute

The Shingo Institute is home to the Shingo Prize, an award recognizing organizations that demonstrate an exceptional culture fostering continuous improvement. Part of the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University, the Shingo Institute is named after Japanese industrial engineer and Toyota adviser Shigeo Shingo, one of the world's thought leaders in the Toyota Production System.

Drawing from Shingo’s teachings and years of experience working with organizations worldwide, the Shingo Institute developed the Shingo Model, the basis for its various educational offerings, including workshops, study tours, and conferences. Workshops are available in multiple languages through the Institute's Licensed Affiliates. For more information on workshops and affiliates or to register to attend an event, please visit https://shingo.org.