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Change the Work Environment:
Take Care of Basics

There are certain fundamentals that must be done to make any organization successful. Sometimes it is useful to take a fresh look at these basics to see that the organization is still on track. If there are fundamental problems in the business, changes in other areas may not lead to improvements. Concepts like orderliness, cleanliness, discipline, and managing costs and prices are examples of fundamentals in any organization. Also, when people's basic needs are not being met, we cannot expect to make meaningful improvements in other areas. The" Five-S" movement which is the beginning for quality control in Japanese workshops, gets its name from the Japanese words for straighten up, put things in order, clean up, personal cleanliness, and discipline.




Examples of Tests of this Change

Even after the physician’s assistant educated him about the importance of diet and exercise in controlling his diabetes, one patient had a hard time understanding the connection. He presented for follow-up with very high blood sugar, as a result of just having eaten ice cream and cookies! After he attended a Diabetes Group Visit, he finally understood the connection between his foot ulcer, his diabetes, and self-management of his diet and exercise plan. Since then, he has been actively involved in setting goals for himself in collaboration with the health care team.