On Becoming Exceptional: SSM Health Care's Journey to Baldrige and Beyond [Paperback]

Sister Mary Jean Ryan (Author), FSM (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 2007

This book does not deliver five or 10 magical steps to levitate your organization to excellence. Instead, it tells a story of mundane realities - hard work, dozens of mistakes, and the extraordinary commitment of thousands of people. It deals with blind alleys, unpopular decisions, incremental improvements, and even a few breakthroughs. In other words, it deals with the real world of flawed organizations and human beings. So if your taste in the business-management aisle of the bookstore runs toward fantasy, please keep looking. If, on the other hand, you are interested in learning from someone who will readily admit her - and her organization's - myriad faults, multiple mistakes, and constant doubts, On Becoming Exceptional is your book. CEO Sister Mary Jean Ryan tells the story of how SSM Health Care made its way through the turbulence to become the first health care organization to receive the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award - given by the President of the United States for outstanding achievement in quality.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: ASQ Quality Press; 1 edition (April 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873897153
• ISBN-13: 978-0873897150
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,632,523 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quality lessons from a team that's done it, August 24, 2008

By 

Joe Tye "CEO and Head Coach, Values Coach Inc." (Iowa) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: On Becoming Exceptional: SSM Health Care's Journey to Baldrige and Beyond (Paperback)

This little book is one part instructional guide on how to systematically approach quality improvement, one part success story of teamwork in action, and full of great ideas for any manager, in healthcare or any other industry. Among these ideas are the "meeting in a box," a great way to spread a consistent message throughout a large organization, and the personal passport as a way of keeping every individual worker focused on his or her key goals. Mandatory reading for anyone in healthcare administration and highly recommended for managers in every other industry.