ThedaCare's Business Performance System Connects Daily Improvement to Organizational Strategy

Lean daily management helps teams manage and improve work every day through visual boards, huddles, leader standard work, and gemba walks.

Apr. 2, 2026 at 8:19am

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A photorealistic studio still life featuring a collection of premium, polished objects arranged elegantly on a clean, monochromatic background to symbolize the key elements of a lean daily management system, including a visual performance board, a stopwatch, and a clipboard with checklists.The structured, interconnected components of a lean daily management system help organizations align strategy with frontline improvement and sustain gains over time.Appleton Today

ThedaCare, a health system in Appleton, Wisconsin, was an early adopter of lean daily management, defining their 'Business Performance System' as a set of interconnected components including daily status sheets, daily huddles, monthly scorecards, leader standard work, and visual management. This system connects frontline problem-solving to organizational strategy, creating a rhythm where improvement is embedded in daily work rather than limited to periodic projects.

Why it matters

In many organizations, improvement efforts stall over time as gains fade and the old ways of working creep back in. Lean daily management fills the gap between project-based improvement and daily operations, giving frontline teams a structured way to surface problems, test solutions, and align their work with broader strategic priorities.

The details

Lean daily management typically includes visual boards that display key metrics and improvement efforts, daily huddles where teams review performance and surface problems, leader standard work that defines how leaders spend their time including gemba walks, an escalation path so problems can be solved at the right level, and a connection to strategy deployment so local improvement aligns with organizational priorities. The boards don't do the work - the leadership behaviors do.

  • ThedaCare defined their 'Business Performance System' in the early 2000s.
  • The system has evolved over the past two decades as ThedaCare has refined its approach.

The players

ThedaCare

A health system in Appleton, Wisconsin that was an early adopter of lean daily management.

Theresa Moore

A leader at ThedaCare who has shared insights about their daily management system.

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What they’re saying

“More important is the coaching approach more so than the board itself.”

— Theresa Moore

What’s next

As ThedaCare continues to refine its lean daily management system, the organization will likely share more best practices and lessons learned to help other healthcare providers implement similar approaches.

The takeaway

Lean daily management is a powerful way for organizations to connect strategy to frontline improvement, but the key is in the leadership behaviors and coaching, not just the visual tools. By creating a structured rhythm of problem-solving, idea capture, and strategic alignment, ThedaCare has been able to sustain improvement over time.