Download or read book Thriving in Unpredictable Times written by Sarah W. Fraser and published by eBook Partnership. This book was released on 2003-01-01 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In creating this book we have sought to bring to health care a number of ideas under the heading of agility. The ideas have their roots in many different areas; different worlds that have devised ways of dealing with situations and circumstances. We have sought in particular to capture some of the experience from the world of manufacturing and production, a world where people make things, in the belief that they have value in the world of health care. Our aim is to identify how learning from the first may be transferred to the second of these worlds. This is not to say in any way that the world of production is superior to the world of health care; indeed the opportunity for the flow of learning is in both directions. Each world has developed skills and knowledge in particular areas by virtue of the focus of attention on the particular tasks it performs. The accident of circumstance has created the need and driven the development of a number of techniques in the production world that we feel may be of value.