About LeanBlog.org
Mark Graban’s Lean Blog · Since 2005
Better work starts with understanding the system.
I write about improving work, developing leaders, and helping people speak up about problems. The goal is practical: safer care, better quality, less wasted effort, and workplaces where people can contribute.
I started Lean Blog in January 2005 to share observations, questions, and conversations about Lean management. My work began in manufacturing and moved into healthcare later that year. The settings differ, but many of the questions carry across them: What makes good work difficult? What happens when someone raises a concern? How do we know whether a change helped?
You will find examples from my work, interviews with practitioners, and commentary on everyday situations. I try to distinguish what we know from what we are assuming, and to look beyond blame toward changes that make work better.
Find a useful starting point
Understand Lean
Explore the management philosophy, methods, and respect for people behind the tools.
Make improvement part of daily work
See how teams identify problems, test ideas, and follow through.
Help people speak up
Consider the leadership responses that make questions and concerns safer to raise.
Learn through conversations
Listen to practitioners discuss what they have tried, learned, and changed.
About Mark Graban
I am an author, speaker, and consultant focused on Lean management, psychological safety, and learning from mistakes. Three of my books have received a Shingo Publication Award. Read my full biography.
The Silence Tax
Make speaking up safe and worthwhile. In-progress ebook available now.
The Mistakes That Make Us
Turn mistakes into learning and improvement.
Measures of Success
Separate meaningful signals from routine variation.
Practicing Lean
Learn from practitioners’ early Lean experiences.
Lean Hospitals
Improve quality, patient safety, and staff engagement.
Healthcare Kaizen
Make improvement part of everyday work. With Joe Swartz.
The Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen
Lead a continuously learning organization. With Joe Swartz.
Bring these ideas to your organization
If your team is working on improvement, leadership, or learning from mistakes, I can help through keynotes and speaking sessions or consulting and executive advising. Start with the problem you are trying to solve; we can discuss what support would be useful.
Stay connected
Subscribe to posts by email, connect with me on LinkedIn, or browse my YouTube videos.
Why I blog
Disclosures
I may blog about former employers, which include General Motors, Dell Inc., Johnson & Johnson (ValuMetrix Services), and the Lean Enterprise Institute.
Financial relationships
I currently have financial relationships with other individuals or organizations that might be mentioned on the blog:
- KaiNexus (as a contractor and a shareholder)
- Lean Enterprise Institute (as a former employee and current faculty member)
- Catalysis (as a faculty member)
- Productivity Press / CRC Press (as an author)
- Value Capture, LLC (as a former contractor / consultant)
- Lean Pathways (as a former contractor / consultant)
Past and current advertisers
Past or current advertisers include:
Links to Amazon.com
These disclosures are in the interest of meeting FTC blog disclosure guidelines.
