I don’t share every episode of the “My Favorite Mistake” podcast here, but today’s new episode has great connections to Lean, I think. Or, it’s Lean-adjacent. It’s a discussion I had with Prof. Amy C. Edmondson, from Harvard Business School,…
The main recurring theme in the “My Favorite Mistake” podcast series is learning from mistakes. I’ve been trying to do more reading on this topic recently. Here’s a 2011 HBR article by Prof. Amy Edmondson: Strategies for Learning from Failure…
TL;DR: Psychological safety is a shared belief that you can raise concerns, admit mistakes, ask questions, or offer ideas without fear of blame or humiliation. Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson, whose 1999 research first established the concept, defines it…
LinkedIn has a genre of infographic that’s very popular right now… that’s mostly right. You’ve perhaps seen them. A clean illustration of a Toyota assembly line, a worker reaching up for a cord, and a caption along the lines of:…
Somewhere along the way in my career, someone handed me a copy of “The Toyota Production System,” published by Toyota Motor Corporation in April 1992. I don’t remember who gave it to me. The document itself is unassuming – a…
Why do so many quality programs fall apart the moment the firefighter walks out the door? In this conversation, Chad Diggs talks about his new book, Below the Surface, and what it takes to build quality systems that outlast the people who…
TL;DR: Organizations invest in teaching people to see problems and solve problems — but skip the middle step: making it safe and worthwhile to speak up about them. I’ve seen blank huddle boards in hospitals. Cards and markers sitting untouched.…
If you’ve used ChatGPT, you’ve seen the small text at the bottom of the screen: “ChatGPT can make mistakes. Check important info.” I noticed it again the other day and thought (and wrote on LinkedIn) — I need the same…
TL;DR: NUMMI proved in the 1980s what healthcare is still learning today: you can’t punish your way to safety. Real improvement comes from mutual trust, system thinking, and leaders who respond to problems with curiosity–not blame. When we talk about…
TL;DR: Psychological safety in Lean organizations means people can surface problems, admit mistakes, and challenge assumptions without fear. It is not about comfort or lowering standards–it is the foundation that makes Respect for People, learning, and continuous improvement possible. In…
Why do capable leaders spend their days firefighting instead of improving the system? In this episode, MIT professor Nelson Repenning explains how poorly designed work systems trap organizations in chaos–and how Lean thinking and Dynamic Work Design help leaders restore…
In this episode of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast, Carlos Scholz discusses Lean healthcare leadership, psychological safety, and humility–why improvement depends on leadership behaviors, not just tools or events. Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest…
