Mark Graban
Mark Graban is an internationally-recognized consultant, author, and professional speaker, and podcaster with experience in healthcare, manufacturing, and startups.
Mark's latest book is The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation, a recipient of the Shingo Publication Award.
He is also the author of Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More, Lean Hospitals and Healthcare Kaizen, and the anthology Practicing Lean, previous Shingo recipients.
Mark is also a Senior Advisor to the technology company KaiNexus.
What Were the 10 Most Read LeanBlog.org Posts of the First...
Thanks, everybody, for reading my blog here in 2025. And for listening to podcasts... oh so many podcasts.
This blog post is the annual "year-end"...
What Visiting Japan Taught Me About Leadership–And What Healthcare Can Learn
This October, I'll be returning to Japan for another Lean healthcare study trip--my seventh time overall and my fifth healthcare-focused visit.
With each visit, I...
Designing a Culture of Respect: Scott Gauvin’s Insights from the Respect...
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My guest for Episode #529 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Scott Gauvin, CEO of...
Culture Is the Key — Reflections on Leadership, Mistakes, and Building...
I've always believed that culture isn't just one component of success--it's the foundation everything else is built upon. That belief is central to my...
“The Mistakes That Make Us” Now Available in Spanish: eBook, Paperback,...
I've written about the AI translations before, but I wanted to mention again that my award-winning book, The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a...
Car Dealer Service Departments: Stop Coaching the Score, Start Listening to...
I recently had my car serviced and left the dealership satisfied with the work and the interaction with the service advisor. But what followed...
Going to the Gemba Means More Than Looking at Boards, Status,...
In the Lean methodology, one of the most well-known--and most misunderstood--practices is the "Gemba walk."
The word Gemba means "the actual place." It's where the...
Psychological Safety in Lean: What Toyota Gets Right–and Why It Matters
One of the most powerful--but often overlooked--lessons from Toyota's management system isn't just about kanban, standard work, or andons. It's about people. More specifically,...
What If Process Behavior Charts Had Been Widely Adopted Before Lean?
In May 2024, we celebrated the 100th anniversary of Walter A. Shewhart's creation of the first control chart--a landmark that laid the foundation for...
Mark Reich, Former Toyota Leader on Hoshin Kanri and ‘Managing on...
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My guest for Episode #528 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Mark Reich, a Senior...
Two Kinds of Mistakes–and the Wisdom of Shewhart, 100 Years Later
Recently, I saw someone reference a chapter from Dr. W. Edwards Deming's book Out of the Crisis on LinkedIn--Chapter 11, titled "Common Causes and...
Breaking Through Cultural Friction: A Webinar on Respect for People and...
When organizations struggle to sustain Lean transformation, people often look first at tools, training, or tactics. But more often than not, the real obstacle...
