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.
Commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. Day — Keep Moving Forward
Let's commemorate today's national holiday for Dr. King with a look back at my post from 2012:
A Lean Lesson from Dr. Martin Luther King,...
Lost in Translation: Does Lean Jargon Hinder Communication and Clarity?
Does jargon--or Japanese terms like 'Hoshin Kanri'--get in the way of clear communication in your organization?
It reminds me of the classic Saturday Night Live...
Leadership Gone Wrong: The Cost of Prioritizing a CEO’s Ego Over...
A sad but true leadership tale:
"Unlike most CEOs who rely on their executive team to keep them informed, relies on his team to...
From Noise to Clarity and Focus: How KaiNexus Learned to Focus...
When I first began working with KaiNexus a long time ago, I was excited to find opportunities to share methods that had been transformative...
Why Thinking and Action Matter More Than Templates in Lean
A key takeaway from Katie Anderson's Japan Study Trip resonated deeply with me: thinking and action are far more important than templates. This insight,...
Safety First: GE Aerospace’s Lynn Facility Demonstrates True Lean Leadership
At its core, Lean is about people--respecting them, empowering them, and ensuring their well-being while driving continuous improvement. Recently, GE Aerospace's Lynn, MA, facility...
Top 5 Takeaways from my KaiNexus Webinar “Psychological Safety: A Precondition...
In my 2023 KaiNexus webinar, I explored the critical intersection of Psychological Safety and Continuous Improvement. Here are the top five takeaways that summarize...
Wisdom from a Fortune Cookie: Succeeding via Obstacles and Failures
Sometimes, wisdom comes wrapped in unexpected packaging--like a fortune cookie. Recently, my friend Alan Wikler, Psy.D., came across one with a simple yet profound...
Starting the New Year with Global Leadership Resolutions: Building a Foundation...
During Katie Anderson's #JapanStudyTrip this past November, a participant shared an observation with me that resonated deeply:
"The biggest challenge is our blame culture. It's...
Why Start the New Year with Blank Charts?
Charts like this always make me wonder why we throw away the additional context of data from 2016 when we start the 2017 chart.
It's unlikely that January 1st in any given year is the magical creation of a new system or a new process. In other words, January 2017 was likely the same process as December 2016. The annual cutoffs are arbitrary. Sure, people are accustomed to thinking in annual cycles, but is this helpful for improvement?
Gemba Claus is Comin’ to Town! [An Original Song]
Here's a musical holiday treat for my regular Lean Blog readers and podcast listeners, a song parody, initially released in 2009, and then remastered...
Process Behavior Charts: The Christmas Tale / Le Conte de Noël...
Two years ago, I received an unexpected and incredibly specific Christmas gift from Charles Desneuf on LinkedIn. He wrote a PDF eBook about Process...
