All posts from Mark Graban’s LeanBlog.org, including podcasts, announcements, articles, and more.
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: Blaming “human error” is where root cause analysis goes to die. Keep asking why — the system made the error possible, and the system is what leaders can fix. When Covid vaccines first rolled out, the pressure to avoid…
Thanks as always to Ryan McCormack for this… there’s always so much good reading, listening, and viewing shared here by him! 2020 was an unusual year. As much as I look forward to seeing it in the rearview mirror, I…
I was planning on easing into the holidays, staying safe and healthy at home, trying to be thankful and appreciative for all that I have… and then this article ran across my radar via a Google Alert for the phrase…
In Episode 23, Mark and Jamie return to finish out 2020, this time joined by Kentucky native Deondra Wardelle, so naturally Kentucky bourbon is our whiskey category of choice. Bourbons selected include Brough Brothers, Willett, and Barton 1792. After introducing…
Thanks everybody for reading my blog here in 2020. When I posted the top 10 most-read posts from the first half of the year, things were very Covid heavy. I’ve blogged less about that (but more about issues like #RootCauseRacism).…
I post here a lot about my most recent podcast series, “My Favorite Mistake,” but my first pandemic podcast project was a collaboration with the firm Value Capture. It’s a podcast series called “Habitual Excellence,” using a phrase from Paul…
Thanks as always to Ryan McCormack for this… there’s always so much good reading, listening, and viewing shared here by him! One more note from Mark: Check out Episode 26 of “My Favorite Mistake” with singer and radio host Yaya…
I was incredibly saddened today to hear that Norman Bodek passed away yesterday in Japan, where he had recently moved with his wife, Noriko. Norman was 88. This was announced through an email from Norman’s company, PCS Press, and I…
As I blogged about back in August, the team at Value Capture released an eBook that was built around transcripts of speeches by the late Paul H. O’Neill, Sr. Today would have been Mr. O’Neill’s 85th birthday, so Value Capture…
My guest for Episode #395 is Michael Parent. He is Managing Director of his firm Michael Parent Consulting Services and he is a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt with the AAA Auto Club Group. Michael has a BS in Industrial and…
The famous WKRP turkey drop is a funny TV moment, but it’s also a sharp case study in non-Lean leadership–unchecked assumptions, fear-driven hierarchy, lack of input from the team, and big rollouts without testing. It’s a reminder that leadership failures…
