Mark Graban’s newer Lean Blog Audio podcast series with “audiobook” style readings of selected blog posts. Learn how to subscribe.
What do Boeing frontline mechanics and engineers think about this day? What did they expect going into it? How did the day turn out? I’d love to know. “Quality is made in the boardroom.” W. Edwards Deming I rolled my…
TL;DR: The phrase “mistakes are proof you’re trying” is true in some settings and dangerously misleading in others. In innovation work — product development, marketing experiments, learning new skills — mistakes are often part of growth and should be expected,…
TL;DR: Psychological safety in aerospace manufacturing isn’t optional–it’s a matter of life and death. When workers are punished for speaking up about quality problems, defects go unreported, risks multiply, and passengers pay the price. Psychological Safety is not some nice-to-have…
This post is built around excerpts from the book The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation. Read more about Toyota, including stories and key lessons learned in the book. Download a free preview of the book…
Being “right” is often the wrong strategy for change. Sustainable Lean change happens when leaders shift from telling people what to do to engaging them through questions, empathy, and motivation–using approaches like motivational interviewing to help people choose change rather…
tl;dr summary: Karyn Ross enlightened me about World Kindness Day and provided invaluable feedback on my book, The Mistakes That Make Us. Her insights particularly helped me replace the term “grace” with “kindness,” enhancing the book’s inclusivity. She also helped…
TL;DR: Gemba and genba are the same Japanese word (現場), meaning “the actual place.” Japanese speakers, including native speakers and bilingual Lean professionals who’ve lived in Japan, all confirm: it’s a romanization difference, not a meaning difference. The Lean world…
Leaders and organizations have a choice: 1) cultivate a culture of fear and punishment or 2) a culture of learning and innovation. That choice significantly affects happiness and performance at all levels within the organization. A culture of fear and…
tl;dr: In this episode, Mark recounts an unexpected ordeal in an Italian hospital after his mother-in-law broke her arm while on vacation. Faced with difficult choices about surgery and travel, the family navigates a foreign healthcare system. Amid the stress,…
Updated: The recordings from this inspiring day are now online. I’ll be sharing thoughts and reflections in future posts. I was very excited to learn about an event that was produced by GE on Wednesday, September 6th, in New York…
This is really hard to write, as I was stunned and saddened by the recent passing of a good friend and colleague, Chris Burnham. Word had started to spread on LinkedIn and I feel bad about having to share this…
tl;dr: In this post, Mark recounts his frustrating experience attempting to donate a couch, only to be stymied by bureaucratic obstacles. Using this personal anecdote as a case study, he explores how inefficient processes can deter good intentions and inhibit…
