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A Lean Management System That Doesn’t Depend on the Lean Team — Emily Swaney, OhioHealth Creating a Continuous Improvement System in Accounting: Nick Katko on PDCA, Culture, and Psychological Safety
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Mark Graban

Lean Leadership, Psychological Safety, and Continuous Improvement

Since 2005, LeanBlog.org has shared practical insights from real-world work in healthcare, manufacturing, and beyond.

Books Keynote Speaking Coaching / Advisory Podcasts
Books by Mark Graban on Lean, Leadership, and Learning (4)

Lean Blog Interviews Podcast

Podcast #145 – Interview with Natalie Sayer, Author ‘Lean for Dummies’

Podcast #145 – Interview with Natalie Sayer, Author ‘Lean for Dummies’

ByMark Graban April 25, 2012 1671
Episode #145 is a conversation with Natalie J. Sayer, co-author of the recently updated 2nd edition of the book Lean For Dummies. I was able to meet Natalie at the recent ASQ Lean and Six Sigma...
Dean Gruner on Lean Healthcare and Accountable Care Organizations at ThedaCare

Dean Gruner on Lean Healthcare and Accountable Care Organizations at ThedaCare

ByMark Graban April 16, 2012 2503
Episode #144 is a discussion with Dean Gruner, MD, the president & CEO of ThedaCare, talking about Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and how ThedaCare is using this approach, along with Lean...
Podcast #143 – Mark Graban & Ron Pereira (Gemba Academy): SPC Webinar Q&A, Statistical Process Control and Management

Podcast #143 – Mark Graban & Ron Pereira (Gemba Academy): SPC Webinar Q&A, Statistical Process Control and Management

ByMark Graban April 5, 2012 1349
Listen Like podcast #133, this episode is a Q&A that follows up a webinar I did for my good friends at Gemba Academy recently, on the topic “Using Statistical Process Control (SPC) to Make...
Eric Ries On How Taiichi Ohno’s Ideas Shaped The Evolution Of Lean Startup

Eric Ries On How Taiichi Ohno’s Ideas Shaped The Evolution Of Lean Startup

ByMark Graban March 13, 2012 3793
Episode #142 brings us a returning guest (#115), Eric Ries, author of the best-selling book The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful...

More Blog Posts

Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape: March 8, 2024

Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape: March 8, 2024

Ryan McCormackByRyan McCormack March 8, 2024 5223
Thanks as always to Ryan McCormack for this… there's always so much good reading, listening, and viewing shared here by him! Subscribe to get these directly from Ryan via email. News, articles...
**Alt Text:** A presentation slide from GE Aerospace's Investor Day featuring CEO Larry Culp. The slide is titled "Introducing - FLIGHT DECK" and includes the following text: - GE Aerospace's **proprietary lean operating model** - A **systematic** approach to running our business to deliver exceptional value as measured through the eyes of our **customers** - **Accelerating** our lean progress to ensure focused execution as a public company Larry Culp is pictured on the left side of the slide, wearing a black suit and speaking against a backdrop with a gradient of warm colors. On the right side, there is an image of a turbine or engine component. The GE Aerospace logo is displayed at the bottom, and the slide is marked "2024 GE Aerospace Investor Day" with the page number 13.

Inside GE Aerospace’s Flight Deck: How Larry Culp Leads with Lean and Safety

Mark GrabanByMark Graban March 7, 2024 11988

Why Psychological Safety Should Lead to Candor — Not “Being Vulnerable” at Work

Mark GrabanByMark Graban March 6, 2024 5434

A Better Question Than “Do You Have Any Questions?”

Mark GrabanByMark Graban March 5, 2024 2007
**Alt Text:** An image of a small chalkboard placed on a bed of multi-colored pebbles. The chalkboard has the words "Be Brave" written on it. Over the image, there is a red "No" symbol, a circle with a diagonal line through it, indicating a prohibition. In the top right corner, the Lean Blog logo is displayed, featuring a circular design with arrows in blue, green, and orange, and the text "LEAN BLOG" in the center.

Instead of Urging Your Employees to Be Brave, Help Them Feel Safe Speaking Up

Mark GrabanByMark Graban March 4, 2024 3064

Webinars

karen martin ask the expert webinar kainexus

Ask Karen Martin Anything on Operational Excellence: A KaiNexus Webinar

March 5, 2026
Karen Martin is one of those people I've been lucky to know and learn from for a long time. She's...
1. Professor with glasses in front of EMS 20th anniversary logo and KaiNexus logo on blue background.

Unlock the Power of Leadership: A Preview of the Electrolux Manufacturing System (EMS) Webinar

December 4, 2025
KaiNexus recently hosted a webinar I was especially looking forward to: “Unlock the Power of...
Breaking Through Cultural Friction: Respect for People and Sustainable Performance

Breaking Through Cultural Friction: Respect for People and Sustainable Performance

June 9, 2025
When organizations struggle to sustain Lean transformation, people often look first at tools...
Driving a Culture of Patient Safety: Lessons for Healthcare and Beyond

Driving a Culture of Patient Safety: Lessons for Healthcare and Beyond

April 28, 2025
Recently, I had the pleasure of moderating a webinar titled “Driving a Culture of Transforming...
Why Lean Fails Without Psychological Safety

Why Lean Fails Without Psychological Safety

April 16, 2025
TL;DR: Lean tools don't fail because people resist change–they fail because people don't feel...
Preview: Driving a Culture of Accountability – Transforming Patient Safety with KaiNexus (Webinar, April 15)

Preview: Driving a Culture of Accountability – Transforming Patient Safety with KaiNexus (Webinar, April 15)

April 8, 2025
One of the most powerful elements of continuous improvement is the ability to learn from each other...
My Upcoming Webinar on Mistake-Proofing Across Industries

My Upcoming Webinar on Mistake-Proofing Across Industries

February 3, 2025
I'm excited to be presenting this webinar on February 12th at 1 pm ET as part of the KaiNexus...
Top 5 Takeaways from my KaiNexus Webinar: Psychological Safety as a Precondition for Continuous Improvement

Top 5 Takeaways from my KaiNexus Webinar: Psychological Safety as a Precondition for Continuous Improvement

January 8, 2025
TL;DR: Psychological safety isn't optional for continuous improvement. This KaiNexus webinar...
Creating Leader Standard Work (LSW) Across a Distributed Business Model — Webinar Preview

Creating Leader Standard Work (LSW) Across a Distributed Business Model — Webinar Preview

November 7, 2024
I'm happy to be hosting and moderating this webinar that will be presented by Brent Loescher, a...
Embedding Change Management into your Continuous Improvement Initiatives – Webinar Preview

Embedding Change Management into your Continuous Improvement Initiatives – Webinar Preview

September 25, 2024
I'm happy to be hosting and moderating this webinar that will be presented by Melissa Sherman, a...
View Our “Ask Us Anything” Event on Psychological Safety and Lean

View Our “Ask Us Anything” Event on Psychological Safety and Lean

August 20, 2024
Psychological safety is often described as “feeling safe to speak up.” In Lean...
From Strategy to Execution: Webinar with Karen Friedenberg

From Strategy to Execution: Webinar with Karen Friedenberg

July 17, 2024
Are you looking to transform your business strategy into actionable results? Join us for our...

Videos

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Mark Graban on YouTube

Psychological safety doesn’t come from a tidy formula. Leaders build it through specific behaviors, repeated over time. They can practice those behaviors, watch what happens, and adjust. My new course, Leading with Psychological Safety, is now available from TKMG Academy. It’s for senior leaders, frontline managers, continuous improvement professionals, consultants, educators, and anyone who wants a culture where people speak up to improve how work gets done. The course covers: 🔵 What psychological safety is, and common misconceptions 🔵 The four stages of psychological safety (from Timothy R. Clark) 🔵 Two reasons people stay silent: fear and futility 🔵 Four leadership behaviors that build it: Model, Encourage, Enable, and Reward 🔵 How to assess progress 13 lessons, about an hour total. Also available in Spanish. Available now. Learn more and purchase here: https://tkmgacademy.com/courses/leading-with-psychological-safety/
Psychological Safety Isn’t a Formula. It’s Leadership Behavior.
Tyler McBroom asked to reschedule a 10:30 PM call about partnering with Tony Robbins, then spent three years trying to get it back. When the offer finally came, he understood why the wait may have protected his firm. What you’ll hear: 🔵 The rescheduling request that turned into three years of follow-up 🔵 What Tyler sent every month while he waited, and the silence that came back 🔵 How his firm grew from four people to 24 before the partnership arrived 🔵 Why landing it the first time might have caused the firm to implode 🔵 The math on doubling your price and losing half your clients 🔵 The “grin test” for any tax deduction you’d have to defend in an audit Tyler McBroom, CPA, MBA, is the CEO of TRM CPA and the author of Cash Flow and Grow. Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/lq3VF9othSA Episode page and transcript: https://markgraban.com/mistake371 Subscribe for new episodes of My Favorite Mistake, where leaders talk candidly about the mistakes that taught them the most.
Getting the Deal Early Would Have Sunk Us | Tyler McBroom
Why don’t employees speak up? Fear is part of it. But most silence comes from futility - people have spoken up before and nothing changed. That distinction is the subject of my keynote, “The Silence Tax: Why People Stay Quiet, and What Leaders Can Do About It.” Fear and futility look identical from the outside. Someone sees a problem and says nothing. But they’re different problems with different fixes, and most organizations only address the first one. The cost shows up as problems leaders never hear about, improvement ideas that never arrive, and mistakes nobody learns from. In this keynote, we look at what makes speaking up feel safer and what makes it feel worth the effort: how leaders respond in the moment, whether problems actually get worked on, and whether anyone hears what happened next. Telling people to speak up doesn’t do it. Audiences include healthcare leaders, manufacturers, municipal and government teams, and continuous improvement professionals. The keynote works as an opening session, a closing session, or paired with a half-day workshop. Interested in bringing this to your organization or event? Get in touch: [SPEAKING PAGE URL] I’m Mark Graban - speaker, consultant, and author of The Mistakes That Make Us, Measures of Success, Lean Hospitals, and Healthcare Kaizen. I host the Lean Blog Interviews and My Favorite Mistake podcasts and write at LeanBlog.org. My next book, The Silence Tax, comes out in early 2027. More: https://www.leanblog.org #PsychologicalSafety #KeynoteSpeaker #Leadership #SpeakingUp #WorkplaceCulture #LeanLeadership #ContinuousImprovement #EmployeeEngagement #LeadershipDevelopment #TheSilenceTax
Why Employees Don’t Speak Up | Psychological Safety Keynote
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