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Do Not Remove: What a Kaizen Binder Taught Me in Japan The First Three Seconds After Someone Admits a Mistake We Thought We Solved That: The Art and Judgment Calls in the PDSA Cycle A Bending Column, a Bad Answer, and the Real Test of a Speak-Up Culture
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A Bending Column, a Bad Answer, and the Real Test of a Speak-Up Culture

ByMark Graban July 15, 2026 Comment (0) 106
Sean Dow was on the 22nd floor of a Manhattan high-rise last week, working on the building's...
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We Thought We Solved That: The Art and Judgment Calls in the PDSA Cycle

ByMark Graban July 14, 2026 Comment (0) 136
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The First Three Seconds After Someone Admits a Mistake

ByMark Graban July 13, 2026 Comment (0) 160
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Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape:  Best of First Half of 2026

ByRyan McCormack July 10, 2026 Comment (0) 3825

Mark Graban

Welcome to my blog!

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 (1)

Lean Blog Interviews Podcast

Captain Sully and Patient Safety Lessons with Naida Grunden

Captain Sully and Patient Safety Lessons with Naida Grunden

ByMark Graban February 10, 2011 3030
Captain Sully and patient safety come together in this conversation with Naida Grunden, author of The Pittsburgh Way to Efficient Healthcare, who was corresponding with Chesley Sullenberger about...
Jeffrey Liker on Toyota’s Crisis, Recalls, and the Real Test of the Toyota Way

Jeffrey Liker on Toyota’s Crisis, Recalls, and the Real Test of the Toyota Way

ByMark Graban February 1, 2011 3187
Jeffrey Liker explains why Toyota's recalls were not a failure of the Toyota Way, but a breakdown in listening, speed, and customer understanding. The episode explores how Toyota used rigorous...
Dr. Jack Billi on Lean Thinking, A3 Problem Solving, and Engaging Physicians

Dr. Jack Billi on Lean Thinking, A3 Problem Solving, and Engaging Physicians

ByMark Graban January 27, 2011 2031
Listen: Episode #110 is a chat with Dr. Jack Billi from the University of Michigan Health System and Medical School. Here, we talk about their lean work and how Dr. Billi works with physicians to...
Jim Morgan of Ford on Lean Product Development and Leading by Asking

Jim Morgan of Ford on Lean Product Development and Leading by Asking

ByMark Graban January 13, 2011 2618
Episode #109 is a discussion with  Jim Morgan, Director, Global Body Exterior and Stamping Business Unit Engineering, Ford Motor Company. We will be talking about Lean product development methods...

More Blog Posts

The image shows Jamie Bonini from Toyota with a quote overlayed on the image. The quote reads: "We define TPS as an organizational culture of highly engaged people solving problems or innovating to drive performance."

Toward a Lean Hospital: Culture, Engagement, and Continuous Improvement

Mark GrabanByMark Graban October 23, 2023 2745
This video explores what it really means to build a Lean hospital culture, drawing on lessons from Toyota, healthcare leaders, and real-world improvement examples. Earlier this year, I was invited to...

Lean Whiskey #42: Reflecting on the GE Lean Mindset Event, Including Ford, Uber, and PG&E

Mark GrabanByMark Graban October 20, 2023 2521

Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape: October 20th, 2023

Ryan McCormackByRyan McCormack October 20, 2023 2494

Redefining Failure: Lessons from Serial Entrepreneurs on Navigating Setbacks

Mark GrabanByMark Graban October 18, 2023 2698

Navigating Organizational Change with D. Lynn Kelley — Discussing Her Book ‘Change Questions’

Mark GrabanByMark Graban October 18, 2023 3735

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

When Terminator 2 was made, it was the most expensive movie ever produced. The effects that defined it -- the liquid-metal T-1000 -- were theoretically possible, and James Cameron had proven the idea on a smaller scale, but nothing like it had ever been done at this size. The film became the dawn of the CGI era. Here is the part Larry Kasanoff finds most interesting, looking back. The studio didn't fully grasp the risk sitting inside those effects. The team was confident, but confidence is not the same as certainty -- and they genuinely did not know whether the effects would work until they saw the first finished shot, halfway through production. A record budget was already committed before anyone could confirm the thing it was riding on. That gap between confidence and certainty is worth sitting with. Bold work often means moving before the proof is in. The skill isn't eliminating the risk -- it's knowing it's there, naming it honestly, and deciding to take the shot anyway, eyes open. 🔵 Why T2 was the most expensive movie ever made at the time 🔵 The liquid-metal effects that launched the age of CGI 🔵 The risk the studio didn't fully see 🔵 The difference between being confident and actually knowing Larry Kasanoff is a film producer and studio head behind Terminator 2, True Lies, Mortal Kombat, and Platoon, and the author of A Touch of the Madness. From the My Favorite Mistake podcast with Mark Graban. Full video: https://youtu.be/Zx9IuIB2m0g #Leadership #Innovation #RiskTaking #LarryKasanoff #MyFavoriteMistake #Shorts
The Most Expensive Movie Ever, and Nobody Knew If It Would Work | Larry Kasanoff
What happens when you pay employees $20 for every improvement idea? Norman Bodek shares a funny Toyota story about an incentive that worked exactly as designed—and not at all as intended. Employees quickly realized that even trivial changes could earn the same reward, allowing one particularly prolific employee to pay for a swimming pool. Toyota stopped the payment program, but Norman’s larger point was not to abandon employee ideas because one incentive was poorly designed. His simpler approach: • Pay $20 when an idea is worth $20 • Thank employees for smaller ideas • Use drawings or modest recognition instead of paying the same amount for every suggestion • Fix the incentive without discarding the improvement system The lesson extends well beyond kaizen: people respond rationally to the systems and incentives leaders create. Watch the full 20th-anniversary episode: https://leanblog.org/1 #Kaizen #Lean #Toyota #ContinuousImprovement #NormanBodek #Leadership #EmployeeIdeas #Incentives #LeanManagement
Toyota Paid $20 Per Idea—Then Employees Gamed the System
A studio once came to Larry Kasanoff wanting content for a new 3D network. He asked the obvious questions -- what do you want, who is it for, why are you doing this? The answers were "we don't know" and "everyone's doing it." Larry passed. The network was gone in six months. He gets the same calls today, except now it's about AI. People tell him what the technology can do and ask what he wants to use it for. His answer is the same every time: he won't build a movie around what the tech can do. The tech has to serve the story, not the other way around. That is the whole principle, and it travels well beyond Hollywood. Adopting a tool because it's the hot thing -- with no clear problem it solves and no idea who it serves -- is a red flag, not a strategy. The question that actually matters isn't "what can this do?" It's "what are we trying to accomplish, and does this help?" 🔵 The 3D network that launched with no idea and folded in six months 🔵 Why "everyone's doing it" is a warning sign, not a reason 🔵 The same trap playing out right now with AI 🔵 Making technology serve the goal instead of driving it Larry Kasanoff is a film producer and studio head behind Terminator 2, True Lies, Mortal Kombat, and Platoon, and the author of A Touch of the Madness. From the My Favorite Mistake podcast with Mark Graban. Full video: https://youtu.be/Zx9IuIB2m0g #Leadership #Innovation #AI #LarryKasanoff #MyFavoriteMistake #Shorts
Tech for Its Own Sake Is a Red Flag | Larry Kasanoff
Early in his career, Larry Kasanoff ran production at a studio that made low-budget horror, sci-fi, and action films. Then a script came across his desk called Platoon. Nobody in it was famous yet. The director's previous film was good but hadn't been a hit. By the studio's formula, there was no reason to make it. Larry had an instinct, and he fought for it. His boss -- a sharp entrepreneur who fired people all the time and wasn't bluffing -- gave him the green light with one condition: if it fails, you're fired. Larry made the call anyway, on the logic that he didn't get into the movie business to play it safe. Platoon won the Academy Award for Best Picture. There are two leadership lessons sitting inside this story, and they pull against each other. A boss gave a young executive room to take a real swing, which is rare and worth studying. But he tied that freedom to the threat of getting fired -- the opposite of a culture where it is safe to take a risk and have it not work out. It is worth asking which part actually produced the result: the trust, or the fear. 🔵 Why the studio's formula said no to Platoon 🔵 What it means to back an instinct when the data disagrees 🔵 The difference between empowering a bet and threatening a firing 🔵 Why playing it safe is its own kind of risk Larry Kasanoff is a film producer and studio head behind Terminator 2, True Lies, Mortal Kombat, and Platoon, and the author of A Touch of the Madness. From the My Favorite Mistake podcast with Mark Graban. Subscribe: [SUBSCRIBE LINK] #Leadership #DecisionMaking #PsychologicalSafety #LarryKasanoff #MyFavoriteMistake #Shorts
Betting My Job on Platoon | Larry Kasanoff #myfavoritemistake
Larry Kasanoff borrowed a rule from legendary auto executive Bob Lutz: a car that some people love and some people hate will beat a car that everyone thinks is just okay. Lutz was talking about car design, but Larry applies it to all creative work -- and to the people you lead. The logic is uncomfortable but hard to argue with. "Okay" is everyone's second choice, and second choices get forgotten. The work that gets remembered, chosen, and talked about is the work somebody was willing to risk being disliked for. Play it safe to avoid criticism and you drift toward the middle, where mediocrity lives. Larry's advice -- the same thing he tells actors before an audition -- is simple: take a shot. For leaders, that is a real tension. The instinct to smooth every edge and please everyone produces products, strategies, and teams that nobody hates and nobody remembers. Standing behind a bolder call means accepting that some people will push back, and being okay with that. 🔵 Why aiming for "okay" quietly makes you forgettable 🔵 The Bob Lutz design rule and what it means for your work 🔵 Why being everyone's second choice is the weakest place to be 🔵 The case for taking a shot instead of playing it safe Larry Kasanoff is a film producer and studio head behind Terminator 2, True Lies, Mortal Kombat, and Platoon, and the author of A Touch of the Madness. From the My Favorite Mistake podcast with Mark Graban. Full video: https://youtu.be/Zx9IuIB2m0g #Leadership #DecisionMaking #Innovation #LarryKasanoff #MyFavoriteMistake #Shorts
Why "Good Enough" Makes You Forgettable | Larry Kasanoff #myfavoritemistake
Larry Kasanoff risked getting fired to greenlight Platoon when nobody famous was in it and the studio didn't want to make it. That bet -- and the philosophy it sparked -- shaped a career spanning Terminator 2, Mortal Kombat, Dirty Dancing, and more than 200 films. In this conversation, Larry shares what "a touch of the madness" means for innovation, why the audience always knows what it wants (even when executives don't), and where the line sits between bold and reckless. 🔵 Why his boss said "if it fails, you're fired" -- and Larry greenlit the movie anyway 🔵 The real story behind T2's helicopter stunt that wasn't in the script 🔵 How a hyperventilating 11-year-old saved a Mortal Kombat character design 🔵 The Dirty Dancing song nobody liked -- until the label changed and nothing else did 🔵 Why algorithm-driven filmmaking produces forgettable work 🔵 A 3D TV network that died in six months because nobody asked "who's the audience?" 🔵 Where AI helps the film business -- and where human creativity can't be replaced 🔵 The practical joke with a 12-foot python that went a little too far Larry Kasanoff is chairman and CEO of Threshold Entertainment and author of A Touch of the Madness. 📖 Book: A Touch of the Madness 🔗 Full episode and show notes: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake357 Subscribe and hit the bell so you don't miss new episodes of My Favorite Mistake with Mark Graban. #MyFavoriteMistake #LarryKasanoff #Platoon #Terminator2 #MortalKombat #TouchOfTheMadness #Innovation #Leadership #MovieProducer #FilmIndustry #RiskTaking
He Bet His Career on Platoon — And Won | Larry Kasanoff
One email from Amazon: "This is against our guidelines." No explanation, no chance to fix it. Just her books gone. Publishing strategist Wiebke Tasch had two Amazon accounts, one for her pen name, one for her real name, not knowing that's against the rules. Amazon read it as spam and deleted both accounts along with her bestselling book, right after she'd quit her job to write full time. Full episode - "Why Amazon Deleted Her Bestselling Book Overnight - with Wiebke Tasch": https://youtu.be/i2_wYH7rbTM #MyFavoriteMistake #Amazon #SelfPublishing #AuthorTips #KDP
Two Amazon Accounts, One Innocent Mistake, Her Whole Business Gone
Asked to name the 5 S's, the manager gets every one wrong: "straighten, salami, stopwatch, Sasquatch, and salmonella." He can't explain how any of it helps the work. His only answer is that the consultant said so. That's the actual failure mode here, not the mangled Japanese. A leader who can't explain the reasoning behind a program can't sustain it, coach it, or adapt it when it stops working. The team ends up following instructions instead of understanding a problem-solving method, and that's the difference between Lean as a toolkit and Lean as a costume. Watch the full video: https://youtu.be/t8IfQp4A4ZI #Lean #5S #LeanManagement #ContinuousImprovement #Leadership
"Salami, Stopwatch, Sasquatch..." -- This Manager Has No Idea What 5S Means
Publishing strategist Wiebke Tasch reviews manuscripts for a living. She says she can tell within a few pages when a book was written by ChatGPT: paragraphs disappear, replaced by short, choppy sentences formatted like a social media post. It reads fast and looks flat, and readers notice. Her point isn't that AI has no place in writing. It's that overuse flattens voice, and voice is the thing readers are actually there for. Full episode - "Why Amazon Deleted Her Bestselling Book Overnight - with Wiebke Tasch": https://youtu.be/i2_wYH7rbTM #MyFavoriteMistake #AIWriting #ChatGPT #SelfPublishing #AuthorTips
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