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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

Art Byrne on Lean from the CEO’s Perspective and The Lean Turnaround Answer Book

Art Byrne on Lean from the CEO’s Perspective and The Lean Turnaround Answer Book

ByMark Graban May 22, 2024 6931
Art Byrne returns to the podcast to share CEO-level lessons from decades of Lean transformations and his new book, The Lean Turnaround Answer Book. The conversation covers Lean strategy, cost...
Japan Study Trips: A Voyage of Leadership Discovery with Katie Anderson

Japan Study Trips: A Voyage of Leadership Discovery with Katie Anderson

ByMark Graban May 8, 2024 3659
Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #504 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Katie Anderson, author of the book Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn. In this...
Lean Coaching for Lean Coaches: Sam Morgan Helps Mark Graban

Lean Coaching for Lean Coaches: Sam Morgan Helps Mark Graban

ByMark Graban April 24, 2024 3331
Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #503 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Sam Morgan of Illuminate Coaching + Consulting. He was previously a guest in...
Lean from a General Manager and Executive Perspective: DeWayne Allen

Lean from a General Manager and Executive Perspective: DeWayne Allen

ByMark Graban April 10, 2024 3549
Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #502 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is DeWayne Allen, an executive, speaker, and workshop facilitator. DeWayne is a...

More Blog Posts

toyota engineer gemba

What Toyota’s 1992 Booklet Leaves Out About Leadership

Mark GrabanByMark Graban July 8, 2026 491
Part of a six-part series on Toyota's 1992 booklet, The Toyota Production System. See all six posts in order: What Toyota Didn't Write Down. The 1992 Toyota booklet says surprisingly little about...
A chaotic, oversaturated AI-generated factory scene featuring robots, conveyor belts, gears, cars, cherry blossoms, Mount Fuji, a giant stopwatch, and a stern older Japanese man pointing, all covered by a large red prohibition symbol.

The Taiichi Ohno 1981 Story Keeps Getting Reposted. It Can’t Be True.

Mark GrabanByMark Graban July 7, 2026 747
lean blog hospital sign standard work why

When Standard Work Isn’t Followed, Your Reaction Is the Real Standard

Mark GrabanByMark Graban July 6, 2026 449
kainexus logging mistakes and failures

Eiji Toyoda on Mistakes: Give Your All, Then Write It Down

Mark GrabanByMark Graban July 1, 2026 878
cartoon illustration of a team member pulling an andon cord

No, One Toyota Worker Can’t Stop the Whole Factory

Mark GrabanByMark Graban June 29, 2026 1535

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

A Ten-Minute Talk on “Practicing Lean” – And an Update on the Book

A Ten-Minute Talk on “Practicing Lean” – And an Update on the Book

ByMark Graban August 1, 2017 Comment (0) 1192
I was invited to give a talk at a gathering of improvement teams and Kaizen Promotion Offices within...
Do you need to make it mandatory to participate in continuous improvement?

Do you need to make it mandatory to participate in continuous improvement?

ByMark Graban July 20, 2017 Comments (14) 1860
Every month or two, Greg Jacobson, MD and I have an “Ask Us Anything” video discussion...
3 Nice Videos About Kaizen (Continuous Improvement) in Various Industries

3 Nice Videos About Kaizen (Continuous Improvement) in Various Industries

ByMark Graban June 5, 2017 Comments (2) 6817
There are many helpful videos on YouTube with great illustrations of Kaizen and continuous...

Mark Graban on YouTube

"Great idea. Why don't you run with it?" Leaders mean it as trust. To the employee, it often means a second job on top of the first. At a fireside chat in Cleveland, Tennessee, someone asked me about the employee who keeps an idea to themselves because they figure they'll be stuck doing the work. It looks like fear. I think it's futility: they've learned what usually happens next. 🔵 Why "run with it" can turn an idea into unpaid extra work 🔵 When handing someone their own idea is a real opportunity, and when it isn't 🔵 The late Kim Barnas's rule: don't assign the follow-up to the person who raised the concern 🔵 Two questions to ask before you hand an idea back My upcoming book, The Silence Tax, is about the fear and futility that keep people quiet at work. Early chapters are on Leanpub: https://leanpub.com/silence-tax #Leadership #PsychologicalSafety #ContinuousImprovement #Lean #Shorts
Why Your Employees Stop Sharing Ideas (It's Not Fear)
Do we want to be right, or help others change? This speaker reel connects psychological safety, problem-solving, and continuous improvement. I’m Mark Graban, an author, speaker, and consultant. In these keynote clips, I discuss stories from Toyota and a comparison with Ford to explore how leadership and culture shape people’s willingness to speak up. The clips cover: - Responding constructively when mistakes happen - Combining psychological safety with practical problem-solving - Modeling vulnerability and rewarding people for speaking up Planning a conference, leadership meeting, or workshop? Let’s discuss your audience and goals. Speaking topics: https://www.markgraban.com/speaking/topics/ Booking inquiries: https://www.markgraban.com/speaking/book-mark/
Mark Graban Speaker Reel | Psychological Safety & Leadership
A patient was supposed to undergo surgery for a right-sided inguinal hernia. But the incision was made on the left side. Dr. David Mayer, then a senior anesthesia resident, recalls how the operating room team moved quickly into the procedure while everyone focused on their own responsibilities. About two minutes after the incision, the attending surgeon entered the room, looked at the patient, and asked: “I thought this was a right-sided inguinal hernia?” That was the moment the team realized what had happened. In this clip from *My Favorite Mistake*, Dr. Mayer describes the wrong-site surgery that became a defining experience in his career—and helped shape his commitment to patient safety, transparency, and learning from medical errors. The larger lesson isn’t simply “be more careful.” It’s to understand how systems, communication, time pressure, teamwork, and culture can allow an error to reach a patient. Full episode: **The Surgical Mistake That Changed a Doctor’s Life: Dr. David Mayer on Honesty and Patient Safety** #PatientSafety #MedicalErrors #Healthcare #Leadership #SurgicalSafety #MyFavoriteMistake
Wrong-Site Surgery: The Mistake Discovered Mid-Procedure
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