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GE Aerospace’s Greenville Plant Proves Larry Culp’s “Safety First” Wasn’t Just Talk An Insulin Error Killed a Hospital Patient. How Does Every Other Hospital Learn From It? “Most People Wouldn’t”: Fear, Gratitude, and Reporting Medical Errors Larry Culp on Success Theater, Embracing Red, and the GE Turnaround What If Every Hospital Learned From Every Other Hospital’s Safety Incidents? Four Patients Got the Wrong Drug in Nashville. Ask a Better Question. Toyota Doesn’t Call It Lean? Its Own Websites Say Otherwise Ten Psychological Safety Outcomes, and What They Do and Don’t Prove The Independent Double Check and the Risk of Human Error Somebody Pulled the Cord and the Chairman of Radiology Showed Up
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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

Lean Transformation: Revolutionizing the Housing Industry with Mike Kaeding

Lean Transformation: Revolutionizing the Housing Industry with Mike Kaeding

ByMark Graban October 4, 2023 2534
Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #486 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Mike Kaeding, the CEO of Norhart. They design, build, and rent apartments. They...
Lean Interview with Erica Lee Garcia on Navigating Change, Suggestion Programs, and Much More

Lean Interview with Erica Lee Garcia on Navigating Change, Suggestion Programs, and Much More

ByMark Graban September 20, 2023 2831
Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #485 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Erica Lee Garcia, a perfect blend of problem solver, leader, and entrepreneur...
Reflections on GE’s Lean Mindset Event: Learning, Leadership, and Culture

Reflections on GE’s Lean Mindset Event: Learning, Leadership, and Culture

ByMark Graban September 12, 2023 5615
This bonus episode captures an unscripted, post-event conversation with Jim Womack, Katie Anderson, Jamie V. Parker, and Mark Graban reflecting on GE's “Lean Mindset” event. Together, we...
Interview with Keith Ingels on Developing Your People and Making Lean /TPS Your Own

Interview with Keith Ingels on Developing Your People and Making Lean /TPS Your Own

ByMark Graban September 6, 2023 2869
Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #484 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Keith Ingels, who previously joined us in Episode 390. He's the RLM Manager of...

More Blog Posts

Person hesitating in a corporate hallway outside an open office door with bright fluorescent light spilling through the doorway.

What Can a CI Director Do When Executives Undermine Psychological Safety?

Mark GrabanByMark Graban April 15, 2026 869
I get this question a lot. Some version of it comes up at nearly every conference Q&A, in coaching calls, and in emails from CI practitioners. Sometimes it's about an executive who blames people...
An anime-style illustration shows a young man with brown hair and a light green uniform coverall and cap, standing behind a complex control panel in a large, dimly lit room. He has a shocked and fearful expression, with his hands clasped over his mouth, staring out with wide eyes. Numerous computer screens, some displaying green vector-style diagrams and text, are visible in the background along with a few desktop and laptop computers and various buttons and switches. A logo with the text "LEAN BLOG" inside a curved arrow graphic is in the top right corner. The perspective is from the other side of the main control desk.

The “Safety Myth” That Almost Destroyed Half of Japan — And What It Has to Do With Your Organization

Mark GrabanByMark Graban April 13, 2026 1069
Lean Blog Post Cover Image - 2026-03-31T111104.370

Lean Leadership: Why Asking Questions Is Harder Than Having All the Answers

Mark GrabanByMark Graban April 13, 2026 771
question mark and slips of paper with WHY on them

Even Ohno’s Classic “5 Whys” Example Deserves Another Why

Mark GrabanByMark Graban April 9, 2026 1350
Illustration of a corporate conveyor belt where an employee feeds a document into an AI Summary machine, a manager feeds the output into an AI Evaluator machine, and the final performance review drops into a recycling bin.

Don’t Use AI to Automate a Bad Process — Including Performance Reviews

Mark GrabanByMark Graban April 8, 2026 1686

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

The NBC Report That Changed Quality Management: Deming in ‘If Japan Can, Why Can’t We?’ (1980)

The NBC Report That Changed Quality Management: Deming in ‘If Japan Can, Why Can’t We?’ (1980)

ByMark Graban November 22, 2015 Comments (14) 4019
The W. Edwards Deming Institute and Dr. Deming's grandson Kevin Cahill worked with NBC to make the...
This 1946 GM Video Promoting Time & Motion Study is Dated Yet Current

This 1946 GM Video Promoting Time & Motion Study is Dated Yet Current

ByMark Graban September 10, 2015 Comments (9) 1511
For today’s Throwback Thursday, I somehow stumbled across this video on YouTube it’s a video from...
Parody Video: Keith Olber-Lean and the “Worst Persons in the Lean World.”

Parody Video: Keith Olber-Lean and the “Worst Persons in the Lean World.”

ByMark Graban July 27, 2015 Comments (3) 1575
In this post, I'll present a parody video of Keith Olbermann‘s “worst persons in the...

Mark Graban on YouTube

The silence tax is what an organization pays when people stop speaking candidly. It never appears as a line on the financial statements, which is exactly what makes it dangerous. In this clip I explain how the cost compounds. A quality problem nobody mentions gets past the process and reaches a customer. An issue nobody raises while it is small grows into an expensive one. The spending is real even though nothing on the P&L is labeled "silence." I also reference survey research estimating that poor management costs the U.S. economy more than $500 billion a year through turnover and lost productivity. That is a gut feeling on my part, but I suspect the estimate is low, since most organizations are paying some version of the silence tax right now. Watch the full interview: https://youtu.be/b4Z9RdjgTp8 🔵 What the silence tax is 🔵 Why it stays invisible to leaders 🔵 How small unspoken problems become costly ones 🔵 What poor management is estimated to cost the U.S. economy More on psychological safety and Lean leadership: https://www.leanblog.org
The Silence Tax: The Hidden Cost of People Not Speaking Up
Michael Chaleff spent his first week as a restaurant magician learning that things go wrong constantly in that job. Then a stranger said four words that took away his ability to speak for the first time in his adult life. 🔵 The line that stopped him cold 🔵 What actually happened next 🔵 Why he still remembers the shame decades later 🔵 The rule he built from that year: the sin isn't the mistake, it's what you do after Full episode: https://youtu.be/aHY6w449NZs
"I Don't Have Hands"
Is the "nice boss era" over? I joined Chris and Amy on KMOX in St. Louis to talk about tough bosses, why employees stay quiet, and what that silence costs. What we covered: - The difference between demanding and cruel, and why "kind" beats "nice" - Why the pendulum swings with the job market, and why both extremes backfire - Two kinds of bad boss: people promoted for the wrong reasons with no leadership training, and founders who never learn to ask - Why futility, not fear, is the most common reason people keep quiet - How to test the waters with one small, fact-based concern instead of a sweeping complaint - Whether it is safe to go to HR - The silence tax: a real cost that never appears on the financial statements 0:00 A bad boss bit, courtesy of Chris and Amy 0:57 Demanding versus cruel: a false trade-off 2:07 Is the nice boss era over? The pendulum and the job market 3:55 How common are cruel managers? 4:39 Two categories of bad boss 6:26 Fear versus futility 7:49 What to do when you cannot leave yet 8:34 Testing the waters with a small, specific issue 9:39 Can you trust HR? 13:06 What the silence tax is and what it costs 14:26 Setting goals without blaming people My next book, The Silence Tax: How Lean Leaders Can Drive Out Fear and Futility, is coming in early 2027. https://thesilencetaxbook.com/ Blog: https://www.leanblog.org Speaking and books: https://www.markgraban.com Podcast: My Favorite Mistake https://myfavoritemistakepodcast.com/
Is the Nice Boss Era Over? Fear, Futility, and the Silence Tax
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