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)

A Discussion with Amanda Zimmerman and Dominic Stokes on “Squishy Lean”

ByMark Graban August 23, 2023 2478

Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guests for Episode #483 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast are Amanda Zimmerman and Dominic Stokes, two Lean Six Sigma professionals who...

Interview with “Kata Girl Geek” Gemma Jones on Lean, Improvement, and Mental Health

ByMark Graban August 9, 2023 2456

Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #482 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Gemma Jones. Gemma is an Improvement Coach, Trainer, and Visual Facilitator...

George Saiz on “We Started With Respect” and His Career Focused on Improvement

ByMark Graban July 26, 2023 2494

Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #481 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is George Saiz. As a coach, writer, and speaker, George Saiz actively promotes...

Paul Critchley Interviews Mark Graban About “The Mistakes That Make Us”

ByMark Graban July 12, 2023 1883

Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more For Episode #480 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast turns the tables, as regular host Mark Graban is interviewed today by a guest host, his...

A yellow andon cord stretches horizontally across the upper part of an empty factory interior, slightly slack and attached to a dark overhead beam. Below it, a large expanse of smooth concrete floor and muted gray walls creates generous open space, while a softly blurred production line runs along the right side. Natural overhead light and subdued editorial color grading give the scene a calm, documentary feel.

New Book Announcement: Psychological Safety for Lean Leaders — Vote on the Title

ByMark Graban April 22, 2026 590

I haven't said much about this here yet, so consider this the announcement. I'm writing a new book. It's a practical guide for Lean leaders, continuous improvement professionals, and anyone who's ever...

Empty conference room with whiteboard covered in a fishbone diagram and sticky notes, chairs pushed back after a meeting

Why You Can’t Think Your Way to a Root Cause

ByMark Graban April 22, 2026 1264

Lean Blog Post Cover Image - 2026-04-17T070148.509

Staff Had Concerns: What a Surgeon’s Manslaughter Charge Tells Us About Speaking Up

ByMark Graban April 21, 2026 766

Yellow diamond warning sign on a pole showing a cyclist flying over handlebars after hitting streetcar tracks, along the Ohio River in Cincinnati

Warning: Signs! Mistake-Proofing Is More Effective Than Warnings

ByMark Graban April 20, 2026 779

Lean Blog Post Cover Image - 2026-04-18T075308.059

Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape: April 17, 2026

ByRyan McCormack April 18, 2026 4243

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...

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

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

April 28, 2025

Recently, I had the pleasure of moderating a webinar titled “Driving a Culture of Transforming...

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)

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

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

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

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

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

August 20, 2024

Psychological safety is often described as “feeling safe to speak up.” In Lean...

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...

See How a British Psychiatrist is Using LEGO Videos to Explain Lean Healthcare

ByMark Graban July 21, 2015 Comment (0) 1468

A collection of creative videos was recently brought to my attention and I'd like to share them...

What’s a Kanban System? This Video From Saskatchewan Provides a Great Overview

ByMark Graban June 8, 2015 Comments (11) 1958

Today, I'm sharing a 10-minute video that was shared by the Five Hills Health Region within the...

Safety Huddles in Healthcare: How Daily Huddles Improve Patient Safety

ByMark Graban May 13, 2015 Comments (5) 2391

Following up on yesterday's post on seemingly successful experiments with ACOs, here's another...

Mark Graban on YouTube

The Toyota andon cord allows a team member to signal a problem and request help without immediately stopping the production line.

Pulling the cord activates a light and calls the team leader to the workstation. If the problem can be resolved before the vehicle reaches a fixed stopping point, production continues. If it cannot, that section of the line stops.

This animation was AI-generated from still images taken from a Toyota video. It is a reconstructed demonstration, not original footage of the action or an official Toyota production.

The andon system gives team members both the ability and the obligation to call attention to problems so the team can respond before defects continue downstream.

#Andon #ToyotaProductionSystem #Lean #Kaizen #ContinuousImprovement #AIGenerated

Read more about andon: https://www.leanblog.org/2012/11/andon-cords-toyota-takaota-speaking-up/

Toyota Andon Cord Explained: How It Works

When someone makes a mistake, most managers say the same thing: be more careful next time. There's a Japanese term for why that almost never works.

Poka-yoke means mistake-proofing. It rests on one uncomfortable truth -- telling people to be more careful isn't a countermeasure. It's just asking them to try harder at something they were already trying at.

So poka-yoke changes the question. Not "how do we get people to stop making this mistake," but "how do we design the work so this mistake is hard, or impossible, to make in the first place?"

In this short: the part that only fits one way, the loom Sakichi Toyoda built before Toyota made cars, and why mistake-proofing is a more respectful idea than it first appears.

More on Lean leadership, psychological safety, and continuous improvement at LeanBlog.org.

#PokaYoke #MistakeProofing #Lean #ContinuousImprovement #LeanManufacturing #Leadership #Quality #OperationalExcellence #Kaizen #ProcessImprovement

"Be More Careful" Is Not a Real Countermeasure

Why 85% of Us Avoid Hard Conversations | Dr. Jonathan Thorp