Popular Posts
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
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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

Michele Smith on Winning the People Side of Lean Transformation

Michele Smith on Winning the People Side of Lean Transformation

ByMark Graban March 29, 2022 1729
Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #444 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Michele Smith. She is CEO and an Executive Coach with her firm Better...
Nicole Tschierske: Lean Reduces Stress and Burnout in the Workplace

Nicole Tschierske: Lean Reduces Stress and Burnout in the Workplace

ByMark Graban March 15, 2022 1803
Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #443 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Dr. Nicole Tschierske, a scientist and positive psychology coach who helps...
Crystal Davis on Courageous Leadership and Pandemic Supply Chains

Crystal Davis on Courageous Leadership and Pandemic Supply Chains

ByMark Graban March 1, 2022 2109
Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #442 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Crystal Davis, the Founder, CEO & Principal Lean Practitioner at her firm, The...
John Dues on Continual Improvement, Deming, and Process Behavior Charts in Education

John Dues on Continual Improvement, Deming, and Process Behavior Charts in Education

ByMark Graban February 22, 2022 2483
Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #441 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is John Dues, an accomplished education systems leader and improvement science...

More Blog Posts

ge annual report ceo letter tape

Larry Culp’s 2025 CEO Letter: Why Safety and Lean Leadership Drive GE Aerospace’s Results

Mark GrabanByMark Graban February 2, 2026 3606
TL;DR: Larry Culp's GE Aerospace CEO letter is a rare example of Lean leadership in practice, showing how safety, Respect for People, and small frontline improvements–not slogans or...
ray zinn CEO mistakes failure

Ray Zinn on Learning from Mistakes — and Why “Fail Fast, Fail Often” Misses the Point

Mark GrabanByMark Graban February 1, 2026 1229
1981 newspaper headlines showing mixed reactions to Ford and UAW learning from Japanese auto plants

What Ford and the UAW Saw in Japan in 1981 — and Why Some Leaders Missed the Lesson

Mark GrabanByMark Graban January 28, 2026 1037
Automated valet request process contrasted with personal hotel valet service, highlighting added steps and waste.

When “AI Improvement” Adds Waste Instead of Value: A Hotel Valet Example

Mark GrabanByMark Graban January 28, 2026 905
lean blame toyota learning mistakes japan graban

You Can’t Punish Your Way to Pride: Deming, Toyota, and Learning from Mistakes

Mark GrabanByMark Graban January 27, 2026 1082

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

Weekend Fun: Lean in a British Hospital Soap Opera

Weekend Fun: Lean in a British Hospital Soap Opera

ByMark Graban February 9, 2014 Comments (3) 1216
Hat tip to Paul Levy for sharing this video originally in his blog post. Here is the video (you just...
Super Bowl Commercial: American Factories? You Can’t Do That! Really?

Super Bowl Commercial: American Factories? You Can’t Do That! Really?

ByMark Graban February 4, 2014 Comments (8) 1318
I'm a bit of a counter-culturalist when it comes to the hype about Super Bowl commercials being...
Parody Video – Two Great Tastes that Taste Great Together

Parody Video – Two Great Tastes that Taste Great Together

ByMark Graban January 31, 2014 Comment (1) 899
Next class: Boston, May 20, 2015 I was thinking yesterday about the “Lean for Knowledge...

Mark Graban on YouTube

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
Michael Chaleff spent a year working as a restaurant magician before law school, in rooms where something went wrong almost every night. In his first week, he opened his best card routine with "imagine you have a deck of cards in your hands," and the woman at the head of the table said, "I don't have hands." He lost the ability to speak. The rule he took from that year: the sin is not the mistake, the sin is what you do after it. 🔵 Why the recovery, not the error, is what an audience actually judges you on 🔵 How a mistake can be something you didn't cause but are still responsible for handling 🔵 What "don't draw attention to your mistake" means for a performer, and where it stops being useful for a leader 🔵 Why anticipating the ways a moment can go wrong is a skill you build before you need it 🔵 What cross-examination teaches about never asking a question blind 🔵 Why giving people more facts makes your case weaker, not stronger 🔵 The four-act structure for micro storytelling, and the fourth act Michael added himself Michael Chaleff served as a Naval officer during the Gulf War, went on to become a DOJ trial attorney, and has performed as a professional magician and mentalist for more than three decades. He now delivers keynotes and workshops on influence and storytelling through Practical Influence. Practical Influence: https://www.practicalinfluence.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-chaleff-9269305/ Full show notes and transcript: https://markgraban.com/mistake363 Subscribe for new episodes of My Favorite Mistake, where leaders share what they got wrong and what they learned. Chapters 00:00 Meet Michael Chaleff 00:54 A year as a restaurant magician 03:31 The card routine, performed live 07:41 "I don't have hands" 10:25 When the mistake isn't yours 13:36 The sin is not the mistake 19:30 Never ask a question you don't know the answer to 29:25 The four-act structure for micro storytelling 38:27 The book in progress
What Magicians Know About Mistakes | Michael Chaleff
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