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Creating a Continuous Improvement System in Accounting: Nick Katko on PDCA, Culture, and Psychological Safety Signals & Levers: Elisabeth Hendrickson and Joel Tosi on Change Theater, Open Loops, and Systems Thinking for Software Teams How Toyota Turned Around Its Kentucky Plant: Darril Wilburn on Leadership
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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

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...
Interview with Bella Englebach on The Edges of Lean and More

Interview with Bella Englebach on The Edges of Lean and More

ByMark Graban February 16, 2022 1831
Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #440 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Bella Englebach, the Lead Consultant at her firm “Lean for Humans.”...
Prof. Elliott Weiss on Steph Curry Tweaking His 3-Point Shot and Not Reacting to Noise in Other Settings

Prof. Elliott Weiss on Steph Curry Tweaking His 3-Point Shot and Not Reacting to Noise in Other Settings

ByMark Graban February 8, 2022 2576
Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #439 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Elliott Weiss, the Oliver Wight Professor Emeritus of Business Administration...
Steel Toes and Stilettos, an Interview with Kathy Miller and Shannon Karels

Steel Toes and Stilettos, an Interview with Kathy Miller and Shannon Karels

ByMark Graban February 1, 2022 2291
Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guests for Episode #438 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast are Shannon Karels and Kathy Miller, the authors of the recently released book...

More Blog Posts

Cross-sectional CT scan image of spine showing disc degeneration, shared via patient portal because physical CD had not yet arrived

Healthcare in 2026: Still Faxing, Already Talking About AI

Mark GrabanByMark Graban March 3, 2026 1208
TL;DR: Three stories from a single day highlight a familiar pattern in healthcare technology: a pharmacy text message with the wrong hours that nobody has fixed, medical imaging that has to be mailed...
Two speech bubbles side by side: one contains a bulleted list, the other contains a question mark.

Why a Lean Coach Asks Questions Instead of Giving Answers

Mark GrabanByMark Graban March 1, 2026 784
A split illustration of two open books on a wooden desk with a stethoscope. The left book shows a cloud of random floating letters forming a cloud, with diffuse light. The right book shows structured bulleted text flowing through a mechanical spine into an organized outline with a light beam. A bookshelf is in the blurred background. Modern digital style with teal and warm tones.

Why I Built My Own AI Instead of Telling You to Use ChatGPT

Mark GrabanByMark Graban February 28, 2026 786
Japanese-style graphic depicting the human-centric side of Lean production. An AI character explains to a student that true Lean means eliminating waste while protecting jobs ("No Layoffs"), represented by a collaborative team icon and a "Kaizen" whiteboard.

“How Do I Use Lean to Reduce Headcount?” — Why ChatGPT’s Answer Should Worry You

Mark GrabanByMark Graban February 26, 2026 1572
fujio cho speech standardized work lean TPS

Fujio Cho on Standardized Work: The Foundation for Improvement, Not Control

Mark GrabanByMark Graban February 25, 2026 1791

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 Waiting Room” Documentary – a Virtual Gemba Visit (of Sorts) on PBS

“The Waiting Room” Documentary – a Virtual Gemba Visit (of Sorts) on PBS

ByMark Graban October 26, 2013 Comment (0) 752
PBS has aired a documentary about an Emergency Department in East Oakland, CA.  You can visit the...
Lean Healthcare Discussed on Cincinnati Local TV News

Lean Healthcare Discussed on Cincinnati Local TV News

ByMark Graban September 29, 2013 Comment (0) 1004
I've partnered up with the Ohio-based non-profit consulting group, TechSolve, over the past few...
Weekend Fun: An Example of Poor Problem Solving

Weekend Fun: An Example of Poor Problem Solving

ByMark Graban August 30, 2013 Comments (7) 1961
Here's a funny ESPN commercial featuring PGA golfer Rickie Fowler. Fowler is pouring coffee, yet he...

Mark Graban on YouTube

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
How did Toyota’s Georgetown, Kentucky plant go from needing to build almost 90% of its capacity just to break even, to a much healthier 60%? Former Toyota team member Darril Wilburn, co-author with Hiro Yoshiki of Courage, Humility, Kaizen: The Three Disciplines of Toyota Leadership, tells the inside story. We talk about the andon cord myth, “healthy paranoia,” why Toyota never talked about being number one, sending managers back through jishuken, why every VP’s first A3 was sent back by design, and why doing TPS was never the point. Full episode page, links, show notes, and transcript: https://leanblog.org/551 What you’ll learn: 🔵 What really happens when someone pulls the andon cord 🔵 Why psychological safety at Toyota includes being challenged 🔵 How “healthy paranoia” keeps an organization from getting complacent 🔵 How TMMK cut its break-even point from nearly 90% to 60% 🔵 Why Hiro Yoshiki rejected blame and focused on equipping people to succeed 🔵 How Toyota turned its masters’ know-how into teachable curriculum 🔵 Why humility had to be built into how executives were developed Chapters: 00:00 Introducing Darril Wilburn and Courage, Humility, Kaizen 01:47 How Darril met Hiro Yoshiki 05:52 The andon cord myth 07:59 How andon escalation actually works 11:35 Building psychological safety before line-off 13:23 Respect for humanity includes challenge 15:56 Healthy paranoia 18:36 Why Toyota didn’t talk about being number one 20:03 Toyota’s careful entry into the U.S. 22:36 Rapid expansion and a 90% break-even point 24:47 The turnaround: from 90% to 60% 25:39 No blame 27:00 Pulling wisdom out of the masters 30:36 Why expertise had to be dragged out 33:52 Breaking the cycle of rescue teams 35:11 Jishuken and the humility to relearn 37:04 Straight talk instead of spin 40:35 Hiro, not heroes 42:52 Formal and informal communication 46:08 Can you help someone become more humble? 47:42 Every VP sent back on the first A3 51:07 “Doing TPS was never the point” 52:32 Toyota is a business 53:48 Stop counting kaizens when you’re losing money 54:36 Closing Subscribe to Lean Blog Interviews for more conversations on Lean, leadership, continuous improvement, and psychological safety: http://leancast.org/ #Toyota #LeanManagement #ToyotaWay #Kaizen #Leadership #ContinuousImprovement #PsychologicalSafety
Toyota’s Kentucky Turnaround: Courage, Humility, Kaizen | Darril Wilburn
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