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

Ryan Weiss on Training Within Industry (TWI), Lean Leadership, and Performance

Ryan Weiss on Training Within Industry (TWI), Lean Leadership, and Performance

ByMark Graban May 18, 2021 2031
Scroll down for video, how to subscribe, video, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #414 of the Lean Blog Interviews podcast is Ryan Weiss. He is president of his firm Effective Performance...
Why NHS Leaders Should Stop Spuddling: Samantha Riley on Making Data Count

Why NHS Leaders Should Stop Spuddling: Samantha Riley on Making Data Count

ByMark Graban May 11, 2021 3463
Scroll down for video, how to subscribe, video, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #413 of the Lean Blog Interviews podcast is Samantha Riley, the Deputy Director of Intensive Support for NHS...
Managing Supply Chain Shockwaves: Lean, Just-in-Time, and Customer Profitability with Dr. Jonathan Byrnes

Managing Supply Chain Shockwaves: Lean, Just-in-Time, and Customer Profitability with Dr. Jonathan Byrnes

ByMark Graban May 4, 2021 2429
Scroll down for video, how to subscribe, video, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #412 of the Lean Blog Interviews podcast is Dr. Jonathan Byrnes, the co-author of the new book Choose Your...
Women in Lean: Raising Voices, Building Community, and Creating a Seat at the Table

Women in Lean: Raising Voices, Building Community, and Creating a Seat at the Table

ByMark Graban April 27, 2021 2277
With Founding Mothers Crystal Davis, Karyn Ross, and Dorsey Sherman My guests for Episode #411 are the co-founders, or “founding mothers,” of the group “Women In Lean: Our...

More Blog Posts

Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape: November 14, 2025

Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape: November 14, 2025

Ryan McCormackByRyan McCormack November 14, 2025 4931
This edition of Ryan McCormack's Operational Excellence Mixtape focuses on what real, sustainable improvement actually requires: leadership commitment, respect for people, and disciplined learning...

AI as a Thought Partner in Kaizen: Small PDSA Tests and Real Learning

Mark GrabanByMark Graban November 13, 2025 5222

From Firefighting to Flow — Darren Walsh on Lean Leadership Routines That Sustain Results

Mark GrabanByMark Graban November 12, 2025 3322

From Coffee Filters to Culture: How Sister Martha Ann Sparked a Kaizen Movement

Mark GrabanByMark Graban November 11, 2025 1089

Larry Culp on Lean Leadership: Why Safety and Respect for People Come First

Mark GrabanByMark Graban November 10, 2025 3810

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

Videos: Lean in Daily Work at the University of Michigan Health System

Videos: Lean in Daily Work at the University of Michigan Health System

ByMark Graban August 28, 2012 Comment (0) 1272
If your organization blocks access to YouTube… shame on them. The videos I'm sharing here are...
Slides & Recording of My “Healthcare Kaizen” Webinar – “The Suggestion Box is Dead.”

Slides & Recording of My “Healthcare Kaizen” Webinar – “The Suggestion Box is Dead.”

ByMark Graban August 22, 2012 Comments (2) 1616
Thanks to Karen Martin for hosting yesterday's webinar that I gave based on my book (with Joe...
Paul O’Neill Talks ThedaCare, Lean Healthcare on CNBC

Paul O’Neill Talks ThedaCare, Lean Healthcare on CNBC

ByMark Graban August 22, 2012 Comments (3) 1122
Here is about five minutes of video (no longer available, sadly) of Paul O'Neill (former CEO of...

Mark Graban on YouTube

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
Carl Pradelli and his wife Beth were about a year and a half into building Nature City when the Home Shopping Network offered to co-brand a skincare line with them. Eighteen months of work, a great product, packaging designed, launch date set. Then the first production run came back from the contract manufacturer -- and the formula was wrong. Ingredients meant to be at five percent came in at one. Ingredients meant to be at one came in at five. The women who had tested the original samples said the product no longer worked. Episode page with links and more: http://markgraban.com/mistake362 The manufacturer had been an acquaintance of a partner. Carl had visited, checked the certifications, and assumed the rest. When he brought the batch records back to them, they did not offer to remake it. They tried to convince him it was not that bad. Then their accounting department called about the invoice. In this episode of My Favorite Mistake, Carl talks about what he now does differently on any decision that can make or break the business, why he has used the same manufacturer for over 20 years instead of putting every job out to bid, and how he handles it when someone on his own team makes a mistake. What you will learn: 🔵 Why a contract manufacturer is a partner, not an order filler -- and how to tell the difference before you place an order 🔵 The difference between checking credentials and doing real due diligence 🔵 What it tells you when a supplier argues about the severity instead of fixing the problem 🔵 Why quoting every job to three vendors quietly costs more than it saves 🔵 How low barriers to entry reshaped the supplement industry over the last decade 🔵 Where fraud can enter a supply chain -- supplier, manufacturer, and brand owner 🔵 Why Nature City's 365-day guarantee lowered return rates instead of raising them 🔵 Carl's distinction between a mistake made with good intentions and one made twice 🔵 Why fixing the process beats telling people to be more careful Chapters: 00:00 Meet Carl Pradelli and Nature City 01:14 The favorite mistake: a co-branded launch with HSN 02:16 Picking a contract manufacturer on a referral 03:00 Warning signs from the early testers 03:41 What the batch records revealed 04:56 A manufacturer should be a partner, not an order taker 07:00 When a supplier will not own the mistake 08:49 Doing your own due diligence on make-or-break decisions 11:15 Why the cheapest supplier is rarely the cheapest 13:44 Regulation, low barriers, and a flood of new brands 24:12 Where fraud enters the supply chain 26:31 US manufacturing and knowing who made your product 30:08 Leaving private equity to start Nature City 32:41 Empowering employees to make customers happy 34:39 The 365-day guarantee that lowered returns 37:44 What to do when an employee makes a mistake 39:43 Fixing the process instead of saying "be more careful" About the guest: Carl Pradelli is co-founder and CEO of Nature City, a direct-to-consumer nutritional supplements company he and his wife Beth started in 2002. Before becoming an entrepreneur, he spent 12 years in investment banking and private equity focused on consumer goods. He holds an MBA from the Wharton School and a BS from NYU. Nature City: https://www.naturecity.com Subscribe for new episodes of My Favorite Mistake, where leaders share the mistakes that taught them the most -- and what they do differently now. More at https://www.markgraban.com/mistake362 #MyFavoriteMistake #Leadership #SupplyChain #DueDiligence #Entrepreneurship #QualityManagement #SupplierRelationships #ContinuousImprovement #LearningFromMistakes #Podcast
The Supplier Mistake That Sank a Major Launch | Carl Pradelli
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