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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 Dyer on “The Facade of Excellence” and Why Fear Undermines Leadership

John Dyer on “The Facade of Excellence” and Why Fear Undermines Leadership

ByMark Graban September 23, 2019 1964
My guest for episode #349 is John Dyer, president of his consulting firm, John Dyer & Associates, Inc., and author of the new book, The Façade of Excellence: Defining a New Normal of Leadership...
How Cleveland Clinic Uses Daily Tiered Huddles to Drive Lean, Accountability, and Learning

How Cleveland Clinic Uses Daily Tiered Huddles to Drive Lean, Accountability, and Learning

ByMark Graban September 17, 2019 3213
Cleveland Clinic's daily tiered huddles are not just short meetings–they're a Lean management system that connects front-line realities to executive decision-making in real time. By combining...
Podcast #347 — Brad Parsons, Hospital CEO & Co-Author of “Creating an Effective Management System”

Podcast #347 — Brad Parsons, Hospital CEO & Co-Author of “Creating an Effective Management System”

ByMark Graban September 9, 2019 1646
Our guest today for Episode 347 is Brad Parsons, the CEO of NEA Baptist, in Jonesboro, Arkansas. NEA Baptist is a 228-bed hospital and 140-provider medical group serving northeast Arkansas —...
Podcast #346 — Mark Ryan, Transformation, Kaizen, and Management at Franciscan St. Francis Health

Podcast #346 — Mark Ryan, Transformation, Kaizen, and Management at Franciscan St. Francis Health

ByMark Graban August 24, 2019 1583
Joining me for Episode 346 of the podcast is Mark Ryan, a Transformation Coach and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt at Franciscan Health. Mark will be one of the hosts and facilitators at our upcoming...

More Blog Posts

What’s Your Organization’s Real Mistake Policy? [Poll]

What’s Your Organization’s Real Mistake Policy? [Poll]

Mark GrabanByMark Graban July 17, 2025 928
Your organization already has a mistake policy–it just might not be the one you think it is. Most companies say they support learning and continuous improvement. But here's the real test: What...

Why ‘Red Isn’t Bad’ Is the Wrong Mindset for Performance Metrics

Mark GrabanByMark Graban July 14, 2025 2238

Kakorrhaphiophobia: Why Fear of Failure at Work Is Often Rational

Mark GrabanByMark Graban July 14, 2025 2628

Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape: July 11, 2025

Ryan McCormackByRyan McCormack July 11, 2025 4937

Feedback Theater: Going Through the Motions Without Meaning It

Mark GrabanByMark Graban July 10, 2025 1019

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

A Thoughtful Commencement Message from Stephen Colbert

A Thoughtful Commencement Message from Stephen Colbert

ByMark Graban June 20, 2011 Comments (2) 1723
I'm a proud graduate of Northwestern University, industrial engineering class of 1995. Our '95...
Introducing Dr. Les Muda: The World’s First Lean Healthcare Comedian

Introducing Dr. Les Muda: The World’s First Lean Healthcare Comedian

ByMark Graban June 15, 2011 Comments (5) 1998
In today's post, I'm happy to introduce Dr. Les Muda, the World's First Lean Healthcare Comedian...

Summit 2011: Lean Transformation Videos from St. Boniface Hospital

ByMark Graban June 9, 2011 Comment (0) 847
We had a great first day at our Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit in Seattle (with lots of...

Mark Graban on YouTube

An ICU nurse was asked to run a hospital laboratory she knew nothing about, right as consultants arrived to cut costs. Four months in, she was sure saying yes had been a mistake. Stephanie Mitchell explains what changed her mind, and what she learned about leading people whose work you could never do yourself. 🔵 Why leading experts starts with admitting you are not one 🔵 What separates real cost reduction from an across-the-board 10 percent cut 🔵 Why a written no-layoff commitment was a condition of the consulting contract 🔵 How faster lab turnaround times helped the hospital avoid building an ER expansion 🔵 The five separate checks that stop one human error from reaching a patient 🔵 What David Mann meant by embracing a mistake instead of looking away from it 🔵 Why the people who never ask questions were the ones she worried about Chapters (approximate, pending verification against the published video): 00:00 Meeting again 20 years later 01:43 The favorite mistake: saying yes to the lab 05:01 Leading people who know more than you 09:48 Cutting costs the right way 13:54 The no-layoff promise 16:52 Turnaround times and the ER expansion they skipped 21:15 Convincing a skeptical CEO 24:35 Building the lean team 28:34 Five checks in the blood bank 33:18 Embracing the mistake Stephanie Mitchell, RN, BSN, MBA, retired as Director of Lean Process Improvement and Laboratory Services at Riverside Medical Center in Kankakee, Illinois, where she led the laboratory for 20 years. Full episode page: https://markgraban.com/mistake367 Host Mark Graban is a consultant, speaker, and the author of The Mistakes That Make Us. Subscribe for new episodes of My Favorite Mistake every week. #MyFavoriteMistake #Leadership #Healthcare #Lean #ContinuousImprovement #PsychologicalSafety
They Asked a Nurse to Run the Hospital Lab | Stephanie Mitchell
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
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