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When Standard Work Isn’t Followed, Your Reaction Is the Real Standard What the First Twelve Years of Writing About Sports Taught Me About Leadership Toyota’s $20-an-Idea Experiment–and the Risk of Fixing the Wrong Problem Toyota’s 1992 View: Standardized Work and Kaizen Are Two Sides of the Same Coin Four Headers, Zero Metrics: An Empty Huddle Board in the ICU Hallway
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Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape: July 24, 2026

ByRyan McCormack July 24, 2026 Comment (0) 3760
Thanks, as always, to Ryan McCormack for this. He always shares so much good reading, listening, and...
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Four Headers, Zero Metrics: An Empty Huddle Board in the ICU Hallway

ByMark Graban July 23, 2026 Comment (0) 153
A worn photocopied training page titled “Standardized Work and Kaizen” lies on a production manager’s desk near a factory window. Around it are safety glasses, a notebook with handwritten shift notes, a pen, a travel mug, a desk phone, a walkie-talkie, and a clipboard with a daily production chart.

Toyota’s 1992 View: Standardized Work and Kaizen Are Two Sides of the Same Coin

ByMark Graban July 22, 2026 Comment (0) 205
japan kaizen board

A Kaizen Board in Japan, and a Manager Who Answered Every Sheet

ByMark Graban July 21, 2026 Comment (0) 349

Mark Graban

Welcome to my blog!

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

Podcast #329 – Mike Eisenberg, The Film “To Err is Human” and the Patient Safety Emergency

Podcast #329 – Mike Eisenberg, The Film “To Err is Human” and the Patient Safety Emergency

ByMark Graban January 21, 2019 2631
Joining me today for Episode #329 of the podcast is Mike Eisenberg, the director, editor, and producer of the film “To Err is Human,” a documentary about the incredibly important...
Podcast #328 – Bette Gardner and Jeff Heil, Friday Night at the ER

Podcast #328 – Bette Gardner and Jeff Heil, Friday Night at the ER

ByMark Graban January 15, 2019 1945
My guests for Episode #328 are Bette Gardner and Jeff Heil, of the company Breakthrough Learning. Bette is the creator of a fantastic simulation called “Friday Night at the ER” —...
Podcast #327 – Marc Rouppe van der Voort, Lean in Dutch Healthcare

Podcast #327 – Marc Rouppe van der Voort, Lean in Dutch Healthcare

ByMark Graban December 18, 2018 1670
My guest for Episode #327 of the podcast is Marc Rouppe van der Voort, Ph.D., who is joining me from Utrecht in the Netherlands. We first met back in 2009 when he invited me to come speak at a Dutch...
Podcast #326 – Katie Anderson on Lean Collaboration Within Healthcare and Beyond

Podcast #326 – Katie Anderson on Lean Collaboration Within Healthcare and Beyond

ByMark Graban December 11, 2018 1775
Joining me for the fourth time, here for Episode #326 of the podcast, is my friend and colleague Katie Anderson, a leadership coach, Lean consultant, speaker and writer from the San Francisco area...

More Blog Posts

How Chick-fil-A Uses Lean “Game Film” to Improve Drive-Thru Flow

How Chick-fil-A Uses Lean “Game Film” to Improve Drive-Thru Flow

Mark GrabanByMark Graban March 23, 2025 5710
TL;DR: Chick-fil-A improves drive-thru flow by using Lean thinking and “game film” to study the work, remove bottlenecks, and design better systems–while showing deep respect for...

Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape: March 21, 2025

Ryan McCormackByRyan McCormack March 21, 2025 5693

From Noise to Knowledge: Embracing Data-Driven Leadership – Christopher R. Chapman

Mark GrabanByMark Graban March 18, 2025 4653

The Problem With Arbitrary Targets: Real Improvement vs. Gaming the Numbers

Mark GrabanByMark Graban March 16, 2025 2510

Lean Coffee Talk #1 (Lean Whiskey #51): Starbucks, Honeywell, Tariffs, and Toyota

Mark GrabanByMark Graban March 14, 2025 7416

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

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Mark Graban on YouTube

In the middle of negotiating her way into Elizabeth Ledoux's business as a successor, Andrea Carpenter got news that changed the timeline: she was pregnant. Looking back, she doesn't call the pregnancy the mistake -- it was her rigidity, the insistence that the deal had to happen a certain way on a certain schedule. It's an honest look at what happens when a real life event collides with a fixed plan, and why flexibility matters as much in a business transition as any spreadsheet. Full episode: https://youtu.be/Y4KxmErxWy0 Subscribe for more conversations on leadership, mistakes, and learning without blame. #FamilyBusiness #Succession #Leadership #BusinessTransition
The Real Mistake Wasn't the Timing. It Was Refusing to Change the Plan | Andrea Carpenter
Most people think pulling Toyota's andon cord immediately stops the entire factory. It usually doesn't. Here's what actually happens, and why the real lesson isn't about the cord at all. Follow for more on Lean, leadership, and psychological safety. #Toyota #LeanManufacturing #AndonCord #ContinuousImprovement #Leadership
The Andon Cord Myth: Does One Worker Really Stop the Entire Line?
Only about a third of businesses make it into the next generation. Only about a third of businesses make it into the next generation. Elizabeth Ledoux explains what the successful ones do differently -- owners who plan early, develop the successor's skills, and treat the transition as a journey rather than a single closing date. She breaks down the small-business nuances, from cash flow to banking relationships, that a new owner has to actually understand to beat the odds. Full episode: https://youtu.be/Y4KxmErxWy0 Subscribe for more conversations on leadership, mistakes, and learning without blame. #Succession #FamilyBusiness #BusinessTransition #Leadership
Two-Thirds of Business Transitions Fail. Here's What Separates the Rest | Elizabeth Ledoux
"Lean is for speed, Six Sigma is for quality." You've heard it in training classes, certification courses, and all over LinkedIn. It's tidy, it's memorable -- and it's wrong about both. Toyota's system rests on two pillars: flow AND quality built in at the source. Quality isn't a side effect of Lean. It's half the structure. In this short, I break down where the myth comes from, why "making bad stuff faster" was never the goal, and the lesson a Toyota-trained plant manager taught me in 1996 that's stuck with me for 30 years. Speed and quality were never enemies. In a well-designed system, they're two sides of the same coin. More on Lean leadership, psychological safety, and continuous improvement at LeanBlog.org. #Lean #LeanManufacturing #SixSigma #ContinuousImprovement #Leadership #LeanSixSigma #OperationalExcellence #Toyota #ProcessImprovement #Kaizen
Lean Is NOT About Speed (Here's What Toyota Actually Says)
Toyota once paid employees $20 for every improvement idea. Employees quickly learned how to maximize the incentive—including one person who reportedly earned enough for a swimming pool. Norman Bodek explains why the answer was not to abandon employee ideas, but to fix the poorly designed reward system. People respond to the incentives leaders create. Watch the full episode: https://leanblog.org/1 #Shorts #Kaizen #Toyota #Lean #ContinuousImprovement #Incentives #NormanBodek
Toyota Paid $20 Per Idea—It Didn't Go Well
Most people want their idea to get an enthusiastic yes. Larry Kasanoff has learned to distrust it. When he pitches a movie and the room says "great idea, easy, no problem," he gets a little nervous -- because an idea everyone instantly approves is usually one that's been done before. When people tell him he's crazy and it'll never work, he feels something closer to calm. That reaction, to him, is a sign he might be onto something. There's a useful distinction buried in this, and Mark draws it out in the clip: being told an idea is a little crazy might actually be a warning -- a signal you've wandered into a bad bet. But being told it's really crazy, the kind that makes people worry about your career, can mean you've found something genuinely new. The easy, comfortable yes is the one to watch. This is worth holding loosely rather than as a rule. Plenty of bad ideas also get called crazy. The point isn't that resistance proves you're right -- it's that universal, instant agreement should make you ask whether you're actually doing anything new, or just reaching for everyone's safe second choice. 🔵 Why an enthusiastic yes can be a warning sign 🔵 The difference between "a little crazy" and "really crazy" 🔵 What strong resistance might be telling you 🔵 Why instant agreement often means the idea isn't new Larry Kasanoff is a film producer and studio head behind Terminator 2, True Lies, Mortal Kombat, and Platoon, and the author of A Touch of the Madness. From the My Favorite Mistake podcast with Mark Graban. Full video: https://youtu.be/Zx9IuIB2m0g #Leadership #Innovation #DecisionMaking #LarryKasanoff #MyFavoriteMistake #Shorts
When Everyone Loves Your Idea, Get Nervous | Larry Kasanoff
The phrase that became Larry Kasanoff's whole philosophy came from Oliver Stone, at a bar in New York. "Kid, I like you," Stone said. "You have a touch of the madness." Larry wasn't sure whether to take it as a compliment, until he looked at what had just happened around Platoon. His boss had a touch of the madness, handing an 80-picture slate to a 25-year-old with no track record. Oliver had it, insisting on a Vietnam movie when no one had made one that way. And Larry had it, gambling the best job he'd ever had on a single film. Then the bigger idea landed. The current of the river of life, as Larry puts it, always pulls you toward the middle -- toward the safe, the tried, the comfortable. Companies and people drift there without noticing. The trouble is that audiences, customers, the people you're trying to reach, want what's new and different, and the ones who keep swimming to the middle get eclipsed by the ones who don't. The way you fight that pull is by taking a real swing -- which takes a little bit of crazy. Not recklessness, but the willingness to back an unusual idea instead of settling for everyone's safe second choice. 🔵 Where the phrase "a touch of the madness" actually came from 🔵 Why people and organizations drift toward the middle without noticing 🔵 What that drift costs you when audiences want new and different 🔵 Why taking a big swing requires a little bit of crazy Larry Kasanoff is a film producer and studio head behind Terminator 2, True Lies, Mortal Kombat, and Platoon, and the author of A Touch of the Madness. From the My Favorite Mistake podcast with Mark Graban. Full video: https://youtu.be/Zx9IuIB2m0g #Leadership #Innovation #Creativity #LarryKasanoff #MyFavoriteMistake #Shorts
What Oliver Stone Meant by "A Touch of the Madness" | Larry Kasanoff
The Lean Blog Podcast began on July 16, 2006, with a conversation featuring my friend and mentor, Norman Bodek. To celebrate the podcast’s 20th anniversary, I’m revisiting highlights from that first episode. Norman explains why Quick and Easy Kaizen is different from a kaizen event, how employee ideas can generate substantial results, and why managers should ask questions instead of assuming they have all the answers. Norman also discusses: • Kaizen versus kaikaku • Employee suggestion systems • Trust and respect for people • Giving employees the freedom to improve their own work • A Gulfstream idea that saved thousands of hours • How poorly designed incentives encourage gaming • How one dismissive response can discourage future ideas • Why organizations overlook the knowledge of their own employees Norman passed away in 2020, but his influence continues through the people he taught, the books he wrote and published, and the ideas he helped introduce to a much wider audience. I remain incredibly grateful that he encouraged me to start this podcast and agreed to become its first guest. Listen to the complete original episode: https://leanblog.org/1 Learn more and explore additional episodes: https://www.leanblog.org/podcast #Lean #Kaizen #ContinuousImprovement #NormanBodek #Leadership #ToyotaProductionSystem #RespectForPeople #EmployeeEngagement #LeanManagement
20 Years of the Lean Blog Podcast: Norman Bodek on Kaizen and Employee Ideas
When Terminator 2 was made, it was the most expensive movie ever produced. The effects that defined it -- the liquid-metal T-1000 -- were theoretically possible, and James Cameron had proven the idea on a smaller scale, but nothing like it had ever been done at this size. The film became the dawn of the CGI era. Here is the part Larry Kasanoff finds most interesting, looking back. The studio didn't fully grasp the risk sitting inside those effects. The team was confident, but confidence is not the same as certainty -- and they genuinely did not know whether the effects would work until they saw the first finished shot, halfway through production. A record budget was already committed before anyone could confirm the thing it was riding on. That gap between confidence and certainty is worth sitting with. Bold work often means moving before the proof is in. The skill isn't eliminating the risk -- it's knowing it's there, naming it honestly, and deciding to take the shot anyway, eyes open. 🔵 Why T2 was the most expensive movie ever made at the time 🔵 The liquid-metal effects that launched the age of CGI 🔵 The risk the studio didn't fully see 🔵 The difference between being confident and actually knowing Larry Kasanoff is a film producer and studio head behind Terminator 2, True Lies, Mortal Kombat, and Platoon, and the author of A Touch of the Madness. From the My Favorite Mistake podcast with Mark Graban. Full video: https://youtu.be/Zx9IuIB2m0g #Leadership #Innovation #RiskTaking #LarryKasanoff #MyFavoriteMistake #Shorts
The Most Expensive Movie Ever, and Nobody Knew If It Would Work | Larry Kasanoff
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