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)

Dan Markovitz on Building the Fit Organization (Part 1): Principles for Improvement and Value Creation

ByMark Graban February 10, 2016 3201

Joining me for Episode #241 is a returning guest and friend of mine, Dan Markovitz (@DanMarkovitz on Twitter). He was a guest on Episodes #135 (talking about A Factory of One) and #52...

Podcast #240 – @LeahBinder of @LeapfrogGroup on #PatientSafety

ByMark Graban January 26, 2016 1534

My guest for episode #240 is somebody I've wanted to interview for a long time, Leah Binder, the president and CEO of Leapfrog Group, “a voluntary program aimed at mobilizing employer purchasing...

Pascal Dennis on Lean Production Simplified (3rd Edition) and Lean Beyond Manufacturing

ByMark Graban January 18, 2016 3362

Joining me for Episode #239 is Pascal Dennis, somebody I really respect and have learned a lot from over the years I’d gladly call him “sensei” (although he and I agree that’s not a term one should...

Kevin Cahill on His Grandfather W. Edwards Deming, Lessons, and Legacy

ByMark Graban January 11, 2016 2394

Episode #238 is a conversation with somebody I’ve wanted to talk with for a long time, Kevin Cahill. He is the executive director of the W. Edwards Deming Institute. He’s also a grandson of Dr...

Exploring Lean Product Development with Jim Morgan – Rivian’s Former COO

ByMark Graban September 18, 2024 5013

Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #515 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Jim Morgan, senior advisor at Lean Enterprise Institute and a board member at...

Psychological Safety is the Foundation for Continuous Improvement [Video]

ByMark Graban September 16, 2024 5643

Starbucks Mobile Ordering Chaos: A System Problem, Not a Barista Problem

ByMark Graban September 11, 2024 14714

Speaking at the Lean Institute Brazil Health Summit — How AI Translation Expanded Access

ByMark Graban September 10, 2024 1693

Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape: September 6, 2024

ByRyan McCormack September 6, 2024 5304

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...

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

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

April 28, 2025

Recently, I had the pleasure of moderating a webinar titled “Driving a Culture of Transforming...

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)

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

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

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

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

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

August 20, 2024

Psychological safety is often described as “feeling safe to speak up.” In Lean...

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...

"The Nun and the Bureaucrat" and "Good News" DVD Now at Lower Price through LEI

ByMark Graban April 1, 2009 Comments (3) 773

The Nun and the Bureaucrat (LEI Link) I started endorsing and promoting this outstanding DVD and...

The Simpsons Slams American Cars, Robots, or Roger Smith?

ByMark Graban March 19, 2009 Comments (3) 1200

I've always been a huge Simpsons fan, even if the show has gotten less funny in the past few years...

Checklists and Error Prevention on the TV Show ER

ByMark Graban March 14, 2009 Comment (1) 1345

Hulu – ER: Old Times – Watch the full episode now. Thanks to Bryan to bringing this...

Mark Graban on YouTube

Fear is a real reason people stay quiet at work, but it is not the top one. When I poll audiences and groups I work with, futility comes out ahead of fear.

People do not always say they are afraid. Plenty of them say some version of "What's the point? Nothing changes anyway." That is a different problem than fear, and it calls for a different response from leaders.

If someone fears getting in trouble, and especially if they have watched it happen to someone else, staying quiet to protect yourself is a rational calculation. I would not tell anyone to speak up no matter what.

I also take a practical question in this clip: what do you do when you work for a difficult boss and cannot leave right away? One option is to test the waters. Raise a small, specific, fact-based concern rather than a sweeping statement about how nobody here listens, then see what the response tells you.

🔵 Why silence is often a rational cost-benefit decision
🔵 Futility versus fear as the top driver of silence
🔵 What leaders can do about each
🔵 How to test the waters with a tough boss

Watch the full interview: https://youtu.be/b4Z9RdjgTp8

Fear vs Futility: The Real Reason People Stay Silent at Work

The silence tax is what an organization pays when people stop speaking candidly. It never appears as a line on the financial statements, which is exactly what makes it dangerous.

In this clip I explain how the cost compounds. A quality problem nobody mentions gets past the process and reaches a customer. An issue nobody raises while it is small grows into an expensive one. The spending is real even though nothing on the P&L is labeled "silence."

I also reference survey research estimating that poor management costs the U.S. economy more than $500 billion a year through turnover and lost productivity. That is a gut feeling on my part, but I suspect the estimate is low, since most organizations are paying some version of the silence tax right now.

Watch the full interview: https://youtu.be/b4Z9RdjgTp8

🔵 What the silence tax is
🔵 Why it stays invisible to leaders
🔵 How small unspoken problems become costly ones
🔵 What poor management is estimated to cost the U.S. economy

More on psychological safety and Lean leadership: https://www.leanblog.org

The Silence Tax: The Hidden Cost of People Not Speaking Up

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"