20+ Years Ago at GM: The Quality Death Spiral of Bad Management & Blaming… Mark Graban Apr 10, 2018 7 Blog My first job out of college was as an Industrial Engineer at the General Motors Livonia Engine Plant. Blogging…
The Return of “Ted Lasso” and the End of “Tyrannical”… Mark Graban Jul 22, 2021 0 Blog I absolutely loved the first season of the show "Ted Lasso" (available streaming through Apple TV+). If you're!-->!-->!-->…
It’s Hard to Ask Leaders to Change the System in Which They’ve Risen… Mark Graban Jan 14, 2020 2 Blog The other day, I stumbled across an old article that I remember, as it was published in the Wall Street Journal in!-->…
Part 2: 20 Years Ago at GM, the Quality Death Spiral Continues… With More… Mark Graban Apr 19, 2018 7 Blog Recently, I blogged about a quality catastrophe that I lived through at GM just over 20 years ago, at the…
Managers Must Help The People They Supervise Mark Graban Mar 26, 2018 5 Blog Last week, a nurse manager downloaded the free first chapter of my book Lean Hospitals and wrote this message in…
Learning & Emulating Without Copying Blindly from Duke Hoops, Toyota, or… Mark Graban Mar 6, 2017 4 Audio While I'm writing here about Northwestern men's basketball learning from Duke (without copying everything), the…
“The reign of the king-leader is gone” at GM? What about healthcare? Mark Graban Dec 12, 2016 0 Blog I was happy to see an engineer (Chemical Engineering) and a General Motors leader, Alicia Boler Davis, on the cover…
Highlights from the Original 1984 NUMMI Team Member Handbook, Part 1 Mark Graban Nov 15, 2016 8 Blog I recently wrote about my exploration of the collected papers of the late Don Ephlin, a UAW senior leader and a…
Podcast #259 – Steve Bera, Reflections on NUMMI and #Lean, Part 2 Mark Graban Aug 9, 2016 2 Blog Today's episode #259 is Part 2 of a discussion I started with Steve Bera in episode #256. Steve was one of the!-->!-->!-->…
Throwback Thursday: “This American Life” on NUMMI Lessons,… Mark Graban Jul 23, 2015 1 Audio Episode #403 of the public radio program "This American Life" originally aired in 2010, telling the story of the…
“How do you deliver quality and value to market quickly?” –… Mark Graban Jun 16, 2015 4 Blog When I was back at MIT earlier this month, I really enjoyed the lectures that I was able to attend. See my notes…
Just Call it “5S Six Sigma” Instead of “Lean Sigma,”… Mark Graban Oct 22, 2012 26 Blog My whole career, I have worked with the Lean methodology (aka the Toyota Production System). I've just really never…
NPR on the “End of the Line” at NUMMI and My Story About an… Mark Graban Mar 27, 2010 12 Blog Here's some Saturday morning listening... a story from yesterday's "All Things Considered" on the "End of the Line"…
Where Did I Start with Lean? Mark Graban Jul 23, 2009 17 Blog I love it when I have a chance to meet Lean Blog readers and Twitter followers in the "real world." In the past few…