Tag: Mistakes

Mistakes, Learning, and Leadership in Lean

Mistakes are inevitable—but how leaders and organizations respond to them determines whether they improve or repeat the same failures. These posts explore mistakes through a Lean lens: system design vs. “human error,” psychological safety, learning cultures, and leadership behaviors that turn errors into improvement rather than blame.

Drawing from healthcare, manufacturing, aviation, sports, and everyday work, this archive focuses less on who failed—and more on what the system made possible.

Mistakes are inevitable; learning is not. These posts align with ideas I expanded on in The Mistakes That Make Us, which examines how leaders, cultures, and systems determine whether errors become liabilities—or catalysts for improvement.

Podcast #266 – Karyn Ross on Lean for Service Excellence

4
My guest for Episode #266 of the podcast is Karyn Ross (@KRCLean4Service on Twitter), co-author of the new book (with Jeff Liker): The Toyota Way to Service Excellence: Lean Transformation in Service Organizations.

Lean Thinking: Why We Don’t Blame Individuals for Systemic Errors

8
TL;DR: Lean thinking teaches us not to blame individuals for mistakes that are caused by broken systems. In healthcare, this mindset aligns closely with...

Medical Mistake in In-Vitro Fertilization: What’s More Effective, Blaming Process or...

0
IVF baby given to wrong woman - as couple's last embryo was aborted | Mail Online This was front-page news in one of the UK...

Do You Share Your Failures Like VC Firm Bessemer Ventures?

0
Bessemer Venture Partners - The Anti Portfolio This post was originally written in 2006, but was updated in 2023 with an updated link and some...
Win the Audiobook of a Shingo Award–Winning Leadership BookEnter Now
+ +