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.

Celebrating 200 Episodes of the “My Favorite Mistake” Podcast and My...

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After starting the "My Favorite Mistake" podcast in September 2020 (an episode with Kevin Harrington from "Shark Tank"), I've now reached 200 episodes! Celebrating 200...

Learning from Mistakes in the Operating Room: Why Small Errors Lead...

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TL;DR: Wrong-site surgery rarely happens because of one person--it happens when small errors, near misses, and unsafe cultures are ignored instead of learned from. This...

Owning Up to Mistakes: Reflections on Today’s Lean Podcast Episodes (Yes,...

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We all make mistakes. I feel like I've made more mistakes than usual this week -- including a series of mistakes related to my...

Super Bowl XLII: Experimenting with New Grass Proves Slippery for the...

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This was a big mistake on the biggest stage for the biggest American sports league. I wouldn't say it ruined the game, but it...

Progress on My Upcoming Book About Learning From Mistakes (and Possible...

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I've mentioned before that I'm writing a book based on -- inspired by -- the interviews, stories, and insights from my guests on the...

Creating a Growth Mindset Culture in the Classroom: How Teaching about...

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A colleague from KaiNexus sent me a photo from his daughter's third-grade classroom. It's titled "The Magic of Growth Mindset," a reference to the...

Katie Anderson Discusses Larry Culp’s AME Keynote And Their Fireside Chat

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TL;DR: Larry Culp's AME keynote shows that Lean leadership at GE is about how leaders think, learn, and respond to problems--not tools. Katie Anderson...

10 Powerful Toyota Quotes on Mistakes, Learning, and Psychological Safety

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TL;DR: Looking for powerful Toyota quotes? Here are verified quotes from The Toyota Way and Toyota leaders on mistakes, learning, psychological safety, and continuous...

How Small Tests of Change Prevent Big Mistakes

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This post shares a simple, real example of Lean thinking in action--using small tests of change to learn safely and avoid bigger, more costly...

Professor John Grout, A Deep Dive On Mistake Proofing And Lean

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My guest for Episode #462 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Professor John Grout, the former dean of the Campbell School of Business at Berry College...

A Bartending Mistake That Stuck: The Story of the Negroni Sbagliato

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TL;DR: The Negroni shows how clear standards make variation visible--and how unnamed variation shuts down learning. The Negroni Sbagliato proves that when mistakes aren't...

We all make make mistakes

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I don't do things like this on purpose just to create illustrations and examples. But last week, as I was writing away on my...
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