My Favorite Mistake is a podcast and learning platform built on a simple idea: mistakes are inevitable, but learning from them is a leadership choice. These posts explore conversations with executives, healthcare leaders, entrepreneurs, engineers, and educators who reflect candidly on mistakes that shaped their thinking, leadership, and approach to improvement.
Rather than blaming individuals, this archive focuses on system design, psychological safety, and the conditions that make it possible—and worthwhile—for people to speak up, experiment, and learn. The goal isn’t failure for its own sake, but better decisions, better leadership, and better outcomes through honest reflection.
If you’ve read much of my work, you know I keep circling the same question: why do smart, capable people hold back what they know? Sometimes they stay quiet because they tried speaking up once and got burned. Sometimes a…
Eric Ries is best known as the author of The Lean Startup — the book that gave a generation of founders a shared vocabulary of minimum viable product, build-measure-learn, and pivot. But when I had him on My Favorite Mistake…
Ray Zinn argues that effective leadership isn’t about failing fast, but about learning from mistakes by acknowledging them quickly, fixing them early, and not repeating what already doesn’t work. I recently had the pleasure of hosting Ray Zinn on the…
When I launched the My Favorite Mistake podcast in September 2020, I hoped to create space for leaders and innovators to share the moments they wished they could take back — and more importantly, what they learned from them. Five…
The following material was cut from my latest book, The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation. It just didn’t fit the flow of how the book turned out. You’ll hear a story from one of…
I don’t share every episode of the “My Favorite Mistake” podcast here, but today’s new episode has great connections to Lean, I think. Or, it’s Lean-adjacent. It’s a discussion I had with Prof. Amy C. Edmondson, from Harvard Business School,…
In this week’s episode of “My Favorite Mistake,” we’re lucky to have Ken Snyder, a celebrated figure in the realm of business and academia as our guest. Currently serving as the Executive Director at the Shingo Institute and a senior…
This week’s episode of the “My Favorite Mistake” podcast features Mike Kaeding, the CEO of a company, Norhart, that designs, builds, and rents apartments. They are transforming the way this is done by incorporating technologies and techniques that have revolutionized…
The following material was found on the “cutting room floor” for my upcoming book, The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation. And I’ve supplemented it with some new material to flesh it out into a…
To celebrate 200 episodes of the the “My Favorite Mistake” podcast, I’m giving away three logo coffee mugs with some helpful mantras printed on them: Enter to win by clicking here or filling out the form below:
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 Episodes — Mark Graban on Podcasting Mistakes and His Upcoming Book I don’t share every…
I’ve mentioned before that I’m writing a book based on — inspired by — the interviews, stories, and insights from my guests on the My Favorite Mistake podcast. The book isn’t just a collection of transcripts of those stories. That…
