TL;DR: Mistakes don’t define organizations—how leaders respond to them does.
The Mistakes That Make Us explores how individuals, teams, and organizations can learn from errors instead of hiding them, blaming people, or repeating the same failures. This archive brings together posts, podcast episodes, giveaways, translations, and events connected to the book The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation.
Across industries including healthcare, manufacturing, aviation, and technology, these posts examine psychological safety, leadership behavior, system design, and the conditions that make learning possible. The focus is not on avoiding mistakes at all costs—but on responding to them in ways that build trust, capability, and continuous improvement.
For leaders, this collection reinforces a simple truth: mistakes are inevitable, but learning is a choice.
tl;dr: In this post, Mark challenges the common notion that speaking up in an organization is solely a matter of individual character or courage. He argues that the willingness to voice concerns or ideas is largely influenced by the culture…
One exciting feature of the Amazon Kindle format is the ability for readers to see what other readers have frequently highlighted. It’s also fascinating, as the author, to see this. It’s a form of feedback about what seems to resonate…
I hope you’ll join me and Katie tomorrow at 2 pm ET… Katie and I will discuss my new book, The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation, as I mark a milestone with a Daruma doll…
Today I’d like to point you to two excerpts from my new book, The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation. Update: The book is now a Shingo Publication Award Recipient! One was published on the…
Bottom Line Up Front: I wrote a book about mistakes. That book was published… with some mistakes. Since it’s a book about learning from mistakes, that’s the intent of this post. Initial Reflections: As I’ve hosted a podcast about learning…
Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more For Episode #480 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast turns the tables, as regular host Mark Graban is interviewed today by a guest host, his friend Paul Critchley. Paul was previously…
Colleyville, TX, July 05, 2023 –(PR.com)– Mistakes are often seen as roadblocks to success, but what if they were actually the stepping stones to growth and innovation? Mark Graban, award-winning author and consultant, tackles this paradigm in his latest book, “The…
Today is the official release date for the Kindle version of my new book, The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation! The book has been a #1 New Release in categories including Organizational Learning and…
TL;DR: Broken coffee mugs turned into a practical lesson about learning from mistakes, system design, kindness, and why fixing root causes matters more than fixing symptoms. Here’s a story I’ve meant to write up for almost two years… some events…
I’m happy to announce some special pre-order pricing! Just $2.99! The regular price will be $9.99. My new book is The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation. CLICK HERE –> BUY NOW If you already…
I’m excited to share the first printed proof copy of The Mistakes That Make Us, my new (upcoming) book about learning, improvement, and culture, as printed by Amazon. It’s still early in the process — and yes, the vertical alignment…
The following is an excerpt from the book The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation. And this post also includes some material that was cut from the book. Get a free preview of the formatted…