Lean Blog Audio

Read the blog post I've been writing about learning from mistakes for a long time, including my previous books before my latest, The Mistakes That Make Us. This idea isn't new, but it's essential–especially in fields like healthcare, where the stakes are incredibly high. From Lean Hospitals: “Mistakes are a reality in healthcare, and while we strive to prevent them, it's crucial to create an environment where they are identified quickly, addressed effectively, and used as opportunities for learning and improvement.” From The Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen: “Leadership in a Kaizen culture means creating an environment where mistakes are seen as opportunities to learn, not as failures.” --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lean-blog-audio/support

Read the full blog post In writing The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation, I wanted to challenge the way we think about mistakes, leadership, and organizational culture. Throughout my career, I've seen firsthand how the traditional responses to mistakes–punishment, fear, and blame–can stifle growth and innovation. The ideas I present in the book are meant to provoke thought and, in some cases, to stir debate. Here in this post, I'd like to share and dig into five of the most controversial quotes and concepts from the book, explaining why they're important and how they can transform the way we work. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lean-blog-audio/support

Read the blog post and more Imagine an NFL team that has been on a decades-long streak of winless seasons. The owner, who has been at the helm for most of that period, always believes that finding the right coach will solve the team's woes. But it doesn't. Every few years (or sometimes more often), the owner blames and fires the coach and hires a new one, but the team continues to lose. In a desperate attempt to turn things around, the owner signs a decent (but inexpensive) free-agent left guard away from the previous Super Bowl champion. This player, hailed for their leadership on and off the field, is expected to be the sole “transformational leader” and bring winning tactics and a winning culture to the struggling team. All. By. Himself. Would you expect that to work? I would not. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lean-blog-audio/support

The blog post Think about the last time you made a major career decision. I'm thinking of one of mine, in particular. Was it about leaving a job for a new one? Changing directions in your career altogether? Was it a debate about which of the job offers you would accept? How easy was that? How long did it take you? In hindsight, some of my career decisions took too long to play out. Afterward, my wife would ask, "Why didn't you do that sooner?" I'm also thinking of a major decision that was in the news today—it's been drawn out over the past few weeks, and it's a more important decision than one I've ever considered. During my career, one of the most helpful concepts I've learned about is "motivational interviewing." See more blog posts about this approach. This approach has roots in addiction counseling, developed by William R. Miller and Stephen Rollnick in the 1980s to help individuals struggling with substance abuse find their own motivations for change. Its

The full blog post This post draws upon and summarizes content in my book, The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation. Senior leaders must prioritize psychological safety and continuous improvement to foster an environment conducive to learning and innovation. Psychological safety is crucial for enabling employees to speak up about mistakes and ideas without fear of punishment. This executive summary outlines key strategies for cultivating psychological safety and leveraging it to drive continuous improvement. “Psychological safety is a belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes.” Hear my podcast with Amy on these topics. Prof. Amy Edmondson --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lean-blog-audio/support

The full blog post Two data points are not a trend. Two-data-point comparisons can be mathematically correct but practically meaningless. This is true in workplaces and news articles like this one. Multiple two-data-point comparisons (comparing last month to the previous month AND comparing it to the year before) don't paint the full picture the way a simple run chart would. If a hospital's margin is "23% higher" than the year before, is that a difference between 1% and 1.23% or the difference between 10% and 12.3%? Give me more data points. Better yet, create a chart that shows trends (or the lack thereof) over time. Otherwise, we're just celebrating (or bemoaning) every little up and now. 23% sounds like a big change. But that doesn't mean it's statistically meaningful. Was it down 27% the previous month? Possibly. Some metrics simply fluctuate around a stable average. On NPR recently, the hourly news update covered economic indicators, including the truth and data points that

The blog post with webinar link As a Throwback Thursday, I'm sharing this webinar that I did back in 2012, as hosted by Karen Martin... On this theme of “The Suggestion Box is Dead,” I thought to prompt ChatGPT to create an image of a burial scene and mournful employees... --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lean-blog-audio/support

Episode blog post There's a common misconception about Toyota's “Andon” system, often expressed as: “When a team member pulls the cord, the line stops.” But that's not entirely accurate, as this enlightening Toyota video demonstrates... --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lean-blog-audio/support

Blog post with links I'm very happy to be participating in Jared Thatcher‘s “Global Lean Summit” event this September in Indiana. I'll be there to network and learn, which includes time visiting a Toyota Material Handling factory (an entire day!) I'll be speaking and facilitating: A workshop on Psychological Safety as a Foundation for continuous improvement A learning session featuring Dr. Deming's “Red Bead Game“ A fun keynote talk on warning signs and mistake-proofing Learn more and register --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lean-blog-audio/support

The blog post Digital transformation is about rethinking and reinventing with digital tools. For over 13 years, KaiNexus has moved beyond the outdated suggestion box model. Traditional suggestion boxes, whether paper or digital, often fail (or usually fail!–ideas get locked away, reviewed by a select few, and lead to frustration. We believe in dynamic platforms that foster real-time communication and collaboration. Don't digitize the old, broken way of doing things! Mark Graban:Don't digitize the old broken process. Whether that's a suggestion box or anything else, digital transformation is about rethinking reinventing the way we do things with digital tools. From the beginning, more than 13 years ago, KaiNexus has never been an electronic suggestion box because suggestion boxes don't work, whether it's in paper form or an online digital form. Why is that? Suggestion boxes in the paper model have a locked box. Ideas sit. Some special person with a key opens up box maybe once a month, maybe

Blog post Psychological Safety means everybody gets their say, but it doesn't mean you get your way. Psychological Safety is an individual's belief, feeling, or perception that it's safe for them to speak up in a situation. When people are rewarded for speaking candidly, that leads to rigorous debate and better decisions. Psychological Safety doesn't mean freedom from being challenged or disagreed with. It doesn't turn the workplace into a democracy and it doesn't mean you need 100% agreement to move forward on anything. Psychological Safety means you can disagree with your manager or a peer… and they have the safety to disagree in return. Psychological Safety doesn't mean shutting down a discussion because you feel uncomfortable. What practices and behaviors have you seen in a workplace that cultivate Psychological Safety? What are some examples of rewarding people for speaking up candidly? To me, it comes down to three high-level countermeasures for leaders: Modeling candor, vu

The blog post The LinkedIn event My latest book, The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation, is turning one year old! Join me, along with my co-host Elisabeth Swan, for what we hope will be an engaging, insightful, and fun discussion about learning from mistakes. We'll be joined by special surprise guests who will share their unique perspectives and experiences. This isn't just a one-way broadcast–it's an interactive session where we'll conduct live polls and open the virtual floor to your questions, ensuring a dynamic and participative environment. View this page and click “Attend” to be reminded of this when it starts. A recording will also be available on LinkedIn and my YouTube channel. Mistakes are a universal experience, and what truly matters is how we learn from them. Together, we will explore ways to improve our ability to learn from mistakes, both as individuals and as organizations. My goal is to uncover practical strategies that can be applied in va

The Blog Post I'm excited to share my breakout session at the Michigan Lean Consortium Annual Conference! In this session, I dive into the critical role of Psychological Safety as a Foundation for Continuous Improvement. We explore how fostering an environment where team members feel safe to share ideas, take risks, and learn from mistakes can drive remarkable progress and innovation. Oh, and did I mention that Traverse City is usually gorgeous in August? --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lean-blog-audio/support

Blog post link When writing or speaking, I use the words “mistake” and “error” interchangeably. The definitions in some dictionaries are comically circular. Dictionary.com defines an error as: “a deviation from accuracy or correctness; a MISTAKE, as in action or speech.” It also defines a mistake as: “an ERROR in action, calculation, opinion, or judgment caused by poor reasoning, carelessness, insufficient knowledge, etc.” So, a mistake is an error, and an error is a mistake. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lean-blog-audio/support

Blog post link I'm excited that the Shingo Institute asked me to present a webinar on June 18th. Click here to register for the webinar They've also published an article that I wrote: Psychological Safety: The Key to Effective Andon Cord Pulls and Continuous Improvement The webinar description: Join us for an engaging webinar as we explore the transformative power of cultivating a culture that learns from mistakes, ultimately driving continuous improvement and innovation, leading to greater success! Renowned author Mark Graban will draw upon examples from a diverse array of companies, including industry titans like Toyota and agile software startups such as KaiNexus. During this session, participants will gain valuable insights into the experiences of CEOs and other leaders, regardless of company size, who have adeptly turned mistakes into opportunities for growth and advancement. While these leaders remain vigilant in error prevention, they recognize the profound value of embracing mistakes as pivota

Blog post link The Big Picture: In the Lean community and beyond, some people mistakenly equate “psychological safety” with being comfortable all the time. This misconception can undermine the true essence of psychological safety in the workplace. Psychological safety is not about constant comfort or shielding managers from discomfort. Synthesizing a few definitions of psychological safety, I say it's a person's belief, feeling, or perception that it's safe enough to speak candidly about things including: Mistakes Problems Ideas Differing views without fearing marginalization or punishment. What Psychological Safety Really Means --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lean-blog-audio/support

Blog post I was talking recently with a trusted friend in the Lean community. He told me a story. It's certainly believable, even if it's second or third-hand to me. He had no reason to make up a story like this. A relative of his works in a U.S. factory. Yes, we still have factories here. I'll call this relative of my friend “Guy,” which is pronounced the American way, not the French way. Guy's factory would claim to use Lean methods and might even claim a “Toyota Production System” label as its inspiration. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lean-blog-audio/support

The blog post IMAGE: A sign that reads "CAUTION: DON'T OPERATE ON THE WRONG SIDE" It's silly, right? I've never seen a sign like this in an operating room. And I'm not advocating for them. It's not the right approach for quality and patient safety. If warning signs actually prevented mistakes, and given that a vast majority of mistakes are caused by human factors (like fatigue) and systemic factors (like being behind schedule because instruments were delivered late to the O.R.)…1) A sign like this would be posted in every operating room and2) Wrong-site, wrong-side, and wrong-patient surgeries would never occurBut, of course, it's not that simple.What works?Mistake-proofing works. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lean-blog-audio/support

The blog post TODAY marks the centennial of one of the most significant innovations in quality management: the control chart.

The blog post Research by Ethan Burris shows that the top two reasons employees choose to keep quiet in the workplace are:1️⃣ Futility2️⃣ FearFear of getting in trouble is a big problem. But there are also many workplaces where people say, quite literally, “I'm not afraid to speak up, it just isn't worth the effort.”That's the Futility Factor.Please answer this poll question via LinkedIn. And I'd love to hear your thoughts in a comment here on the blog post or LinkedIn. Please check out people's comments and stories that they shared on Linkedin. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lean-blog-audio/support