The blog post As we sit in seat 26A, mindlessly watching a movie, we take for granted that our cell phone (or the shirt off our back ) won't be suddenly sucked out through a gaping hole in the side of a plane. That's because the odds of this happening are unimaginably low. Until now, that is. Are we entering a new era where shoddy manufacturing (or maintenance) exposes us to more risk, reversing a decades-old trend of greatly improved aviation safety ? On January 5th, an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX-...
Mar 19, 2024•17 min•Ep. 361
The blog post Does it Feel Better to Be Vulnerable or Candid in a Workplace? I've learned so much from Timothy R. Clark of the firm LeaderFactor, author of the excellent book, The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety . I can't recommend his work enough--including his free podcasts , webinars , and more. I was fortunate to go through a formal certification course with him on Psychological Safety . He was a guest on my podcast , "My Favorite Mistake." He was kind enough to write a blurb about my book,...
Mar 07, 2024•8 min•Ep. 360
The blog post Recently, I've heard an idea a few times that I'd like to share and discuss in this post. As I'm writing this, I can't remember who to cite. That's my mistake. I'll happily correct the post if I remember or somebody lets me know who to credit. Because I love this idea... but it's not my idea. It's pretty common for a speaker to ask the audience, at the end of a talk: "Do you have any questions?" I'm quite certain I've done that. Sometimes, the answer is yes. But the framing of the ...
Mar 05, 2024•4 min•Ep. 359
The blog post It’s 9 p.m. in an operating room, just before the last procedure of a long day that had been full of delays. A nurse sees that the surgeon is about to make an incision without first stopping for the expected “timeout,” a crucial step that helps the team confirm, among other things, that the correct surgery is about to be performed on the correct side of the correct patient. The nurse is also concerned they don’t have enough units of blood on hand for this type of procedure. The nur...
Mar 04, 2024•8 min•Ep. 358
The blog post I'm currently working on a Mistake Proofing class for Karen Martin and TKMG Academy . Coming soon!! In the process of writing the course and its script, I've gone back to some older source material that has been on my bookshelf for a long time. In this case, it's a book I not only own but read many years ago (20 years ago?): Zero Quality Control by Shigeo Shingo. It was published by Norman Bodek during the heyday of Productivity Press when he still owned it....
Mar 01, 2024•8 min•Ep. 357
The blog post A while back, I uploaded the entire PDF of my 2018 book, Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More , into the premium version of ChatGPT. As an author and publisher, it's a really useful tool for generating marketing content — although maybe it's a mistake to upload my content that way. I'm sure a PDF of the book was already on the internet to be potentially scanned by ChatGPT. Please leave a comment if you think I made a big mistake there. One use is what I'm shar...
Feb 29, 2024•7 min•Ep. 356
I'm excited to announce that I've registered for Katie Anderson ‘s Japan Study Trip in November! Read the blog post . Between 2012 and 2019, I visited Japan five times, and I learned something new each time. I've been really itching to go back. I'm excited to see and learn new things with Katie and her team!! It's a great opportunity to deepen your understanding of Lean and the Toyota Production System. Visiting Japan helps one understand which of the broader cultural elements of the country con...
Feb 26, 2024•10 min•Ep. 355
The blog post We can all make mistakes, so I advocate for learning from mistakes through my book , podcast , and speaking . I do my best to learn from my mistakes, so I don't repeat them. I fail to meet that standard sometimes, and I try to learn from those moments (as I shared in this recent post ). A few times now, a friend has sent me a photo or tagged me on a LinkedIn post about a sign similar to the one below. They assume I'd love the sign and the sentiment. "Mistakes are proof that you are...
Feb 22, 2024•9 min•Ep. 354
The blog post What do Boeing frontline mechanics and engineers think about this day? What did they expect going into it? How did the day turn out? I'd love to know. “Quality is made in the boardroom.” I rolled my eyes hard when I read this announcement from Boeing, as part of the aftermath of the January 5th door plug blowout incident on an Alaska Airlines flight: In recent years, there have been many complaints about the Boeing culture. Culture starts with the executive suite. They're responsib...
Feb 16, 2024•11 min•Ep. 353
Blog post link I loved a recent New York Times article about Chef Gordon Ramsay, including this part: “Ramsay said that when he makes a mistake, he owns up to it. He has been candid about the misjudgments that led to the closure of Amaryllis, his fine dining restaurant in Glasgow, and admits that he has opened restaurants that were “badly conceptualized” or opened in the wrong area. “You should never be embarrassed of failure,” he said. “But never make the same mistake twice.”...
Feb 13, 2024•3 min•Ep. 352
Blog post For a long time, I've heard the phrase “the hidden factory” used to describe various forms of waste in a factory, including rework operations and activity. I was surprised to hear Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun refer to this in a news story using a similar phrase, “shadow factory.” Boeing Wants to Close Its ‘Shadow Factories.' It Would Be a Positive Step....
Feb 07, 2024•4 min•Ep. 351
Read the blog post As I recently shared on LinkedIn , I really appreciated the annual shareholder letter that was published and shared by Larry Culp , who has been CEO of General Electric for just over five years now (the first-ever outsider CEO in their 125+ year history). Read the full letter here. I've also archived it here as a PDF. First off, I can't help but notice that the photo shared at the end of the letter is not a corporate headshot of Larry in a power suit and tie. It's a photo from...
Feb 05, 2024•6 min•Ep. 350
Blog post This post is built around excerpts from the book The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation . Read more about Toyota, including stories and key lessons learned in the book . Download a free preview of the book From the book: Fear and punishment drive people to get better at hiding mistakes when they could channel that energy into preventing them. When they can't be hidden, repeated mistakes illustrate how punishment accomplishes nothing beyond deflectin...
Jan 16, 2024•6 min•Ep. 349
Blog post link Psychological Safety is not some nice-to-have touchy-feely concept. Psychological Safety means that you feel safe speaking up in the workplace. That could mean: Asking questions Pointing out problems Admitting mistakes Disagreeing with your manager Sharing ideas for improvement It's been pretty well proven that organizations with a higher level of Psychological Safety perform better. A lack of Psychological Safety in a factory can turn deadly. A lack of it has proven deadly in hea...
Jan 13, 2024•8 min•Ep. 348
Blog post with more info and links Congratulations to my podcast(s) guests who were named to the Thinkers50 list of influential management thinkers! I am thrilled to extend my heartiest congratulations to a remarkable group of individuals who have recently graced the stages of my podcasts, “Lean Blog Interviews” and “My Favorite Mistake.” These brilliant minds have been recognized on the prestigious Thinkers50 list for their groundbreaking contributions to the field of management thinking. Each ...
Nov 28, 2023•6 min•Ep. 347
Blog post with link to purchase and more I have a limited number of copies of my book Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve Mor e that are available for about half of the Amazon retail price — and this includes free shipping.
Nov 27, 2023•1 min•Ep. 346
Blog post tl;dr summary: Karyn Ross enlightened me about World Kindness Day and provided invaluable feedback on my book, The Mistakes That Make U s . Her insights particularly helped me replace the term “grace” with “kindness,” enhancing the book's inclusivity. She also helped me better distinguish between being “nice” and “kind.”
Nov 16, 2023•9 min•Ep. 345
Blog post A Question -- Email From a Listener: But I was prompted to think about this recently when I received an email from a podcast listener: " So I heard an interesting distinction between Gemba and Genba today. The M version is a place of work The N version is a place of investigation (used by Japanese police). So you go to the place of work before you go to the place of investigation ." Hmmm. I had never heard that. So I thought I'd do a little research and check with friends who have vary...
Nov 15, 2023•10 min•Ep. 344
The episode's blog post Leaders and organizations have a choice: 1) cultivate a culture of fear and punishment or 2) a culture of learning and innovation. That choice significantly affects happiness and performance at all levels within the organization. A culture of fear and punishment drives mistakes underground. An organization with a culture of fear cannot learn from mistakes because people don't feel safe admitting them. People who do admit mistakes to their manager aren't more virtuous or c...
Oct 02, 2023•3 min•Ep. 343
Read the blog post In this episode, Mark recounts an unexpected ordeal in an Italian hospital after his mother-in-law broke her arm while on vacation. Faced with difficult choices about surgery and travel, the family navigates a foreign healthcare system. Amid the stress, a seemingly small act of kindness by a hospital staff member leaves a lasting impression, exemplifying universal compassion.
Sep 30, 2023•6 min•Ep. 342
Direct blog post link It’s not unusual to see individuals get blamed for systemic errors and problems. Case in point, this article: Delta Air Flight Attendant Makes Expensive Mistake After Emergency Slide is Accidentally Deployed Shortly After Landing in Dublin It seems like a fact that the flight attendant deployed the slide. But is the mistake their fault?...
Sep 18, 2023•8 min•Ep. 341
To read the article and comment, click here or leanblog.org/audio340 . This is an article that I wrote, published on the Quality Digest website. It begins: "I can’t count how many times during the past 20 years I’ve heard executives complain that their people aren’t enthusiastically participating in their lean program. Leaders lament that while the company has spent a small fortune to put everybody through continuous improvement training, hardly anybody submits ideas. The problem isn’t their emp...
Sep 13, 2023•12 min•Ep. 340
Blog Post I was very excited to learn about an event that is being produced by GE, next Wednesday, September 6th, in New York City. I'm thrilled to have been invited to attend in person, along with other "Lean Influencers," including my friends Katie Anderson and Jamie V. Parker . We will be fortunate to be there in person to share highlights from the event via social media, blog posts, podcasts, and more -- on Wednesday and beyond. See the LinkedIn Event page: The Lean Mindset: The Pursuit of P...
Aug 29, 2023•7 min•Ep. 339
Blog post From the post: This is really hard to write, as I was stunned and saddened by the recent passing of a good friend and colleague, Chris Burnham. Word had started to spread on LinkedIn and I feel bad about having to share this news here. You can read his obituary here: There will be a celebration of life event on Sunday that I will be fortunate to attend. Chris was, most recently, the Senior Director of Lean Strategy at KaiNexus, a company I have been involved with since 2011. Many of hi...
Aug 22, 2023•15 min•Ep. 338
Blog post When you do work related to processes, quality, improvement, and learning from mistakes… the universe has ways of testing you (or playing a prank on me). As I share at the end of the post, I failed that test in one way. A big way. My wife and I had a 3-piece sectional couch that we've recently replaced, so we were looking to donate the old one to a good cause....
Aug 17, 2023•9 min•Ep. 337
Blog post This is something from my book, The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation , that I shared on LinkedIn recently . Here's something I figured out thanks to education in a combination of fields, including Lean management and psychological safety . I wish I had understood this much sooner: “Speaking up isn't a matter of character or courage–it's driven by culture. People feel safe to share when their leaders and colleagues treat them with respect. Instead ...
Aug 15, 2023•5 min•Ep. 336
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Aug 14, 2023•52 sec
Blog post This post shares a story I heard at the Michigan Lean Consortium annual conference earlier this week. They've been kind about sharing ideas and doing a book club discussion around my new book, The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation . During a book signing session at the conference, an attendee, Cori, told me a story that's too good to not pass along. I'll do my best to be true to the details of the story....
Aug 14, 2023•4 min•Ep. 335
Blog post page Below is some material that I wrote, but didn't use, in my book The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation . Maybe it was a mistake to cut it. But the material wasn't really related to my podcast. It was based on some interactions with some Veterans Administration Health Care leaders after giving a talk on learning from mistakes last November. What is culture? Some say it's simply how we do things in this organization. The late Edgar Schein, a fame...
Jun 26, 2023•7 min•Ep. 334
Blog post with photos and more I was saddened to learn today that Masaaki Imai passed away, as announced this week by the organization he founded, KAIZEN Institute. He was 92. Mr. Imai was well known for his books, including KAIZEN , his follow up Gemba Kaizen , and his latest, Strategic KAIZEN™ (published in 2021). He traveled the world teaching people about continuous improvement. I'd like to first express my deepest condolences to Mr. Imai's family, friends, and colleagues. I had the fantasti...
Jun 17, 2023•17 min•Ep. 333
