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...
Jul 25, 2024•11 min•Ep. 391
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 th...
Jul 22, 2024•7 min•Ep. 390
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 a...
Jul 16, 2024•8 min•Ep. 389
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 ...
Jul 12, 2024•7 min•Ep. 388
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...
Jul 11, 2024•4 min•Ep. 387
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...
Jul 05, 2024•4 min•Ep. 386
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 regis...
Jul 01, 2024•15 min•Ep. 355
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 t...
Jun 28, 2024•3 min•Ep. 384
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...
Jun 26, 2024•4 min•Ep. 383
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 op...
Jun 25, 2024•2 min•Ep. 382
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?...
Jun 21, 2024•2 min•Ep. 381
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....
Jun 20, 2024•6 min•Ep. 380
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 suc...
Jun 16, 2024•11 min•Ep. 378
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 it...
Jun 15, 2024•5 min•Ep. 379
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 ...
Jun 14, 2024•5 min•Ep. 377
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 t...
Jun 06, 2024•3 min•Ep. 376
The blog post TODAY marks the centennial of one of the most significant innovations in quality management: the control chart. 🎂 🎉 🎆 In the early 1920s, Walter A. Shewhart , working at Bell Labs, recognized the need for a statistical method to monitor and control manufacturing processes. On May 16, 1924, Shewhart created the first “control chart,” a tool that distinguished between common cause variation (inherent in the process) and special cause variation (due to specific, identifiable factor...
Jun 04, 2024•6 min•Ep. 377
The blog post Research by Ethan Burris shows that the top two reasons employees choose to keep quiet in the workplace are: 1️⃣ Futility 2️⃣ Fear Fear 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 p...
May 31, 2024•3 min•Ep. 374
Episode page with links and more info I'm very happy to announce the release of my new Mistake-Proofing course , available NOW through Karen Martin and TKMG Academy . You can buy the course individually at TKMGAcademy.com for $129. Volume discounts are available for large teams or your entire workforce (for more information, email info@tkmgacademy.com ). The course is also part of the wonderful collection of courses in the all-access annual subscription . The annual price of $529 goes up signifi...
May 29, 2024•6 min•Ep. 373
Blog post I love Steve Spear ‘s emphasis on a Toyota-based Lean model of: “See, Solve, Share” See problems, solve problems, and share what worked as countermeasures. That's the ideal, and it's powerful where it exists. At Toyota, and companies like it, there's an understanding that speaking up about problems leads to a constructive response from leaders. That's not always true at other companies that are starting or attempting their “Lean Journey.” The Psychological Safety that might be taken fo...
May 16, 2024•3 min•Ep. 372
Blog post Research by Ethan Burris shows that the top two reasons employees choose to keep quiet in the workplace are: 1️⃣ Futility 2️⃣ Fear Fear 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 on LinkedIn ....
May 14, 2024•3 min•Ep. 371
The blog post You don't find the root cause of a problem in a conference room. OK, so we've gotten away from the whiteboard. Now what? You might not even KNOW the root cause by thinking and talking out where the work is actually being done. That's one of the most powerful lessons I've learned from former Toyota people I've been able to work with....
May 09, 2024•2 min•Ep. 370
Blog Post Professors Robert H. Hayes and William J. Abernathy have harsh words about a common, if not typical style of American management: “…an overdependence on analytical detachment – what they call ”managerial remote control.” They say it is an approach that exalts financial analysis, not line operations . It rewards executives who see their company primarily as a competing set of rates of return, who manage by numbers and computer printouts. Further, they say, it is a seductive doctrine tha...
May 07, 2024•9 min•Ep. 369
The blog post It's interesting to observe a hospital process (or lack thereof) when a family member needs surgery. I had the opportunity to do so one day last week. I originally shared this on LinkedIn as a post and real-time updates. Thankfully, the clinical care seemed to be good, and that family member is recovering well from the outpatient procedure. But, the experience could have been better. I'm critiquing the process and the apparent culture, not the individuals involved. They are part of...
May 02, 2024•7 min•Ep. 368
Blog post with links The other day, I read about the passing of Donald E. Peterson, who was a key CEO for Ford Motor Company in the 1980s (from 1985 to 1990). From the Detroit Free Press: Former Ford CEO Don Petersen, who spent 41 years with automaker, dies at 97...
Apr 29, 2024•8 min•Ep. 367
Read the blog post How often do you hear executives blaming employees, including frontline workers, for different problems or poor performance? I don't think that's a good look when leaders do that. Leaders are responsible for the system, especially senior leaders. Even though they are part of a system, they have more freedom and more ability to change systems that ultimately drive most performance. A blaming leader looks at low productivity numbers and blames “lazy workers.” A blaming leader se...
Apr 23, 2024•4 min•Ep. 366
Read the blog post I recently spoke and facilitated at a health system's quarterly leadership forum event on the topic of “Psychological Safety as a Pre-Condition for Continuous Improvement.” It was very well received, and I'm very passionate about the need for leaders to help every team member believe that it's both safe and effective to speak up in the workplace. Psychological Safety plus Problem Solving is a very powerful combination. Let me know if you'd be open to a brief conversation on co...
Apr 19, 2024•5 min•Ep. 365
Read the blog post I have been really enjoying this book, released in 2021, by Kiyoshi “Nate” Furuta, a retired Toyota executive: Welcome Problems, Find Success: Creating Toyota Cultures Around the World . I bought it a year ago and wish I had started reading it sooner! Furuta is the retired former chair and CEO of Toyota Boshoku America, Inc. — an automotive parts supplier to companies including Toyota and General Motors....
Apr 17, 2024•10 min•Ep. 364
Read the episode, view video, and more There was a fascinating article in Bloomberg BusinessWeek about GE doing its final spinoff of GE Vernova (ticker symbol: GEV) and the remaining business that Larry Culp remains CEO of, GE Aerospace (formerly GE Aviation, ticker symbol: GE). The inside story of how GE CEO Larry Culp dismantled a 131-year-old American giant. AN EMPIRE DIVIDED...
Apr 11, 2024•6 min•Ep. 363
The blog post and video Embracing Imperfections and Learning from Mistakes: A Leadership Insight from the 2022 AME Annual Conference... In a riveting conversation between Larry Culp (at the time, CEO of GE and now CEO of GE Aerospace) and my good friend Katie Anderson at the 2022 Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) Annual Conference, valuable lessons on leadership, transparency, and fostering a culture where challenges and imperfections are openly shared were illuminated. Come join AM...
Apr 04, 2024•6 min•Ep. 362
