We Thought We Solved That: The Art and Judgment Calls in the PDSA Cycle
What does it really mean when a problem “comes back” after a team thought it had been solved?In this episode, Mark Graban reads his article, “We Thought We Solved That: The Art and Judgment Calls in t...
19 Juli 11min
A Bending Column, a Bad Answer, and the Real Test of a Speak-Up Culture
A construction worker named Sean Dow was working on the 22nd floor of Pfizer’s former Manhattan headquarters, a massive office building now being converted into residential apartments with additional ...
17 Juli 5min
Calling Someone a "Process Coach" Doesn't Make Them One
A title change is not a culture change. In this episode, Mark Graban draws on his early experience at GM in the mid-1990s — where "foreman" became "team coordinator" overnight without anything else ch...
19 Maj 13min
Still Learning: A Live Event with Elisabeth Swan on May 7
Blog post with linksThree years ago, The Mistakes That Make Us came out. Around the same time, Elisabeth Swan published Picture Yourself a Leader. Both books' third birthdays felt like a decent reason...
4 Maj 2min
Watch the Lean Hospitals Coach in Action -- Live, Unscripted, With Your Questions
Most AI tools answer your question with a 500-word essay full of numbered steps. You nod, close the tab, and carry on doing what you were already doing. The Lean Hospitals Coach is built around the op...
8 Mars 8min
What a Brandi Carlile Concert Teaches About Practicing Continuous Improvement
Read the blog postTL;DR: A sound check, live song requests, and a naming regret — what watching Brandi Carlile perform taught me about specific problem-solving, vulnerability, and continuous improveme...
27 Feb 15min
What Deming and Fujio Cho Agreed On: Stop Demotivating People
The blog postTL;DR: Deming and Toyota's Fujio Cho asked the same uncomfortable question: why do management systems destroy motivation in people who started out wanting to do good work? The answer poin...
26 Feb 15min
Create Your Own Lean System — But Don’t Lose Sight of These Three Things
Read the blog postTL;DR: In a 1993 speech, Toyota leader Fujio Cho said organizations can create their own Lean systems, but success depends on three principles: leaders going to the gemba, asking “wh...
24 Feb 15min
