S5 E5 - Mark Graban – Learning from Mistakes in Lean and Beyond

In this episode, I sit down with Mark Graban, a leading voice in Lean and continuous improvement, to explore the enduring relevance of W. Edwards Deming’s principles in modern industries. Mark shares his decades of work in healthcare, manufacturing, and leadership consulting.

We dive into key themes from Mark’s career and writing, particularly his latest book, The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation. He emphasizes how Deming’s ideas, such as eliminating fear and focusing on systemic improvement, remain critical today—especially in healthcare, where Lean and quality management have taken root in pockets but struggle to become the prevailing management philosophy.

A major focus of our discussion is the power of learning from mistakes. Mark explains how organizations like Toyota have embedded problem-solving into their culture, emphasizing that true improvement starts with surfacing problems, not hiding them. We also touch on psychological safety—how creating an environment where people feel safe to speak up is foundational for innovation and systemic learning.

Mark shares insights from running Deming’s famous Red Bead Experiment and why it still resonates today, illustrating how poor management practices persist despite decades of evidence against them. We also discuss corporate scandals like Wells Fargo’s account fraud scandal, where systemic pressures—not individual failings—led to widespread unethical behavior.

From his experiences in Japan studying Lean firsthand to the importance of small-scale experimentation in driving innovation, Mark offers a compelling argument for why organizations must rethink their approach to mistakes. Instead of punishing failures, companies should view them as opportunities to refine their systems and foster real innovation.