
KaiNexus: Continuous Improvement, Leadership, and More
The KaiNexus Continuous Improvement Podcast features content from our webinars. We also share conversations with KaiNexus team members and customers from time to time.
This podcast brings you information about continuous improvement best practices, employee engagement, lean, six sigma (and related improvement disciplines) and more. Join us as we explore the nuances of creating a culture of continuous improvement, no matter your level of expertise or your industry.
Latest episodes

Jul 27, 2023 • 1h
Panel: Cultivating a Culture of Learning from Mistakes
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Panelists: Kym Guiliotti, Director of ProductGreg Jacobson, Co-founder & CEOMaggie Millard, VP of Customer ExperienceLinda Vicaro, Senior Lean StrategistModerated by:Mark Graban, Senior Advisor
As KaiNexus co-founder and CEO Greg Jacobson, MD says, “You can’t have a culture of continuous improvement without learning from mistakes.”Join us for a panel discussion featuring five KaiNexians who will share stories and reflections about cultivating a culture of psychological safety, where people feel safe to speak up about mistakes (or other opportunities for improvement) and also feel safe to try improvements and innovations.The panel is being moderated by Mark Graban, who has been a senior advisor to KaiNexus since 2011. He loves talking about mistakes in his podcast "My Favorite Mistake" and also wrote (and published) a new book that includes stories from KaiNexus: "The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation."If you attend the live session, you'll also be able to ask questions about our lessons learned about cultivating a culture at KaiNexus and how this might benefit you, your team, and your organization.

Jul 24, 2023 • 16min
Webinar Panel Preview: Cultivating a Culture of Learning from Mistakes
Register for the live event
Greg's podcast episode
Mark's book: http://mistakesbook.com/
Panelists:
Kym Guiliotti, Director of Product
Greg Jacobson, Co-founder & CEO
Maggie Millard, VP of Customer Experience
Linda Vicaro, Senior Lean Strategist
Moderated by:
Mark Graban, Senior Advisor
As KaiNexus co-founder and CEO Greg Jacobson, MD says, “You can’t have a culture of continuous improvement without learning from mistakes.”
Join us for a panel discussion featuring five KaiNexians who will share stories and reflections about cultivating a culture of psychological safety, where people feel safe to speak up about mistakes (or other opportunities for improvement) and also feel safe to try improvements and innovations.
The panel is being moderated by Mark Graban, who has been a senior advisor to KaiNexus since 2011. He loves talking about mistakes in his podcast "My Favorite Mistake" and also wrote (and published) a new book that includes stories from KaiNexus: "The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation."
If you attend the live session, you'll also be able to ask questions about our lessons learned about cultivating a culture at KaiNexus and how this might benefit you, your team, and your organization.

Jul 11, 2023 • 59min
Why Kindness is the Key to Lean Leadership [Webinar Recording]
Learn more and view the video: https://info.kainexus.com/continuous-improvement/why-kindness-is-the-key-to-lean-leadership/webinar/signup
Presented by Karyn Ross, Founder of The New School for Kind Leaders
People often think that lean is a kind way to work. But lean is a thing – and things aren’t kind or unkind – people are! In order for leaders to be able to develop people to work in lean ways, create, and innovate, they need to lead with kindness.
In this webinar, you’ll learn about the Three Key Kind Leader Practices of Thinking, Speaking, and Acting Kindly, from Karyn Ross’s latest book "The Kind Leader: A Practical Guide to Eliminating Fear, Creating Trust and Leading with Kindness," and how and why they are the key to lean leadership.

Jul 7, 2023 • 17min
Remembering Masaaki Imai - "Kaizen" - Greg Jacobson & Mark Graban of KaiNexus
In this episode, Mark and Greg remember Masaaki Imai, who recently passed away at 92.
They were both deeply influenced by Mr. Imai and his book "KAIZEN: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success."
Without Greg being given this book by his Emergency Department leader, there would be no KaiNexus. Greg discusses the importance of the book to him and others -- and the broad influence it has had.
Mark shares stories about meeting Mr. Imai (once in Seattle and twice in Japan) and some of the classic ideas -- that Kaizen means everybody improvement, everywhere improvement, every day improvement.
See Mr. Imai talk about this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqKMlRJUAJk&ab_channel=KaizenInstitute-SouthAsia%26Africa
They also discuss the connections between Kaizen and Lean books and practice -- and how Kaizen should be a core part of a Lean strategy, as it is at Toyota and other companies.
Get the book KAIZEN on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3XAg2mz
This approach should be the key to a hospital's success, or any organization's success -- not just manufacturing and not just in Japan.
Mark's blog post about meeting Mr. Imai: https://www.leanblog.org/2012/06/meeting-mr-imai/
Greg's journal article about Kaizen: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1553-2712.2009.00580.x

Jun 28, 2023 • 8min
Kathryn Abbott:Why I Joined KaiNexus as a Customer Success Specialist
Mark Graban, a senior advisor with KaiNexus, is joined by Kathryn Abbott, who joined KaiNexus three months ago as a customer success specialist.
In this episode, she shares her thoughts on what stood out to her about the culture and the people, as she was interviewing and how that's been reinforced by her first months at the company. She also shares a little bit about the way she helps customers in her role.

Jun 22, 2023 • 8min
[Preview] Why Kindness is the Key to Lean Leadership, Webinar with Karyn Ross
Learn more and register
Mark Graban, from KaiNexus, and Karyn Ross discuss her upcoming webinar.
July 11 from 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm ET
Presented by Karyn Ross, Founder of The New School for Kind Leaders
People often think that lean is a kind way to work. But lean is a thing – and things aren’t kind or unkind – people are! In order for leaders to be able to develop people to work in lean ways, create, and innovate, they need to lead with kindness.
In this webinar, you’ll learn about the Three Key Kind Leader Practices of Thinking, Speaking, and Acting Kindly, from Karyn Ross’s latest book "The Kind Leader: A Practical Guide to Eliminating Fear, Creating Trust and Leading with Kindness," and how and why they are the key to lean leadership.
About the Presenter:
Karyn Ross
Karyn is on a mission to Help People Create a Better, Kinder World. An artist, internationally acclaimed speaker, award-winning author, consultant, coach and practitioner, Karyn travels the globe teaching people her unique system of combining creativity, continuous improvement and kindness to make a better world. As well as being the owner of KRC (Karyn Ross Consulting) Karyn is one of the Founding Mothers of Women in Lean – Our Table, a global group of more than seven hundred and fifty women lean practitioners. Karyn is also Founder and President of the Love and Kindness Project Foundation, a registered public charity and The New School for Kind Leaders. She has created both of these initiatives to help people around the world think, speak, act and lead more kindly.
Karyn’s sixth book, The Kind Leader: A Practical Guide to Eliminating Fear, Creating Trust and Leading with Kindness is available for preorder. Karyn’s five other books are: How to Coach for Creativity and Service Excellence: A Lean Coaching Workbook, the Shingo-award winning The Toyota Way to Service Excellence: Lean Transformation in Service Organizations, I’ll Keep You Posted: 102 of My Reflections to Help You Start – and Deepen – Your Own Active Reflection Process, Think Kindly – Speak Kindly – Act Kindly: 366 Easy and Free Ideas You Can Use to Create a Kinder World…Starting Today, and Big Karma and Little Kosmo Help Each Other. Proceeds from books fund The Love and Kindness Project Foundation.
When not traveling, Karyn spends time designing and sewing her own clothes! Follow Karyn on LinkedIn for a daily inspirational post about creativity, kindness and/or continuous improvement.

Jun 8, 2023 • 25min
[More Q&A] Psychological Safety as a Foundation for Continuous Improvement
Additional Q&A from Mark Graban's webinar...

Jun 8, 2023 • 1h
[Webinar] Psychological Safety as a Foundation for Continuous Improvement
Learn more, get the video version, slides, and more
Presented by Mark Graban, KaiNexus Senior Advisor
Mark’s presentation will explore the connections between Psychological Safety and Continuous Improvement, using examples from Toyota, KaiNexus, and other companies.
Mark will explore how we can assess the current state of Psychological Safety in teams or across a broader organization. He’ll also discuss what leaders can do to help create conditions where employees feel safe enough to speak up about mistakes, problems, and improvement ideas.

Jun 6, 2023 • 10min
[Preview] Psychological Safety as a Foundation for Continuous Improvement
Register for the webinar
Today, Morgan Wright and Mark Graban preview Mark's upcoming webinar... "Psychological Safety as a Foundation for Continuous Improvement"
June 8 from 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm ET
Presented by Mark Graban, KaiNexus Senior Advisor
Mark’s presentation will explore the connections between Psychological Safety and Continuous Improvement, using examples from Toyota, KaiNexus, and other companies.
Mark will explore how we can assess the current state of Psychological Safety in teams or across a broader organization. He’ll also discuss what leaders can do to help create conditions where employees feel safe enough to speak up about mistakes, problems, and improvement ideas.
Mark's book

May 11, 2023 • 1h 2min
[Webinar] Sustaining Continuous Improvement with Habit Science
More information, slides, and video recording
As presented May 11 from 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm ET
Presented by Morgan Wright (Customer Marketing Manager) andGreg Jacobson, MD (co-founder and CEO), from KaiNexus.
Come join the final webinar in our three-part habit webinar series to learn how we sustain and maximize organizational habits in a continuous improvement culture. In this 1 hour webinar, we will review the highlights from the prior habits webinars, learn how you can design organizational habits, develop your Habit Loops by persona, and share stories of organizations who have seen incredible results from implementing habits.