Mark Graban - A Wide-Ranging Nerd Out with Mark Graban

Welcome back to the Improvement Nerds Podcast!

In this episode, we nerd out with Mark Graban—award-winning author, consultant, speaker, and senior advisor to KaiNexus. Mark has dedicated his career to showing the world that Lean isn’t confined to factory walls. He’s the author of Lean Hospitals, Healthcare Kaizen, Measures of Success, and most recently The Mistakes That Make Us.

Mark also hosts two long-running podcasts: Lean Blog Interviews (now in its 20th year!) and My Favorite Mistake, a storytelling favorite exploring how learning from failure drives growth.

In our conversation, we cover:

How Lean thinking found its way from factories to hospitals

Why reacting less can actually make leaders more effective

How psychological safety transforms improvement cultures

The mistakes that truly make us stronger

Why site visits, Japan study trips, and continuous curiosity fuel lasting improvement

Whether you’re in healthcare, manufacturing, or just looking to sharpen your improvement mindset, this episode is packed with stories, lessons, and practical takeaways.

👉 If you’ve ever heard “that won’t work here,” this conversation is your counter-example.

Timestamps

0:00 – Intro & catching up with Mark Graban

3:45 – Mark’s early career in manufacturing (GM, Dell, Honeywell)

9:20 – Transitioning Lean principles into healthcare

15:05 – The early days of Lean Hospitals & publishing Lean Hospitals

23:30 – The role of laboratories in Lean healthcare adoption

30:55 – Resistance to Lean in healthcare: “Patients aren’t cars”

37:10 – From Healthcare Kaizen to engaging frontline staff

44:40 – Measures of Success and Process Behavior Charts

54:15 – Why reacting less helps leaders lead better

1:02:20 – The “poop emoji” story and why dashboards mislead

1:11:05 – The power of psychological safety in improvement

1:20:15 – The Mistakes That Make Us and learning from failure

1:32:40 – Lessons from Toyota and Japan study trips

1:41:15 – What’s next for Mark Graban

1:44:30 – Where to find Mark online

1:46:00 – Wrap-up and key takeaways

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