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 sees mistakes and blames “careless workers.” A blaming leader sees employees choosing not to speak up ..read more

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 collaborating for your next leadership forum or another executive event. I'm keen to share insights th ..read more

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.  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lean-blog-audio/support ..read more

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 --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lean-blog-audio/support ..read more

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 AME at their 2024 Conference in Atlanta later this year. Here's a short clip: --- Support this podcas ..read more

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 AME at their 2024 Conference in Atlanta later this year. Here's a short clip: --- Support this podcas ..read more

The blog post As we sit in seat 26A, mindlessly watching a movie, we take for granted that our cell phone (or the shirt off our back) won't be suddenly sucked out through a gaping hole in the side of a plane. That's because the odds of this happening are unimaginably low. Until now, that is. Are we entering a new era where shoddy manufacturing (or maintenance) exposes us to more risk, reversing a decades-old trend of greatly improved aviation safety? On January 5th, an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX-9, designed and assembled by Boeing, safely executed an emergency landing after a ..read more

The blog post Does it Feel Better to Be Vulnerable or Candid in a Workplace? I've learned so much from Timothy R. Clark of the firm LeaderFactor, author of the excellent book, The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety. I can't recommend his work enough--including his free podcasts, webinars, and more. I was fortunate to go through a formal certification course with him on Psychological Safety. He was a guest on my podcast, "My Favorite Mistake." He was kind enough to write a blurb about my book, The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation. Clark defines "Psychologica ..read more

The blog post Recently, I've heard an idea a few times that I'd like to share and discuss in this post. As I'm writing this, I can't remember who to cite. That's my mistake. I'll happily correct the post if I remember or somebody lets me know who to credit. Because I love this idea... but it's not my idea. It's pretty common for a speaker to ask the audience, at the end of a talk: "Do you have any questions?" I'm quite certain I've done that. Sometimes, the answer is yes. But the framing of the question is closed-ended. And the question, whether at a talk or during a meeting, might be intimida ..read more

The blog post It’s 9 p.m. in an operating room, just before the last procedure of a long day that had been full of delays. A nurse sees that the surgeon is about to make an incision without first stopping for the expected “timeout,” a crucial step that helps the team confirm, among other things, that the correct surgery is about to be performed on the correct side of the correct patient. The nurse is also concerned they don’t have enough units of blood on hand for this type of procedure.  The nurse pauses and wonders, “Should I speak up or keep quiet?” --- Support this podcast: https://p ..read more