Mark Graban

Author, educator, speaker, and vice president of improvement and innovation

Mark Graban is an author, educator, podcaster, and speaker in lean and continuous improvement strategies through his company Constancy Inc. He is a senior advisor to the technology company KaiNexus, the founder of LeanBlog.org, and the author of Lean Hospitals, Healthcare Kaizen (Routledge, 2016) with Joseph E. Swartz, both recipients of the Shingo Publication Award. Mark’s most recent books are Measures of Success (Constancy, 2018) and The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation (Constancy, 2023).

Thu, 10/31/2024 - 12:03
World Series Defect: Wrong Pitcher Lessons learned from a very public error
Tue, 11/01/2011 - 14:46
People in health care know that miscommunications are a major cause of errors and potential harm. A curious incident that occurred during game five of the 2011 World Series illustrated this issue in a very public way: A miscommunication set off an…
Simple, Brilliant, Error Proofing at the Amazing In-N-Out Burger A little help for the not-so-common sensible
Mon, 04/11/2011 - 05:30
I was in Los Angeles on Tuesday, and I had a little extra time on my way to the Burbank airport, which meant a rare treat—lunch at the famed In-N-Out Burger. I don’t mean to be that guy who tweets what he eats, but my lunch is pictured at right…
GM Blames Layoffs on Earthquake but Should Look in the Mirror Just-in-time inventory halfway around the world won’t do
Thu, 03/24/2011 - 06:00
Let me give a big ole’ Texas-sized hat tip to Bob Emiliani for sending me the sad article with the headline  “General Motors Lays Off Workers at NY Plant.” This is in addition to General Motors Co. (GM) suspending its Shreveport, Louisiana, assembly…
GM Blames Layoffs on Earthquake but Should Look in the Mirror Just-in-time inventory halfway around the world won’t do
Thu, 03/24/2011 - 06:00
Let me give a big ole’ Texas-sized hat tip to Bob Emiliani for sending me the sad article with the headline  “General Motors Lays Off Workers at NY Plant.” This is in addition to General Motors Co. (GM) suspending its Shreveport, Louisiana, assembly…
Three Reasons the General Public Doesn’t Think Health Care Can Improve 1+2+3 = Awesome?
Mon, 09/27/2010 - 06:00
Lean thinkers see the waste in health care when they are at the hospital gemba. I think this is true whether you are a lean person who is new to health care or if you’re a long-time hospital person who has learned lean. Experts (doctors) ranging…
How to Design Poor Service Expect 100-percent utilization of people or resources.
Wed, 08/11/2010 - 07:20
I have as many bad customer-service experiences as the next guy, with health care and other businesses. As I’ve said before, unless there’s a broader lesson involved, I try not to be a “hack” blogger who just uses his platform to complain about the…
Thinking and Adapting in the Context of Standardized Work Don’t be afraid to use your brains.
Tue, 02/16/2010 - 08:15
When I was in Sweden recently, we had a lot of good discussion about the lean concept of “standardized work.” There was much agreement from different presenters at the lean laboratories conference, and from the hospital people we visited,…
Takt Time for Apple's App Store and for Health Care The juggling act of time and demand
Tue, 09/01/2009 - 15:00
A couple of Sundays ago, I read this New York Times article about Apple's "App Store" for the iPhone and iPod Touch (I've been a pretty happy iPhone user for the past three months after switching over from BlackBerry). I'm going to try to use…