My Favorite Mistake: Learning Without Blame in Business and Leadership

Lean Manufacturing Expert Bob Rush is ”A Big Fan of Mistakes”

Show notes: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake90
My guest for Episode #90 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Bob Rush, a Lean manufacturing expert, a management consultant (Bob Rush Consulting), and a contributor to the anthology book Practicing Lean.
His bio from his chapter read: "Bob has over 35 years of operations experience and has had over 25 years of Lean practice. His experience is in companies ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies, and title levels that ranged from shipping clerk to VP of operations. Some of the companies he has worked with, and for, include Hewlett Packard, JDS Uniphase, and Idex Corporation. His journey includes ten years of consulting experience, where he had only himself to blame if things didn’t work out." Bob was also "associate Lean manager" at Tesla Motors from 2015 to 2018 before returning to consulting.
In today's episode, Bob shares his “favorite mistake” story about not realizing, at first, that “Lean” is a system, not a toolbox. Why does he say that “the biggest project I’ll ever work on is myself”?
Other topics and questions:
What’s your elevator speech about Lean? How do you explain it to a CEO?
Creating a culture where it’s OK to talk about mistakes?
What was the teaching style of your mentors? They knew you’d figure it out? Not simple telling…
“Big fan of making mistakes” – Why did he once give a reward for the biggest mistake?
Find Bob onLinkedIn
 
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A Model, Author, and Breast Cancer Survivor Who Learned to Ask for Help: Christine Handy

My guest for Episode #89 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Christine Handy, a motivational speaker, author, and breast cancer survivor.
Show notes: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake89
In 2016, Christine released her first book Walk Beside Me, a fictional depiction of her illness and a long road to recovery. After her diagnosis, Christine now aims to serve as a spokesperson, speaker, and Ambassador for cancer-related causes.
An accomplished model, Christine began her career at the age of 11 in her hometown of St. Louis. Throughout her career, she has done campaigns for notable brands like Guess, J. Crew, JC Penney, Bud Light, Pepsi, Petco, and Target.
In today's episode, Christine shares her “favorite mistake” story about “quitting” on herself and being afraid to ask for help while battling cancer. How did she manage to put aside pride and to learn to ask for help?
Other topics and questions:
What led to not wanting the help anymore?
What turned you around?
We believe we’re helping others by not asking for help
Tell us about the book — Walk Beside Me — Why a fictionalization?
Who would you want to play you in the movie that's being made? Jamie King
Why does self-esteem need to be worked on every day?
Why do you have to question authority?
Find her onLinkedInInstagramTwitterYouTube
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When Early Success Kills Innovation

Author, CEO & Founder of The Creator Mindset, LLC.
Show notes: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake88
My guest for Episode #88 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Nir Bashan, CEO & Founder of The Creator Mindset, LLC.
Nir is a world-renowned creativity expert. He has taught thousands of leaders and individuals across the globe how to harness the power of creativity to improve profitability, increase sales and ultimately create more meaning in their work. Nir has worked on numerous albums, movies, and advertisements with famous actors and musicians ranging from Rod Stewart to Woody Harrelson. His work on creativity has won a Clio Award and was nominated for an Emmy.
As founder and CEO of The Creator Mindset Consulting, his company produces workshops, consulting, coaching and keynote speaking engagements at conferences and corporate events. His clients include AT&T, Microsoft, Ace Hardware, NFL Network, EA Sports and jetBlue.
His book The Creator Mindset: 92 Tools to Unlock the Secrets to Innovation, Growth, and Sustainability, which has been translated into two languages, was released worldwide by McGraw/Hill business in August of 2020.
In today's episode, Nir shares his "favorite mistake," which involved his film production company that released a documentary film ("The Kitchen") that did well... but then went out of business. Why was it a problem to rest on their initial success? Why did it "work for a while" before "tanking"?
Other topics and questions:
Applying those lessons from your experience to your current business?
Takeaway – “I don’t sell anything anymore”
Why he does more listening now
Can you have a process for being creative?
It’s a tool to use, not a gift?
Prof. Amy Edmondson, in her blurb for your book, makes reference to “using mistakes to learn fast” — tell us more about that…
Look at the mistake in a positive way
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Borrowing Money From Family — and Not Being Able to Quit

CEO and founder of Shufflrr
Show notes: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake87
My guest for Episode #87 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is AlexAnndra Ontra. As President and co-founder of Shufflrr, AlexAnndra is blazing a trail in the emerging new discipline of presentation management.
The technology she helped create is already powering the presentation strategies of hundreds of Fortune-level companies, helping them save millions of dollars by transforming humble PowerPoint slides into invaluable business assets. Shufflrr visualizes your company's content so you can find, see, read through, that one great slide or file when you need it.
Alex is also the co-author of the book Presentation Management: The New Strategy for Enterprise Content.
In today's episode Alex shares her “favorite mistake,” which was borrowing money from her mother to start a tech company. When the great recession hit, she couldn't make the payments, which weighed on her heavily. She couldn’t just quit and move on — she stuck with it and the company is thriving now.
Other topics and questions:
What's it like starting a business with a sibling?
Mistakes speakers make with presentations?
Mistakes companies make in managing presentation slides?
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Customers Wanted Solutions — We Gave Them Technology

Global President and CEO at AposHealth
Show notes: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake86
My guest for Episode #86 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Cliff Bleustein, MD, MBA, the Global President and CEO at AposHealth. Read his full corporate bio here.
Dr.Bleustein graduated from the Medical College of Wisconsin and completed his internship at the New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens. He later completed his residency in urology at Montefiore Medical Center. He went on to private practice Urology and became a board-certified Urologist. Dr. Bleustein earned a bachelor’s degree in science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He also received an executive master’s degree in business administration from NYU Stern School of Business where he now teaches Healthcare Economics as an Adjunct Professor.
In today's episode, Cliff tells a “favorite mistake” story about his time at a previous company. What happened when they realized that they were organized around technologies, but the customers wanted solutions. How did the company get to be that way and why did nothing change?
Other topics and questions:
Tell us about AposHealth — who are the customers?
Did your favorite mistake help you here?
Mistakes in healthcare? Openness about talking about mistakes?
Why does it take 17 years to adopt new technologies?
Creating a blame free culture in medicine? In sales?
As a CEO, what's your view on learning from mistakes?
Insights into growing a global medical organization?
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Why Being the “Solo Genius” Is a Leadership Trap

Author of "Hold Successful Meetings"
Show notes: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake85
My guest for Episode #85 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Caterina Kostoula. She is an executive coach and founder of The Leaderpath. Prior to The Leaderpath, Caterina was a Global Business Leader at Google where she managed some of the company's largest C-level partnerships. She was also an internal coach, awarded a 5-star-rating distinction from her coachees. Before Google, Caterina worked in advertising. Caterina has coached leaders from Google, Amazon, Vodafone, WPP, Ferrero, ArcelorMittal, Workable, and several entrepreneurs. She collaborates with INSEAD, coaching Executive MBAs and alumni. She is a member of the Forbes Coaches Council.
She is the author of the book, released today, Hold Successful Meetings, published by Penguin Business.
Caterina has lived in more than seven countries across America, Europe, and Asia. She now lives in London. She writes about personal development on Forbes, Fast Company, and Thrive Global. In 2017, she was one of Medium’s top writers on self-improvement, life lessons, and relationships. She holds an INSEAD MBA and an Executive Coaching Accreditation and MSc from Ashridge Business School. She has two young children and enjoys spending time with family and friends.
Topics and questions:
What is your favorite mistake? Mistake: kept generating and making all of the decisions as a solopreneur Lesson: Cannot make impact without a team – not just outsourcing Mentor asked: What kind of leader do you want to be?
In theory, leaders want ideas… but there's subtle sabotage Team members though say they’re scared Psychological safety – work on establishing this first
Why write the book? Out of pain and frustration?
What does “successful” mean in context of meetings?
4 reasons to have a meeting — 4Ds
Common mistakes related to meetings?
Mistakes with Virtual meetings? More tiring — make them shorter, take breaks every 45 min Interaction is harder – more interruption Meetings need more structure as a countermeasure Using breakouts
Quiz – how successful are your meetings? TheLeaderPath.com/meetings
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Quitting a 9-to-5 Job — and Falling Into a Pit of Despair

Business coach from the UK
Show notes and links: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake84
My guest for Episode #84 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is John Paragon, a business coach based in the UK — John is focused on coaching struggling fathers on discovering and launching their ideal business in 30 days. His website is www.paragonhustle.com.
Warning and disclaimer: There is a brief mention of the sensitive subject of suicide. If you are struggling, help is available Speak with someone today by calling the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.
Why did he leave a 9-to-5 job to end up in a “pit of despair” before finding more success and fulfillment? Why was he nicknamed “Honest John” when selling cars at a dealer and why was he a bad fit for having that trait of honesty? How has he succeeded in spite of dropping out of school at age 14? Why does he think every person should develop some sort of “side hustle”? Why does he focus specifically on coaching young fathers with starting businesses?
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When Overwork Turns Into a Health Crisis

Manager of Strategy & Organizational Change
My guest for Episode #83 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Sabrina Malter, a Manager of Strategy and Organizational Change at Roche Diagnostics (in Germany).
Show notes: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake83
Today, Sabrina shares two "favorite mistake" stories. One is about studying too much and not taking care of herself to the point that she lost her hearing for a period and suffered from short-term memory loss. How has she learned to notice the early warning signs of such overwork and stress? Her second story is about "playing it safe too much" and how "courage" was her theme for the year 2020.
We also talk about creating a workplace culture where it's safe to talk openly about mistakes, something we both agree is incredibly important. What happened when, as a fan of this podcast, she asked a new executive what his favorite mistake was?
And, does she know what the word "verschlimmbesserung" means? She does and she'll explain what it means to her.
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When a Customer Demanded Blame — and He Betrayed His Own Leadership Values (Kyle Kumpf)

Entrepreneur and financial services process improvement leader
Show notes: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake82
My guest for Episode #82 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Kyle Kumpf. He has founded a few businesses, has been a consultant, and is currently working in the financial services industry. Kyle has a bachelor's degree in packaging engineering technology from Indiana State University.
Like me, he's been deeply involved in process improvement work (Lean Six Sigma) and his current mission is "ending human suffering as it relates to process in Financial Services."
In this episode, Kyle talks about his "favorite mistake" involving a time when he "disobeyed one of his personal values" -- the customer wanted someONE to blame, and he wrote up an employee. Why did he regret this action and how did he realize it was a mistake? We talk about that, mistakes related to his passion of playing golf, and more.
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How Complacency Nearly Killed a Thriving Business (Aya Shlachter)

Mom, wife, entrepreneur, speaker, and CEO of MGS Global Group
Show notes: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake81
My guest for Episode #81 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Aya Shlachter, a mom, wife, entrepreneur, speaker, and CEO of MGS Global Group, a built environment, architectural and graphic design consulting firm serving the creative industry. Her team specializes in architectural support, graphics production support, and design consulting services in the retail, residential and hospitality sectors for leading brands, including Coach, Michael Kors, Tory Burch, and many restaurants.
Aya also runs the Architect My Life program, where she helps female creative entrepreneurs and CEOs like architects and designers scale to seven figures in 12 months or less while enjoying more out of life along the way. She will also be launching a podcast of the same name.
Aya earned a Master’s degree in Architecture and Urban Design from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
In this episode, Aya shares her favorite mistake about getting complacent in the early days of a business that was going really well… until it was not. Why was the business on “autopilot” and what problems did that cause? Thankfully, early recognition of the mistake prevented bigger problems.
Other topics and questions:
Mistakes in setting up her website?
Systems in place to prevent cashflow blindness?
Covid challenges — hold out or pivot?
Creating a system to look for blind spots / need to pivot?
Mistakes retailers make in store design?
Mistakes entrepreneurs make?
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