Free field guide – Mark Graban
Just PDSA It
Why kaizen, A3, and strategy deployment are one habit, and what it takes to make being wrong cheap
Most organizations have a method for improvement. Many have three. Good ideas still stall, and it’s rarely because people don’t know the steps. It’s because being wrong costs too much.
This free 22-page guide shows how kaizen, A3 problem solving, and strategy deployment run on the same learning loop, why “just do it” skips the part that teaches you something, and what leaders can do to make honest tests cheap.
Here’s the core idea from the guide: the difference between “just do it” and “just PDSA it” is a question on each end. Before: what do we expect? After: what did we see?
About 20 minutes to read, with a one-page cut-out: “A Pocket PDSA.”
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What’s inside
- One loop, three sizes: how quick and easy kaizen, A3 problem solving, and strategy deployment fit together, and a three-question rule for sizing the method to the problem
- Why “just do it” skips the Plan and the Study, and the two questions that turn an action into a test
- The health system that required a full A3 for everything, tried a mini-A3, and learned what a small improvement actually needs
- How to make being wrong cheap: the smallest test, reversibility, failing cheap on purpose, and asking permission to test rather than approval to adopt
- Study, not Check: how to tell a real result from noise, and the failure mode I call Plan-Do-Rationalize-Justify
- The two places the loop breaks, and one thing to try at your next approval meeting
Why people stay quiet in the Study step
Honest PDSA depends on people reporting what they saw, especially when it isn’t what the boss hoped. The Silence Tax is about the leadership behaviors that make that safe and worthwhile. Read the free preview.
Build the habit with your leadership team
Keynotes, workshops, and coaching on kaizen, A3 thinking, and the leadership behaviors that keep improvement honest, in person or virtually.
More free guides
- The Red Beads in Your KPI Review: how to tell a real result from noise in your own metrics
- Accountability Without Blame: what to say when someone brings you a mistake, including a test that failed
- The Empty Suggestion Box: why staff ideas die in hospitals, and how to get small tests started instead
About Mark Graban
Mark Graban is a consultant, author, professional speaker, and podcaster who helps organizations improve through Lean management, better use of metrics, and psychological safety. He’s the author of Lean Hospitals, co-author of Healthcare Kaizen, and a three-time recipient of the Shingo Publication Award. His next book, The Silence Tax, is out February 2, 2027.