Free checklist – Mark Graban
Why They Stopped Telling You
Find out whether fear or futility keeps people quiet
Every problem nobody mentions still gets paid for, just later and at a higher price. When people go quiet, most leaders assume fear and try to make speaking up feel safer. Sometimes that’s the problem. Often it’s only half of it.
The other half is futility. Fear sounds like “I expect speaking up to cost me something.” Futility sounds like “I don’t expect speaking up to accomplish anything useful.” They need different fixes. This free two-page checklist helps you find out which one you have, and what to do about each.
It comes from my upcoming book The Silence Tax, with lessons from GM, Boeing, NASA, the VA, and Rich Sheridan of Menlo Innovations. About five minutes to read, with a one-minute self-check you can answer today.
Get the free checklist (PDF)
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What’s inside
- The question to ask your team before you guess why they’re quiet, and what 1,052 workshop participants answered
- How to check for fear: the stories people tell, how you rate people who challenge things, and what you say when the news is bad
- How to check for futility: what happened the last few times someone raised a problem
- Why a new suggestion box or speak-up program often solves the wrong problem
- How to respond so speaking up feels worth repeating
- A one-minute self-check and three ways to use the checklist with your team
Read the book behind the checklist
The Silence Tax: How Leaders Drive Out Fear and Futility comes out February 2, 2027. It covers the stories behind this checklist and four leadership behaviors that change what people expect will happen when they speak up.
Bring this to your leaders
I work with leadership teams on psychological safety, speaking up, and building a culture where problems surface early. Keynotes, workshops, and coaching, in person or virtually.
More free guides
- Accountability Without Blame: what to say when someone brings you a mistake, so they bring you the next one too
- The Last to Know: a two-page checklist for leaders who’d rather hear bad news first
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 a three-time recipient of the Shingo Publication Award, a faculty member at the Lean Enterprise Institute, and a senior advisor to KaiNexus. He hosts the podcasts “Lean Blog Interviews” and “My Favorite Mistake” and writes at LeanBlog.org.