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My Favorite Mistake: Learning Without Blame in Business and Leadership

My Favorite Mistake: Learning Without Blame in Business and Leadership

Mark Graban

397 episodesEN

Show overview

My Favorite Mistake: Learning Without Blame in Business and Leadership has been publishing since 2020, and across the 6 years since has built a catalogue of 397 episodes. That works out to roughly 240 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a weekly cadence.

Episodes typically run thirty-five to sixty minutes — most land between 32 min and 45 min — and the run-time is fairly consistent across the catalogue. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-language Business show.

The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 3 days ago, with 27 episodes already out so far this year. The busiest year was 2021, with 105 episodes published. Published by Mark Graban.

Episodes
397
Running
2020–2026 · 6y
Median length
40 min
Cadence
Weekly

From the publisher

My Favorite Mistake is a podcast about learning without blame in business and leadership. Despite the name, it’s not just my favorite mistake—it’s yours, it’s ours, and it’s what we can all learn from when things don’t go as planned. Hosted by author and consultant Mark Graban, each episode features honest conversations with leaders, executives, entrepreneurs, and changemakers about a meaningful mistake they made—and what they learned after things went wrong. How they responded. How they improved. How they grew as leaders. This isn’t a show about failure theater, gotcha moments, or simplistic “lessons learned.” It’s about how real people reflect, improve, and lead better in complex organizations—without scapegoating, shame, or hindsight bias. What You’ll Hear • Leadership and management mistakes that reshaped careers, teams, and organizations• How teams and leaders learn without blaming individuals• Insights about culture, systems, decision-making, and psychological safety• Practical lessons drawn from real experience, not abstract theory Guests come from business, healthcare, technology, sports, entertainment, government, and academia, sharing stories that reveal how learning actually happens. The Perspective Mark brings a systems-thinking lens grounded in Lean management, continuous improvement, and psychological safety. The focus is less on who messed up and more on what the system taught us. Who This Podcast Is For • Leaders and managers who want to learn from mistakes without blame• Executives working to build healthier, more resilient cultures• Professionals who believe improvement starts with reflection, not punishment My Favorite Mistake: Learning Without Blame in Business and Leadership

Latest Episodes

View all 397 episodes

Stop Chasing Results, Start Pursuing Peace of Mind - with Deborah Coviello

May 11, 202640 min

Going Gun-Shy as a New Leader: Jesse Jackson on "We Tried That, It Didn't Work"

May 4, 202649 min

Processing Failure Without the Funk -- Dr. Melisa Buie

Apr 27, 202644 min

Why Chasing Growth Over Profit Cost This Founder $800K -- with Joel Steele

Apr 20, 202639 min

Why Walking Away from Tech Was the Wrong Move -- with Irna Hutabarat Athans

Apr 13, 202643 min

What Bruce Springsteen's Set List Teaches Leaders About Communication -- with Andy Freed

Apr 6, 202640 min

Why Hope Outperforms Resilience -- with Dr. Julia Garcia

Mar 30, 202644 min

Why "Have a Sense of Humor" Was the Wrong Company Value -- with Mike Chaput

Mar 23, 202646 min

Why Being Great at Your Job Isn't Enough to Get Promoted with Kendall Berg

Mar 16, 202645 min

The Mistake of Going It Alone -- with Patrick Engasser

Mar 9, 202642 min

Why Conflict Avoidance Costs More Than Conflict -- with Dr. Jen Fry

Mar 2, 202641 min

Robot Umpires Are Here: ABS and the Mistakes It May Create | Mistake of the Week

Feb 26, 20265 min

Public Health Shouldn’t Be Political — A Career “Mistake” That Changed Everything | Dr. Tyler Evans

Feb 23, 202655 min

When a Water Leak Turns a Street Into Ice: Mistake of the Week

Feb 19, 20264 min

Confusing Performance with Alignment — A Leadership Mistake That Causes Burnout, with Genevieve Skory

Feb 16, 202640 min

Olympic Medals That Couldn’t Handle the Celebration | Mistake of the Week

Feb 11, 20263 min

I Made a Marine Cry: Leadership, Authority, and Learning from Mistakes | Olaolu Ogunyemi

Feb 9, 202643 min

When Diesel Ends Up Where It Shouldn’t — Mistake of the Week:

Feb 5, 20265 min

Ray Zinn: Why Repeating the Same Mistake Is the Real Failure in Leadership

Feb 2, 202646 min

Undercharging for Consulting: Amy Rasdal on Fear, Pricing, and Knowing Your Worth

Jan 25, 202638 min
Mark Graban