When Diesel Ends Up Where It Shouldn’t — Mistake of the Week:
Thu Feb 05 2026
Most of us pull up to a gas pump on autopilot—until something goes wrong.
In this Mistake of the Week, host Mark Graban looks at a real-world systems failure that affected hundreds of drivers across the Denver metro area. Due to an upstream error at a fuel terminal, diesel fuel was mistakenly delivered into the gasoline supply—leading to stalled cars, tow trucks, and costly repairs.
Instead of rushing to blame or punishment, Colorado regulators emphasized learning, investigation, and prevention. That response matters—and it offers an important lesson about mistake-proofing, system design, and leadership.
In this episode, Mark explores:
Why focusing on who made the mistake misses the real problem
How mistake-proofing works—and where it often fails
Why downstream safeguards can’t fix upstream system errors
What leaders can learn from choosing curiosity over blame
Mistakes like this are disruptive and expensive—but they also create an opportunity to improve systems so the same error doesn’t happen again.
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Most of us pull up to a gas pump on autopilot—until something goes wrong. In this Mistake of the Week, host Mark Graban looks at a real-world systems failure that affected hundreds of drivers across the Denver metro area. Due to an upstream error at a fuel terminal, diesel fuel was mistakenly delivered into the gasoline supply—leading to stalled cars, tow trucks, and costly repairs. Instead of rushing to blame or punishment, Colorado regulators emphasized learning, investigation, and prevention. That response matters—and it offers an important lesson about mistake-proofing, system design, and leadership. In this episode, Mark explores: Why focusing on who made the mistake misses the real problem How mistake-proofing works—and where it often fails Why downstream safeguards can’t fix upstream system errors What leaders can learn from choosing curiosity over blame Mistakes like this are disruptive and expensive—but they also create an opportunity to improve systems so the same error doesn’t happen again.