This commentary provides a broad overview of the issues facing health care systems in their efforts to promote quality and safety. The author discusses pervasive cultural barriers and process limitations that contribute to errors, while providing a series of anecdotes to demonstrate how easy and frequent these events can occur. Approaches for improvement that draw from the experiences of non-health care organizations, such as Toyota, are included. The strength of the commentary lies in the compelling stories shared and the perspectives offered to foster change.