Davis Balestracci
As I was preparing this column, one of my resources referred to chapter 48 of the 2,500-year-old Tao te Ching (quoted below), which, as some of you know, is one of my favorite sources of wisdom. It...
Lolly Daskal
T
he negotiation phase of my client’s merger with a larger organization was drawing to a close. This consolidation was going to be big news, and everyone was looking forward to getting it done...
Katherine Watts
It amazes me how seemingly disparate ideas, when considered together, can create new ways of seeing the world. Bear with me for a minute, and I’ll share an insight I’ve received lately based on two...
Niranjan Deodhar
As process improvement practitioners, we get hired to drive waste and variation out of our clients’ businesses. But what if we hired ourselves, provided frank advice, and then...
Michelle LaBrosse
For many people, January is the time of the year to set and pursue new goals. As the years go on, this yearly goal-setting becomes routine. Even though you have new goals you’re passionate...
Quy Huy
I
t’s no longer a secret that most companies struggle with strategy execution. McKinsey research tells us, for example, that 70 percent of change efforts fall short of desired results. The...
Jason Furness
We all have problems in life, in business, everywhere. Many of us have “solving problems” as the key component of our daily roles. Management and any form of supervision only exist in order to help...
Bruce Hamilton
This is an article inspired by the glut of recent football weekends. Lou Holtz, the legendary college and pro football coach, offers the following advice to coaches everywhere: “I never learn...
Annette Franz
When people at your company think about “customer loyalty,” are they thinking about your customers’ likelihood to recommend, likelihood to repurchase, or likelihood to purchase additional products...
Christine Schaefer
As a city leader, Tommy Gonzalez started using the Baldrige Excellence Framework in 2008 to achieve operational excellence within a municipal government. In his role as manager of Irving, Texas, at...
Lolly Daskal
A young man came to his wise leader and asked how he could be a better leader. The wise leader said, “Let me pour you a cup of tea.” And so he started pouring a cup of tea; he kept pouring and...
Arun Hariharan
I don’t claim to be qualified to advise other quality professionals. However, having had an opportunity to work for many years in this field with reasonable results and also having made my share of...
William A. Levinson
My article, “Change and Risk-Based Thinking” describes management of change (MOC) as a safety-related phrase from the chemical process industry. MOC says that anything new, different, or nonroutine...
Diane Adams
Creating a great culture is a key responsibility of leadership. When you invest in building a strong culture, the business and financial results follow. Fail to do so and your business will end up...
Jason Furness
In part one of this three-part series, we looked at the first two layers of resistance to change. Part two looked at the second two layers. Here we look at the final two layers, obstacles to...
Luk Van Wassenhove
Establishing a clear and consistent focus, and knowing when to change it, is the essence of manufacturing agility. Factories don’t just make things. Viewed properly, they are where the rubber of...
Jason Furness
In part one of this three-part series, we moved through the initial and often overlooked layers of resistance: first, why change; and second, how to overcome disagreement on the nature of...
Lolly Daskal
Leadership may be complex, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. We can always simplify. Often our greatest hardships are those we impose upon ourselves.
There are some who think that in order to...
Matthew Littlefield
Although there is no bad time to improve quality management maturity, an optimal time is during fiscal planning for a new year. Executives and quality professionals who are affected by the...
Jason Furness
This is the first part of a three-part series on the “six layers of resistance.” It’s based on the work of Eliyahu Goldratt, who has now passed away. Goldratt was the originator of a body of...
