Operational Excellence Blog
The 3 Methods to Increase Profitability
Almost every business has the same goal – to increase profitability, however many organizations find this to be the most challenging aspect of business simply because there isn’t one answer. They tend to either over-complicate or over-simplify their approach when in...
3 Lessons from Delivering a TED Talk
I recently delivered a TED Talk and afterward I asked myself “What did I learn from the experience?” It was a reflective question and it reminded me that even as a presenter, it’s easy to be so focused on delivering our content that we forget that no matter what side...
Are you a dinosaur leading your company to extinction?
First, let me start off by saying that your age (thankfully) has nothing to do with being a dinosaur in the workplace – it’s all about your attitude. Recently I attended a seminar about the future of online learning. The seminar included several speakers from...
Are you a tourist, amateur or expert?
When I evaluate an individual’s skill level, I find that they fall into one of three categories: a tourist, amateur or expert. Like many things in life, it may be tempting to want to be an expert in everything, but each of these are vastly different and it is...
Can simple Lean tools solve big business problems?
If you are trying to solve a big business problem, you likely know there are numerous methodologies that you can use but sometimes it may be helpful to take a step back to a more simplistic level and see if a tool is all that you really need. A great example of this...
What is Change Management?
A significant challenge that Change Management practitioners face is how to quantify what they do. As recently as a few years ago, managing change was considered to be abstract and because of that practitioners struggled to sell their services. Today however, Change...
Are shiny objects draining your productivity?
Have you ever looked at the clock and realized that it’s nearly the end of the day and you still haven’t completed anything? Many people can be prone to what I like to call “chasing shiny objects” and very little gets done when you find yourself on this winding road....
Tackling a Big Hairy Project
Every organization has large problems to solve which are managed by Project Leaders and their teams who work hard to come up with impressive solutions. What they often find however, is their proposed solution has turned into a “big, hairy project”.
The Evolution of Learning
Where are you on the evolutionary scale? Take for instance this article, today there are numerous devices that you can view it on, but at one time, the only option was paper. It’s no secret that today’s world is
What does an elephant, a stop light, and a shopping cart have to do with Change Management?
Change Management can be incredibly challenging, most often because it is over complicated. I have had the opportunity to work with lots of great companies and individuals over the last 20 years
How are you using your data?
Data is becoming easier to access, quicker to analyze, and cheaper to store. As a result, it provides incredible opportunities for organizations to see things from completely different
How do you solve business problems?
There are always going to be problems to solve in your business, the list is endless. Every project has similar goals: to meet its objectives while completing it on time and
Why you should choose simplicity
Imagine that you have a new service, product, or way to monitor data and have spent countless hours developing the perfect solution. Once you roll out the new process, no
What is your customer response time?
In the competitive world of creating positive customer experiences, it is important to know how quickly your customers expect information from you. For example, if you are in sales,
What is the foundation for trust in the workplace?
A few months ago I had lunch with a business colleague (for our conversation, let’s fictitiously refer to him as Robert). A topic came up that Robert had some experience with,
Why leaders never stop learning
Can you name the last three books you read? What was your inspiration to read them? What did you learn? How about the last workshop you attended? Did you acquire a new way of thinking?
What would your coach say?
As a leader, your depth of knowledge is often put to the test. You are expected to have the knowledge required to make key decisions. What happens when you do not know the answer?
Simple guideline to overcome email misinterpretation
There is no doubt that email is a popular way to communicate. It requires very little effort to script an email and send it to your recipient. Once received, all they have to do is
What is the most common reason why strategy fails?
“We generally have a lot of excitement around our strategy once it is set. A year later, we revisit the strategy and learn that we did not come close to meeting our goals
How to simplify the process to overcome resistance to change – Change Management
When making a change in your organization you will always encounter some sort of resistance. While there are endless reasons, it is important to start
Are you steering your business through the rearview mirror?
Recently I had a conversation with a highly successful business leader who retired a few years ago. One of the issues he mentioned was his frustration with the “number
Why are you waiting to make a decision?
We’ve all been faced with making a difficult decision, and it’s natural to want to put it off until later because the expectation is that more time will make the decision
What is the number one killer of consistency?
Every business strives to deliver a consistent user experience to their customers. The goal is to have processes that are clear, straightforward and repeatable. To
Why do we get stuck in data analysis?
A few years ago a client asked me to help one of his Lean Six Sigma Black Belts who was struggling with data analysis. My first step was to evaluate his data to gain a better
Overcoming fear of data and statistics and becoming a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt
Today more than ever, we have access to infinite amounts of data. I have to admit, I enjoy exploring the story that can be found through analyzing data; what is it telling us,
Is it time to cancel your Lean Six Sigma project (or any project)?
It is all too common, your lean six sigma project has been active for a while, it is starting to slow down, and interest seems to be fading. While there can be many causes
Simple steps to improve customer surveys
Our inboxes are full of surveys. Companies want to learn more about us, the reason why we chose them, our experiences with working with them, and our overall level of satisfaction.
Is excellent customer service always possible?
Most leaders expect great customer service from their teams. Excellent service starts before a customer is encountered, and does not end until your customer has had a positive resolution to their issue.
How healthy is the money tree in your organization?
Every organization has a money tree. It is really simple, your tree flourishes when your company is growing, innovating, has loyal customers,
What do your customers want?
To answer this question, let’s start by identifying your customers. Are they the end consumer of your product or service? Are they the intermediary who re-sells your product?
Who is responsible for innovation in your company?
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, innovation is a new idea, device, or method. My preference is to modify this definition by defining innovation as making something better, faster or cheaper.
What are you really good at?
Fill in the blank, I am good at____________. As leaders we are expected to be good at many things: vision, strategy, communication, decision making, relationship management, etc.
Why Kaizen is superior for rapid problem solving
In today’s fast-paced environment, business leaders want immediate results. With these demands, we are frequently challenged with the need to solve problems quickly.
Are you addicted to saying yes?
Yes, let’s increase the scope of the project; Yes, let’s initiate multiple organization wide projects; Yes let’s do this; Yes, let’s do that. By saying yes all the time, what does it tell us
What is the first rule of continuous improvement?
It’s simple; the first rule of making any improvement is you must be able to measure it. If you are unable to measure it, then you cannot improve it.
Does your Lean Six Sigma Project Add Value to your Organization?
When working with senior leaders I like to ask questions about how they measure project success. Most leaders are interested in projects that have a return on investment (ROI).
Finding simple solutions to drastically improve project execution
In business today, most people work in project environments. Our jobs are to identify and execute projects to achieve agreed upon goals. Not always an easy feat to accomplish.
Top 5 things companies do to succeed in their first 10 years
I was completely oblivious to the warnings; 96% of companies fail within their first 10 years in business, you will not succeed, you have no experience in this space, why would anyone choose a new business
How listening is a powerful catalyst for change
While on a business trip, a friend stopped by my house to catch up. This friend also happens to be a competitor of mine and it did not take long to realize that he was all business and had something important to share.
How I failed the company culture test
As a newly minted executive at a company I once worked for, I was invited to participate in a strategy session with a group of 20-25 leaders. The executive responsible
Do we torture the data until it tells us the truth?
A few years ago I had the opportunity to participate in an annual planning session at a large organization. The most challenging topic discussed was the company’s financial outlook.
Why are elephants so hard to ride?
Often there are two driving forces behind managing change, logic and emotion. The first is typically a number crunching exercise. With logic we say, “The data clearly shows us
Which one matters, perception or reality?
Several years ago I had the opportunity to work with a large publicly traded company to address concerns about customer satisfaction. This organization relied on independent industry-wide
Is managing to the average good enough?
We like the word “average”. We use it every day in all aspects of what we do. “The average hold time is 2 minutes”; “Our average turnaround time is 15 days”; “On average
How do you navigate through change – Change Management
The goal of managing through change is to move from a current state to a future state with the least amount of resistance. Sometimes a change happens with ease and other times it is incredibly difficult. Imagine change management as positioning yourself on one side of...
Is Lean Six Sigma still relevant?
In order to stay relevant one needs to adapt to meet the needs of its current audience. Let's take a look at Six Sigma, a commonly applied business process improvement methodology throughout many companies worldwide. For those that have been around business...
Why did your Lean Six Sigma Project Succeed and Mine Failed?
Key to Lean Six Sigma Project Success Over the years I have had the opportunity to work with thousands of lean six sigma project leaders who are looking to apply their lean six sigma skills towards successful project completion. A frequently asked question is, "what...
