Does Lean Create too much Structure?

I am a big advocate of standard work, though I might have a different take on it which you can view in this post, Holacracy, Zappos and Standard Work. I always like to get other viewpoint on the subject and in a past podcast with one of my favorite Lean people, Drew Locher, I had Read More …

Need Customers, Create an Effortless Exp

How much of your business innovation focuses on ease of use versus being on the cutting edge? How much of Apple’s success was a result of making things simpler to use versus being innovated? Few Apple products were first to market; they usually were 3rd or 4th to market. However, they always excelled at USE Read More …

Keep Users Happy, and Customers Follow

Half of all consumer purchases are either transacted online or driven by online research and word of mouth. To succeed in the digital marketplace, it’s no longer customers that matter most, but users—anyone who interacts with your company digitally. Keep users happy, and customers follow. I asked Aaron Shapiro CEO of digital agency HUGE and Read More …

Standard Work in Lean Services

Standard Work is a big part of Lean. But there seems to be a lot of confusion about that in services. Can Standard Work still be a part for the creative type and for services? I asked Debashis “Deb” Sarka, one of world’s leading lights in the space of Service Lean. Related Podcast and Transcription: Read More …

In Service, A Clear Process Matters

Besides having a clear brand promise we need a clear process for staff to be able to engage effectively with customers. Processes and Standards enables your staff to make decisions. It enables flexibility and/or agility in handling customers. I ask John Goodman the Vice Chairman of Customer Care Measurement and Consulting, if he thought this Read More …

Theory of Constraints = Buffer Management

Dr. Eli Goldratt, founder of the Theory of Constraints, said Reaching The Goal: How Managers Improve a Services Business Using Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints was one of the best books ever written on TOC. It was published in 2008 by IBM Press and authored by Dr. John Ricketts, a practitioner and innovator in the field Read More …