Structural Tension is a way of Getting things Done

In Lean, understanding current state (reality) is a key to improvement. Our existing aspirations and values form this current condition. Are dynamic urges (targets) are how we form are future state. Robert Fritz and his book The Path of Least Resistance for Managers outlines an excellent approach for practicing PDCA both at the micro and Read More …

Project and Change Management Simplified

“When employees resist change, it isn’t because they’re stupid. It’s because they’re smart,” says Bob Lewis. Bob is the president of IT Catalysts and author of Bare Bones Project Management: What you can’t not do and Bare Bones Change Management: What you shouldn’t not do. With titles like this, how could you not buy these Read More …

Why Projects Fail? – Dilbert

This is a video George Carr uploaded to YouTube and used in a lesson about “Why IT Projects fail” – told through the medium of Dilbert. Most of our careers or at least mine has been spent in managing projects. In the past several years, it seems that project management is taking a significant shift Read More …

What a Rat taught me about Toyota Kata

What’s more rewarding — eating a piece of candy, or the sense of anticipation you feel just before you eat it? As far as your brain is concerned, it’s probably the latter. Cynergey’s Kes Sampanthar explains what dopamine reveals about the neuroscience of motivation. In Mike Rother’s book Toyota Kata: Managing People for Improvement, Adaptiveness Read More …

Lean Supply Chain Thoughts

Paul Myerson was my guest on the Business901 Podcast, Extending Lean Supply Chain Thinking. Paul recently authored Lean Supply Chain and Logistics Management, a practical guide that will assist you in leveraging your improvements to both vendors and customers. Along the way, you may pick a few other Lean Tips to improve operations in general. Read More …

Standard Work in Sales & Marketing

Make no mistake about it; EXECUTION is what we are looking for from standard work. If you execute, you can do anything. When a company has a clear mission, and people know how their individual mission fits into the big picture, everyone paddles in the same direction. —Stephen Cooper The biggest influence on my ability Read More …