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On IndustryWeek: What We Learned: Expertise and Episodes from Three Years of ‘Factory Talk’ The video series Factory Talk began as a collaborative project between me and IndustryWeek to bring voices of leadership from the factory floors to all of you. These interviews were meant to focus on practical techniques

If you’re just doing your job the best you can, then this article may not be for you. However, if you have multiple things going at once, from side hustles to learning projects, then what follows can be tremendously useful. For me, it is now an annual reflection and planning

When I wrote my first draft of People Solve Problems, I was very clear that the tools were not where the magic was but I still referred to my favorite tools and methods a bit too often. After a structural edit and some great feedback, I committed further to write

We should all speed up our decision-making in this faster-moving world, right? Well, only partially right. In this video, we’ll explain how our decision-making should be really split into faster decisions and deliberately slower decisions. I’ll share why, and also the core methods you might consider to help.

I witness this breakdown in critical thinking far too frequently. Just because a person or an organization is highly respected and capable, does not mean that we should judge all of their decisions, actions, and opinions based on that respect. We should be skeptical. We should challenge. After all, Aristotle

Stress is hopelessness Stress is better understood today, and in particular its impact on our physical health. In our worst vicious circles, stress about poor health can lead to even further decline in health.  Acknowledgement of stress is also now more acceptable, and not just a sign of weakness that

The 6 Types of Working Genius by Patrick Lencioni is a thought-provoking and insightful guide to unlocking the potential of individuals and teams in the workplace. Lencioni, also known for books such as The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and Death by Meeting, identifies six types of working geniuses that

The Misunderstood Impact of Misaligned Perceptions of Your Abilities With Your Boss …or, why it’s not about your risk of getting fired.    You might hear from your boss “you’re great, a rockstar, we have every faith in you, you’re going to go far, but…you could improve in these ways…”

No matter what your profession, everyone should consider at some point in time a personal work retreat. For me, it is usually about research and writing. Certainly, almost all of People Solve Problems was written across multiple retreats up to the mountains. Bill Gates would take his “think weeks” away

Whether in problem-solving, or broad lean behaviors, or seeing the customer as an entrepreneur, there is much articulated about the idea of going to see for yourself. There are many terms for it, such as “direct observation” that we articulated in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Lean, or Gemba commonly used