2022

4 Mistakes in Establishing Clear Roles Through RACI

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 05-04-22

RACI is a well-known tool for helping to establishing clear roles, but it is often either avoided, or produces an underwhelming impact. RACI stands for Responsible, Accountable, Consult, and Inform. I believe the lack of effectiveness in using the RACI framework often comes down to 4 mistakes which I outline

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Happy Heuristics Podcast Episode #7

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 05-03-22

Happy Heuristics is a podcast about using rules of thumb, decision criteria, or heuristics to help leaders operate with speed and effectiveness in a complex and uncertain world. Podcast partners Jamie Flinchbaugh and Jeff Grimshaw explore specific heuristics, one theme at a time, that you can either adopt or use

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Abstraction and Precision in Standardization

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 04-27-22

Standardization is good, right? Well, it’s not quite that simple. We should standardize something because it helps us solve a problem, as I wrote about in Chapter 3 of People Solve Problems. Two variables in finding the RIGHT solution of standardization are the level of abstraction and the level of

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Breaking Down the Problem

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 04-19-22

Problem-solving is always a battle to get more focused and specific in what gap we are trying to close. Both the capabilities of problem statements as well as breaking down the problems help us do this, but they are more than just steps in a problem-solving tool. I write about

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Be Responsive, Not Reactive

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 04-12-22

Many organizations lost most of their momentum of continuous improvement and proactive problem solving throughout the pandemic, ending up forced into a stance of reactiveness. Many of those same organizations are struggling to climb out of that hole, especially where they are still fighting fires, such as those managing supply

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Happy Heuristics Podcast Episode #6

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 04-05-22

Happy Heuristics is a podcast about using rules of thumb, decision criteria, or heuristics to help leaders operate with speed and effectiveness in a complex and uncertain world. Podcast partners Jamie Flinchbaugh and Jeff Grimshaw explore specific heuristics, one theme at a time, that you can either adopt or use

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Happy Heuristics Episode 5

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 03-01-22

Happy Heuristics is a podcast about using rules of thumb, decision criteria, or heuristics to help leaders operate with speed and effectiveness in a complex and uncertain world. Podcast partners Jamie Flinchbaugh and Jeff Grimshaw explore specific heuristics, one theme at a time, that you can either adopt or use

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Problem Solving With the Board of Directors

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 02-23-22

Management teams run the company, and the board of directors provides governance and direction to do so. That seems simple enough to maintain some role clarity. A useful guiding phrase, repeated often by those with board experience, is “noses in, fingers out.” The meaning of that phrase is that you,

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Steps to Running an Effective Book Club

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 02-16-22

A long time ago I was running an off-shift in operations. Late at night, we didn’t have any resources coming to train the team, and so if we wanted to learn, we were on our own. We began reading and applying books, beginning with two books from Kiyoshi Suzuki, The

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Decision Making Is About Process, Not Outcomes

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 02-10-22

I happened to be watching the NFL playoffs recently. The game was going into overtime, and a coin toss determines who gets the ball first. This was the clip, and listen to what the announcer says at the end… Watch Here  For those not wanting to watch, he said “the

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