Flinchbaugh

Drucker Institute’s / Wall Street Journal Best Managed Companies

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 12-19-17

The Wall Street Journey released their inaugural Management Top 250, a list of the best managed companies. It is based on the research of the Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University, releasing a much larger list and their scoring in this table Amazon tops the list, followed by Apple and

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Metrics: It’s about more than measurements

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 11-14-17

We often hear “we cannot manage what we cannot measure”.  I think the better way to say it and approach improvement is that you cannot manage or improve what you cannot evaluate. As you are looking to improve something you need to ask how you are going to understand what

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Relentless Patience

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 10-31-17

When people talk about a lean journey, they say the word “journey” as if they understand it will take time to change a culture, however their behavior often reveals they don’t have the relentless patience will actually take to create change.  We talked about the effort required to changing a

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Finding Improvement in the Margins [Lessons from the Road]

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 10-17-17

There are connections in every organization.  Some are easily seen while others are not. But, look closely and you will find them.  In the recent column I wrote for IndustryWeek I examined the waste that often occurs in these connections.  It is in these connections, in the margins, that there

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Empty board room

Are boards of directors focused on strategy?

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 07-11-17

Theoretically, each higher-level of management should be increasingly long-term focused. That certainly includes the role of the board, who with their role on shareholder value and governance, must ensure that the short-term doesn’t crowd out the long-term. CGMA summarized two surveys assessing boards and the barriers to strategic oversight. Their

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Video preview

The Founder and Experimentation

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 06-27-17

Learning what works and what doesn’t work is driven by experimentation, real-world trials that inform us about cause and effect. How do we improve the ability to experiment? By reducing the cost, the effort, the friction required to test what works. As we continue my effort to de-jargonize (ok, that’s

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Warning sign: merge ahead

People Bottlenecks

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 06-20-17

In the flow of a manufacturing plant, the bottleneck should often be the most valuable, or at least most expensive asset. We actually should be designing our processes around that fact, and then ensuring there is no unnecessary waste in the process that affects that bottleneck. In the Theory of

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Video preview: the simplest way to get started with process improvement

The simplest way to get started with process improvement

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 06-16-17

I have had many conversations lately where people are asking about the simplest way to get started with process improvement.  The simplest way is to start with one simple question – why.  

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Video preview: PDSA vs. PDCA

PDCA vs PDSA in Problem Solving

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 05-05-17

Plan Do Check Act (PDSA)  is a well known approach to continuous improvement and problem solving.  I propose you consider the PDSA approach that includes study and adjust to truly understand why you are getting the results you are.        

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Video preview: Practicing lean

Practicing Lean

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 04-28-17

The idea that just as doctors practice medicine we must practice lean is the premise of a book I contributed to called Practicing Lean which was edited by Mark Graban. We must be wiling to evolve our practices and learn as we move forward.   Order a copy of the book today

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