Reflections on 5 years of board service
I’ve written about lean in the boardroom, and plan to write much more on the topic. I recently resigned my post at the Board of Directors of a privately-held company during its turnaround. Upon my planned departure, I wanted to share some of my reflections on this experience, as
Read More1 useful method for keeping strategic when you’re tactically focused
You might be in an organization that is all about the tactical. It’s the “what’s next?”, action-oriented, go-go-go culture. There are certainly benefits to this environment. It avoids inaction and it gets things done; a good idea unimplemented isn’t much value. It is generally pretty focused. It is generally performance-oriented.
Read MoreKodak and Fuji: a tale of two companies in the face of the same insurmountable problem
The Economist had an excellent article detailing the difference between Kodak’s historic bankruptcy and Fujifilm’s equally remarkable success, in The last Kodak moment?, and expanded on in Sharper focus. Both companies faced the same problem statement: digital photography would replace film. But Eastman Kodak, founded in 1880, despite it’s major
Read MoreWhat’s the proper election rotation of board members, annual or classes?
Bad boards have been in the news lately. The ongoing debacles at HP and Yahoo seem almost comical, to the point that you can literally imagine clowns running around in the board room. Of course, the easy thing for many people to assume is that they are just made up
Read MoreThe Farmer and the Field [Guest Post]
Guest Post: Donald Sweigart worked with “The Body Shop @” which developed the “Star-Link Certified” Lean business model improving Profitability, CSI, and Cycle Time in the Collision Repair Industry. This model is now licensed by a Fortune 100 in it’s Industry-wide Lean Training. His passion is implementing Lean solutions in
Read MorePrioritize to Finish, not to Start
There’s a lot of focus on prioritization and rightly so. There are so many things I can get you distracted, not prioritizing can generate a great deal of waste. However, when individuals or organizations decide to prioritize, they often focus on the wrong factors. What everybody wants to prioritize our
Read MoreWhat is the purpose of waste elimination? And the natural law of gas
Waste elimination seems pretty straightforward, right? Of course waste elimination is good, so why do we need a purpose? Because when we free up waste, most organizations don’t know what to do with it. To be clear about this, you first need to be clear about the strategic direction or
Read MoreForget the Annual Budget, "Let it Roll"
I’m always perplexed and frustrated by the annual budgeting process. The waste I see it creating, even from outside organizations, is incredibly large. People start planning things financially before they have any idea of what to do. People postpone things that they shouldn’t because it’s not yet in the budget,
Read MoreThere is one plan, and we’re all working on it
At 10 AM on Tuesday, we will talk about our improvement plans from our value stream mapping sessions. At 3 PM on Wednesday, we’ll meet on our latest strategic initiative. Thursday afternoon whenever we can find time, we’ll talk about the problems taken from our problem board. Friday morning
Read MoreSmall-i ROI as Applied to Strategy
Entrepreneurs and small business owners are all in search of a big return on their investment. How best to maximize my ROI? Many investing are looking for the big-R, the giant market. Where is there billions of dollars of opportunity? Surely, with billions on the table, we can grab a
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