When President Kennedy committed the US to putting men on the moon by the end of the decade, the 60’s, do you think anyone really know how that goal would be accomplished? Did they understand all of the challenges they might face? Did they wonder how they would get from here (Earth) to there (the Moon)? Did they… Read More »
I was in a class recently where it was stated that by the age of 40 we only have 5% of the creativity we did when we were kids. I heard myself say “that really sucks”. Everyone else heard it as well since I let it escape from my, obviously, uncreative noggin. Do we accept this fate? Children… Read More »
How do you drive change in your organization? Your organization is continually looking for needed changes, right? How do you decide what to change? Our world is very different than that which existed at the end of the industrial revolution. Workers in the industrial revolution had tasks to do, they were just one more cog in a larger… Read More »
Organizations that excel in today’s competitive environment are those that quickly respond to market change. Do those organizations figure everything out up front? Do they create a detailed plan from start to finish and stick to the plan at all costs? Do they ignore unexpected situations or changes that come up during project execution? Recently I started a… Read More »
Over the weekend, my wife and I had a conversation in which we didn’t need to complete our sentences or thoughts as we moved the conversation forward. We have built such a strong relationship that we just know. Does this represent a perfect state of collaboration? (I need to stop and credit my friend Mike Cottmeyer in raising… Read More »
I’m reading Lean Product and Process Development which is by Allen C. Ward and was posthumously published by a number of his colleagues. It is a thought provoking read and contains this quote: “Unless you keep spreading the virus, the immune system of the organization will reject it”— Jim Luckman This got me thinking about how difficult it… Read More »
Learning, growing, and improving – this is part of our job responsibilities. It is at the heart of capability improvements since we are learning, growing, and improving the organization. If this is the approach taken to improve our organization then can’t we apply this same approach to our personal development? As professionals we have to make a commitment… Read More »
Capability development does not just “happen”. It takes time and a commitment to effect the type of changes required to improve capabilities. When an organization is running at break neck speeds it becomes difficult to take the time needed to identify improvement areas. It is especially difficult to invest the time required to make and integrate changes within… Read More »
It has been said that process improvement is a journey and not a destination. Often, organizations become caught up in the process of the day and are convinced it will become that illusive silver bullet. Organizations that become focused on the process can loose site of the customer. Process improvement is about looking inward to determine what works… Read More »