Is This The Right Problem To Work On?
The ability to prioritize and focus is widely praised as a characteristic of successful business leaders. There are too many things to do, and not enough time or resources to do them all, much less do...
View ArticleHow Important Is Industry Familiarity?
I’m once again “between jobs” and “in-transition,” and I’ve been spending a lot of time looking at job postings. Every position seems to emphasize the preference or requirement for applicants with...
View ArticleHow Important Is Industry Familiarity?
I’m once again “between jobs” and “in-transition,” and I’ve been spending a lot of time looking at job postings. Every position seems to emphasize the preference or requirement for applicants with...
View ArticleHow Important Is Industry Familiarity?
I’m once again “between jobs” and “in-transition,” and I’ve been spending a lot of time looking at job postings. Every position seems to emphasize the preference or requirement for applicants with...
View ArticleHow Do You Know It Needs Fixing?
We’ve always been told that “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.” In the world of statistical process control, making changes to a production process that’s already stable and in-control is considered...
View ArticleI Need a New Plan, This One Isn’t Working (Or, Is It?)
At what point should you abandon your plan and make a new one? How do you know when the old plan isn’t going to work? I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately during my current job search. Everyone...
View ArticleSustaining Improvements: Self-Governance vs. Policing
Last month I listened to a presentation about an implementation of 5S methodology at a local company. The work group spent a lot of time cleaning up, installing shadow boxes to keep their tools in...
View ArticleHow Important Is Industry Familiarity?
I’m once again “between jobs” and “in-transition,” and I’ve been spending a lot of time looking at job postings. Every position seems to emphasize the preference or requirement for applicants with...
View ArticleFake It Until You Make It: Is Structural Change a Prerequisite?
Change management is frustrating. It can take a maddeningly long time to convince the required supporters that change is necessary, and then more time to get everyone moving in the new direction. Then...
View ArticleManaging By The Numbers, Continued
Picture this: a group of senior managers are sitting around a conference table listening to a monthly or quarterly business review. It’s a procession of slides, mostly the usual bullet-text items but...
View ArticleWhat Are Individual Accomplishments Within a Team Environment?
The other day I responded to a question on LinkedIn about whether performance reviews were basically worthless because we all work in teams and individual accomplishments are hard to isolate. It’s true...
View ArticleTrends and Early Indicators
Everybody understands that it’s better to be proactive and avoid problems rather than be reactive and respond after the problem has surfaced. In quality we try to shift from fixing defects to defect...
View ArticleManaging a New Team, Replacing a Manager
I’ve gone through several job transitions where I was the new manager, replacing another manager and assuming responsibility for an established team. Obviously this can be a very stressful time. The...
View ArticlePatience and Process Improvement
It used to be easier when I was working in the factory. If we wanted to make a change to a production process we could usually determine fairly quickly whether the change led to a real improvement in...
View ArticleThe Personality Needed to Influence Quality
I’m not convinced there’s an ideal personality type for any specific job. I’ve seen many different kinds of people make strong contributions and achieve results. That being said, I don’t think you can...
View ArticleProcess Detectives and Mechanics
Quality professionals are often called upon to investigate business processes and drive improvements because they’re typically responsible for the company’s quality management system and ensuring...
View ArticleGetting Off to a Good Start
The transition to a new company can be disorienting. The HR folks always have a lot of forms to fill out, and it can take a while to figure out the e-mail and other IT systems. The work processes may...
View ArticleSomething New: A Personal Web Site
Over the last few weeks I’ve been busy working on a personal web site that I launched on December 25. My intention is to provide more depth about my expertise and accomplishments than what can be...
View ArticleGetting People to Care About Quality
Quality sounds like something that everyone will support on principle, unless you have a saboteur working in your midst. It’s probably safe to assume that no one is deliberately acting to produce a...
View ArticleChange Management and “Moneyball” (Movie Version)
The other day I watched the movie “Moneyball” again and was reminded of a few important characteristics of successful change management. Brad Pitt stars as Billy Beane, the general manager of the...
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