Transformation
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It Really All Begins with Respect
There is much attention given these days to idea of respect, and deservedly so. Respect is one of the basest and most foundational yearnings of mankind. Maslov even included the high-order notion of respect in his famous Hierarchy of Needs as just below the need of self-actualization. It is safe to say we instinctively crave…
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Developing your AI Strategy
I realize that I am wading into controversial waters with this topic, but AI is truly the proverbial elephant in the room at this point in time. I am by no means a technophobe. Nor am I the type that cowers in the dark corner fearful that the human apocalypse is drawing near. I believe…
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How we onboard talent makes a big difference in their success
It can be shocking to hear that many people are still being thrown into the deep end of the pool on day one of a new job. How we prepare our salaried, hourly, and even temporary employees for success says quite a bit about us. We only have the one, fleeting opportunity to demonstrate respect…
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Productivity isn’t just about labor anymore
Lean often has a bad reputation. I’ve heard countless times that Lean is an excuse for reducing headcount. Nothing could be further from the truth. Lean is a practical means to becoming more efficient, more disciplined, and less wasteful to set your team up for ongoing success. Ultimately, we want to work smarter, not harder…
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Asserting Control of our Workdays
We all have one of those friends that lives in a constant state of frenzy, right? They appear to go from one crisis to another without ever finding a moment of peace. In their own mind, the chaos is far from their control. They often believe that they are perpetual victims of their circumstances. Don’t…
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The High Call of Stewardship
We spend a lot of time these days talking about tools. Tools that make our lives easier. Tools that help us visualize information. Tools that can be used to break down problems or compile solutions. But sometimes we need to take a step back from the tool and look more closely at the intent. After…
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Taking a good look at Organizational Health
When was the last time you went to the doctor for a simple check-up? Most people, it appears, tend to avoid these preventative trips to a physician and would rather wait until an ailment has started impacting their quality of life or their daily routine. What about you? I confess that I tend to presume…
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Managing your Value Streams is a critical part of your Lean journey.
All too often organizations want to claim to be Lean without committing to the journey to become Lean. Lean isn’t for the faint of heart, you see. It’s fairly easy to adopt all sorts of Lean tools while neglecting the philosophy and the critical cultural shift that follows. Lean should be a transformation, rather than…
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Can an incremental improvement mindset transform your operational excellence journey?
Continuous Improvement (CI) commonly takes many forms in todays’ organizations. Some companies take a very surgical approach, applying CI selectively to the high-profile corporate “strategic imperatives”. Others may engage dedicated change agents with specially honed skills to resolve specific process or product gaps. Sometimes companies train the multitudes and encourage CI through suggestion systems and recognitions programs. Whatever…
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You can do better than just improvement.
Deploying Continuous Improvement is no picnic. It requires commitment, patience, hard work, and a critical shift in the organization’s culture before CI can be sustainable and effective over the long haul. A transition this massive can’t be well-established through a couple of seminars and an inspirational book or two. As I’ve spoken with Continuous Improvement gladiators over the…