Most organizations make it too hard for leaders and their colleagues to understand what must be done. They publish long lists of values and proper actions, but those lists overwhelm those who seek true understanding . . . especially when a new circumstance arises.
A much better approach is to identify a key operating principle that everyone can easily apply to whatever situation comes up....
What if you work in a volatile environment? Shift from forecasting to thinking about "what if" changes happen.
Sometimes the winds of irresistible forces can blow in many and unpredictable directions, and the required actions can be quite diverse. Consider the pricing and demand for commodities like oil. How can you prepare for changing oil prices, even if you have all the values, alignment,...
What happens when you face an overwhelming irresistible force? You need a direction that's as clear as a bell to deal with all aspects of the irresistible force.
AT&T shows us both how and not how to do this. Until the court-ordered breakup of AT&T that separated the long distance service from the local Bell operating companies, the Bell System provided telephone service that was the envy of...
Detroit fell in love with robots in the 1980s. Led by GM's Roger Smith, robots seemed to offer the promise of improving quality, eliminating dangerous jobs, and making Detroit more competitive with Japanese manufacturers.
However, robots of that era had some drawbacks. If you wanted to shift the robot to do a slightly different task, the setup time wasn't very fast and engineers had to make...
When you're trying to do something no one has ever thought about doing before, where do you find the best solution? Chances are that you cannot predict what the best information and knowledge sources will be.
When you look at the Goldcorp and Procter & Gamble examples of engaging more resources through running worldwide contests, you notice that the contests succeed precisely because no one...
Those who analyze systems understand that a process can only operate as well as the least effective activity. Mr. Henry Ford's assembly line couldn't go any faster than the slowest step in the process. If Ford broke the steps down into too many elements, the assembly line itself became longer and the whole process slowed down. Somewhere between too much speed and too many steps lay the optimum...
Competitive advantage is based not on doing what others already do well, but on doing what others cannot do as well. --John Kay
What organization can afford to stand still? Most would agree that focused improvement is critical to staying competitive or gaining new advantages. If you are trying to accomplish something well beyond the future best practice, you'll need to be cautious in your...
A good way to accelerate improving competitive position is to set progress goals to move years ahead of what anyone else has been delivering. An even better idea is to set goals that represent astonishing and important breakthroughs. Such a goal might mean shooting for a 10,000 percent solution in cost reductions while employing minimal resources.
What's the benefit? Higher goals force you...
Well-found consultants can stay in a company forever;
moving from one divisional trouble spot to another . . . --Robert Heller
I often consider outsourcing's practical limits while visiting my neighborhood gas station. That station gives you the choice of outsourcing gasoline refueling . . . or not, as you prefer. There are four pumps for full service and four pumps for self-service....
Because of potential lawsuits related to harm caused by misusing an offering, few will decide to avoid providing directions. For elaborate offerings, owners' manuals will be required.
In addition, some of your beneficiaries, customers, and users will want to refer to these directions and manuals whether or not they need the help. Rather than providing directions and manuals that become the...
