For many years, no one believed that a human being could fly faster than the speed of sound. Yet lots of natural objects go at that speed all of the time. An optimist would have concluded that such acceleration was in mankind's future.
But actual experience proved to be troubling: Aircraft began to vibrate and shake apart as they neared the speed of sound. Would anyone make the...
This article looks at how to outdo what anyone else will be able to do in the near future. Now, that may seem like a high hurdle to jump, but if you know how it's a comfortable hop for anyone. The key is to break it down into simple steps involving answering a few questions.
To accomplish 20 times as much with the same time, effort, and resources, you need to learn and continually use all...
To accomplish 20 times as much with the same time, effort, and resources, you need to learn and continually follow all eight steps of the breakthrough performance process in the correct order.
The steps are listed here:
1. Understand the importance of measuring performance.
2. Decide what to measure.
3. Identify the future best practice and measure it.
4. Implement beyond...
To accomplish performance breakthroughs, you need to learn and continually use all eight steps of the performance breakthrough process in the correct order.
The steps are listed here:
1. Understand the importance of measuring performance.
2. Decide what to measure.
3. Identify the future best practice and measure it.
4. Implement beyond the future best practice.
5. Identify...
Dr. Leif Olsen, a Swede by birth, has become a knowledgeable citizen of the world who appreciates that connecting with others requires understanding first why others think as they do. Living in Thailand with his Vietnamese wife, he is reminded of that lesson daily. From long professional and personal experience, he knows that it is not countries but the premises from our different cultural...
Most people view the measuring process too narrowly. When they do, they can look pretty foolish.
Here's an example: A corporate planner went to a seminar given by corporate strategist Peter Drucker. The planner asked Drucker to pick the best single measure of corporate performance. Drucker replied, "My dear sir, you obviously know nothing. There is no single measure of corporate performance...
If you think you measure enough in your business, you may be wrong. Why? Do you know how much time you spend on important tasks? Do you know whether you are doing that tasks in the best way? Here's more.
One CEO tells a Peter Drucker story about measurements that may fit you. Drucker had presented a seminar on personal improvement to the CEO's U.S. Air Force group years earlier.
Each...
Organizations usually see themselves as smoothly coordinated operations, even when they are not. A baseball analogy can help us see the point. Early in the 20th century, the Chicago Cubs team members Joe Tinkers, Johnny Evers, and Frank Chance were baseball's most celebrated double-play combination. Joe Tinkers would scoop up the ball at shortstop and wing it to Evers covering second base....
In the 1930s, a sudden wind swept an American helium-filled airship aloft from its moorings. The rising ship carried away some of the rope crew as well. Most let go right away and suffered no worse than sprains. Others held on until they lost their grip. Each time a man let go, the dirigible leapt higher. Those who hesitated longest fell to their deaths. Procrastination can be deadly!
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An emergency room (ER) nurse kept hearing complaints from patients who had been waiting for hours to see a doctor. After learning about creating breakthrough solutions, she began to keep track of how long it took various kinds of patients to get the attention they needed.
She was shocked to find that those who were too sick or injured to explain their problems but who appeared to be okay...
