What’s the fastest way to communicate with people on your team, or on other teams? Hint: it’s not email. Yes, email travels virtually instantaneously anywhere in the world, but it’s not the fastest way to communicate. Face-to-face contact is faster, richer (in information), and far more effective...
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Cultural norms that promote dysfunctional behavior will torpedo your organization’s ability to execute. In fact, too many organizations reward the fire fighters who put out the fire, rather than the fire marshals who prevent the fires in the first place. Not surprisingly, this is a fool-proof recipe for more fires.
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Your systems and processes are an essential component of performance. When they work against the smooth flow of work, your people have virtually no chance of accomplishing their goals and executing the organizational strategy. When was the last time you assessed and mapped out your processes?
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Time. Money. People. Attention. These most precious resources are severely constrained in any organization. And yet most treat them as though the supply is as abundant as trucker caps at a NASCAR event. That’s the road to lousy performance and execution.
The first step in ensuring that you can execute on your lovingly crafted strategic plan is to ensure that it's clear. Crystal clear. Sounds easy, but it's not. Look at Walmart, Reebok, or any other brand that lost its way.
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In order to make 5S relevant to the knowledge worker, it’s essential to translate—not transfer—5S to the world of information. Doing so avoids wasted time & effort; reduces decision paralysis; and eliminates the "frazzle factor."
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Cognitive systems rely on human judgment, and are therefore prone to errors. Reflexive systems rely on rules, making it easier to do the right job the right time. Transforming cognitive systems into reflexive systems improves quality and lightens the burden on your workers.
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Athletes, workers, and organizations must go through three distinct phases to achieve excellence: Association, Disassociation, and Re-association. The final phase is most often ignored, because it's easy to get stuck in the zone of complacency. Download PDF
"Stretch goals" are worse than useless; they actually can demotivate workers and encourage unethical behavior. The solution is to establish a "target condition," and focus on improving the processes that will get you there.
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Use simple visual management tools (whiteboards!) to delegate more effectively, manage projects with less stress, and reduce the amount of pointless, stupid scrambling to find out the current status of your work.
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Failure to deliver on your promises doesn't just lower your approval ratings. It seriously affects perceptions of your honesty.
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If you're a fan of GTD and you use an "@waiting for" folder, you're wasting time, effort, and energy. There's a better way.
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"Single minute exchange of die" (SMED) isn't just for machines. Your brain is as much an expensive, complex piece of equipment as a traditional factory "monument machine." Take all possible steps to reduce the downtime due to changeovers.
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If your team is bogged down in a morass of email and endless meetings, you'll need to change the culture before you can improve performance and productivity.
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Delegating responsibility without commensurate authority is a recipe for organizational sclerosis, more meetings, and plenty of frustration.
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Rush hour syndrome: when you cram more stuff into your day, less stuff comes out.
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Does your work style make you a magnifying glass -- focused, concentrated power -- or a prism -- lots of pretty colors, no heat?
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No. You don't have 13 priorities. You only have one. And if you want to have a prayer of completing getting any of your important work, you've got to come to grips with that.
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Take a page from Jim Collins: learn to apply lean techniques and improve the quality of your own work.
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No matter how unpredictable and unstructured your job is, standardized routines are necessary -- or at the very least, helpful -- for enabling your creativity to flow unfettered.
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