Admit it, we all do it. We all get angry and try to use that anger to bend others to our will. Kids, strangers, signifcant others, the kid at the deli counter, the guy in accounting…..they’re all subject to our ire and they can be forced to comply. Sometimes – maybe even most of the time – we’ll see them cave in and give us what we want. Unfortuantely, that cooperation rarely lasts for long. [Read more]
Will a change of scenery fix it?
February 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment
act of the matter is, unless the environment of the place you’re in is actually causing you problems, like Love Canal, simply changing the scenery won’t help you with your problems. Taking bad relationships, bad habits, bad ideas and bad behavior into a new environment doesn’t to lessen any of those ills. Usually, it only serves to poison the environment. [Read more]
A sticky situation. The problem-problem.
February 20, 2011 By 2 Comments
When we are focused on something that we are very familiar with, we tend to see the problem in the way we’ve always seen it. If we don’t know how to step outside the situation, we just repeat the same behaviors, and never learn to re-define the problem. By learning to change perspectives or simply to invite in others with a different take on things, we gain a new understanding of the situation and the ability to re-formulate. [Read more]
How done are you?
February 10, 2011 By 1 Comment
One of the most frustrating things I hear when dealing with project managers is that they are unable to tell if a project is 5%, 25% or 95% complete, due to the ambiguous, ever-changing nature of the task at hand. Apparently, since the work is always changing, it’s impossible to measure it’s status.
What nonsense.
The importance of doubt.
February 7, 2011 By 2 Comments
I think that doubt, especially self doubt, is a necessary component of humility. If you buy into that, then becoming truly great at anything necessitates realizing that you very often don’t have any clue what it is you are doing. Doubting your own abilities and decisions is what causes you to step back, reflect, seek advice from others, and adjust your behaviors to yield a better outcome. Only those who are not humble lack self-doubt. [Read more]
Northeast Shingo Conference: What I Heard
October 20, 2010 By 4 Comments
While it will take weeks to fully chew on all that was presented and develop some personal reflections on what I was exposed to at the conference, there were some immediate, powerful take-aways that will leave lasting impressions. I was able to see less than half the speakers due to the many simultaneous break-out sessions that went on, however, here is what I took away : [Read more]
The button can push itself: Tools mastery vs. Concept mastery
October 18, 2010 By 4 Comments
We should all delight more in our humanity and the capabilities of people, and stop looking for a button to push. Afterall, in a world where programming enables the button to push itself, we’re wasting our own unique abilities to think, explore, innovate and create when we spend time doing nothing more than learning to push the button. [Read more]
Muda is Bullsh*t!
October 5, 2010 By 8 Comments
A lot of discussions on Lean thinking have pointed to the term “waste” as being misleading or, at the very least, difficult for most audiences to understand. After all, no one likes to think of the work they do as Waste. So, many have endeavored to come up with other terms, or to better define just what Muda is. I believe I may have found a useful alternative that is simple, intuitive, and part of our every day language. [Read more]
Why your improvement tools don’t work
September 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment
I’ve been pouring through Jeffrey Liker‘s 2004 book, The Toyota Way recently, and I discovered yet another similarity between what Lean thinkers and other Organizational Effectiveness proponents espouse: When trying to create a new organizational cutlure, most orgainzations look to others that have succeeded, and are then swept away by the need to implement a similar set [...]
Let the Personality Show
September 8, 2010 By 2 Comments
I’ve encountered a few offices where personality literally hung from the walls. In these spaces, people were free to decorate the walls with almost anything that came to mind. While the atmosphere was bizarre at first, after a while, you began to get the sense that people weren’t just free to decorate – they were [...]
Recent Comments