It’s a conversation that transcends industry boundaries. I’ve had it with financial energy companies, services leaders, manufacturing operations teams and consumer food firms. In fact, it’s one of the most vexing problems that face P&L leaders: with all the potential ways to apply resources to their plans, how do they best balance growth investments with […]
I had the opportunity to do a workshop recently with a group of senior executives where we spent some time thinking about this question: “what has changed to make the process of getting growth and change programs done in firms so difficult?” The narrow road to breakout growth has two ditches. These ditches are formed […]
I had the opportunity to do a workshop recently with a group of senior executives where we spent some time thinking about this question: “what has changed to make the process of getting growth and change programs done in firms so difficult?” During this discussion, we talked about the dismal 12 percent success rate (see […]
“I never saw that coming. We are now able to provide prototypes in the time it used to take us to get an approved order in the system…” (manufacturing client) Have you been on or led that team? The one that worked – that not just “met,” but collaborated and built something that none of […]
The “workshop zone” is the term I give to those firms and businesses that irregularly pursue growth projects. You might think this would limit the category to smaller firms, but that would be wrong. It turns out that some surprisingly large firms only truly activate growth programs – defined as new activities that are built […]
I’ve done several diagnostic projects this year, and each time we are well into it, someone always asks about the essential items and nice to haves. Frequently this question comes up when the team has hit a rough spot and they are trying to recover. In other words, is there a short list that will […]
You are a lean machine. You take frequent Gemba walks, and you’ve read all Taiichi Ohno’s original texts. There is no waste in your system – both on the creative work you do and the implementation work that follows. Does this sound like your firm? If so, then your firm has some very powerful attributes – […]
They had seemingly done it all correctly: held the offsite, chartered a leader and provided the resources asked for by the team. The person leading the team was one of their best – a leader with a talent for influence and results. Why then, was this work stream falling short of implementation and financial contribution? […]
Just a few short years ago I purchased a new home with a larger yard than we previously cared for. We were just getting settled in when I noticed that the grass in the yard didn’t appear nearly as green the second spring. I didn’t think a lot about it, but as August came and […]
I’ve recently supported several teams by doing diagnostic assessments for them. The goal, was to help them lay out a strategic path that will result in better client listening skills, internal alignment and the agility to address new products and services. It’s always quite surprising to the leadership teams that it’s so hard to get […]
