I was facilitating a group of senior leaders in a workshop environment recently and the dialogue turned to accounting. A strange twist in an innovation session? Not really, as we were talking about how the accounting systems we have in place today are based on the Taylor factory model. It was a model that made […]
One of the perks of being a global advisor with deep roots in the Midwest is the advantage it provides in terms of helping me better see the rich contrast and unique ways each region is predisposed to building value. We all see things through the lens of our formative experiences, and after three decades […]
I was leading a workshop last month, and we reached the point where we were working on the participants’ projects. We were working in the STRIDE framework and sharing how to build a high-integrity project that makes the risk-taking transparent to both the team and management. This is always a big moment in the workshop, […]
“I call it the existence theorem, Scott, and it makes no sense to learn anything else until you’ve crossed that bridge…” I was working with the leader of a new team that we had recently acquired as a part of our division. Far from our usual experience with acquisitions, this one was going well. […]
One airshow act that always pleases is when an aircraft lands on top of a moving car. What makes it immensely interesting every time I see the act, is knowing that every landing, even on a fixed runway, is unique due to wind, ambient temperature and traction. Add to that a moving vehicle and the […]
You’ve just landed your new role with your freshly-minted diploma and been given your first big assignment. As you prepare to get started, you recall that case study where a group went into the “war room,” held deep and lengthy brainstorming sessions and then had “the moment.” From there, it was merely a distribution problem. […]
When I travel internationally, I always find it fascinating to visit the corner office of my client. Inevitably there is a map of the world on the wall, and you can bet that the center of the map is where you are standing. Yes, it’s more than a metaphor – we all really want to […]
Question: What do AM Stereo, IOT and 3D printing all have in common? Answer: All three were on everyone’s powerful trends list…and all three have had a hard time finding their moment. It happens more frequently than you might expect: leaders in mature businesses with some balance sheet resources get a sense of where a […]
I had a conversation last week with the CEO of a mid-sized services firm: “I’m not complaining, business is really good, and we are growing double digits every year. But I’m realizing that I’m out of everything all at once – talent, plant space, equipment.” “What’s the right play?” The challenges of the current environment […]
In my consulting work, there’s almost always a point in the client discovery phase where I find a spreadsheet that holds all the programs that are in queue. In most cases, they are color-coded green if staffed and underway. Yellow is reserved for those that are promising, but “below” the line for staffing. Then there […]
