I was giving a talk recently and the topic of cycle time reduction came up. It’s a historical fact that after Six Sigma, Motorola took on a very aggressive corporate program to reduce product development cycle time. We used a methodology that set a targeted reduction over a six-year time interval. To set the bar […]
I was having a recent conversation with a mid-market firm’s President when this came out: “When we need out-of-the-box thinking, we need to get our CIO out of the room.” I needed to push back on this leader…not because his comment didn’t have some merit when it came to how the team was working together, […]
Conversation with passionate founder: “I’ve built a device that is an amazing addition to the business traveler with features of x,x and x. Can you help me get a conversation with the big 3 cell phone firms?” As part of my work, I get a chance to work with early stage firms and their passionate […]
My CFO client was lamenting the pace of progress on their innovation programs during a recent 1:1 session. I had an inkling that I knew what might be going on, so I asked her to show me the portfolio of project work they were funding for the current year. And there it was. Some background: […]
So, feeling my oats, and being a hotshot 30-something in a Fortune 100 firm, I was running around with my hair on fire, with three major product programs, and doing my best to make sure they all “made it.” I had just come back from a meeting when I received a message from someone I […]
No kidding – This is the information I wish someone would have shared with me early in my leadership career. It would have saved me a massive amount of time, effort and resources both personally and professionally. If you’re leading a growth program that has significant new-to-your-company elements, I know the exact path you are […]
Three phone calls: A colleague who is an internal catalyst who has given his all to get new things going – only to see them shut down due to problems in the core business. A reader who leads a breakout sales team and fights the internal inertia more than his competition. A senior team member […]
So, you’ve just completed planning for the next 3-5 years and feel really good about your baked in growth. You are launching products, have some good organic growth for services already in the market and are investing in some game-changing R&D. Each of these areas has been well vetted and you’re confident that you can […]
You and your team have worked hard for weeks to tee up a proposal for something very new, and you know it’s solid. Customer interest has been validated, you have identified a path to the market, and you have worked through how you might get a production team in place. Yet, somehow when the senior […]
This summer has provided me with the unique opportunity to literally pick up and move our household to a wonderful new location that will better serve my growing business and family. Being a strategist, I routinely help teams find new paths and take change journeys. Yet when we are the ones impacted by the event, […]
