52 Observations

How to find opportunity in an organization

Before we work for a client we do what we call an “opportunity analysis,” which, as it sounds, is designed to help us figure out if there is any opportunity to improve and where it might be. It’s usually conducted over two to three weeks.

Hockey-stick forecasts

The “hockey-stick forecast” is a fairly common concept for people who deal regularly with future plans of one type or another.

“In the day, for the day”

In the day, for the day is a very popular way to describe how front line managers should think and act.

How operating problems are hidden

We spend countless hours in many different industry sectors observing and analyzing how work gets processed. We watch employees, managers and the tools they use in order to determine how much of their day is truly productive.

Backlogs aren’t the security you think they are

Certainly there are operational efficiencies that you might be able to leverage when there is a backlog, but there are potentially hidden, but very real risks and costs lurking.

Why it’s hard to eliminate backlogs

Work expands because there is no additional work available.” If people are aware that no work awaits them after they complete their current tasks, they will naturally start slowing the rate of completion to avoid running out of work. This is very common in project-based work environments.

How managers propagate Parkinson’s Law

Parkinson's Law exists and thrives in environments where expectations and deadlines are not clear.

The power of momentum

Change-management projects can be affected by shifts in positive and negative momentum. It’s the reason that most change efforts stress the need to demonstrate some “quick wins” early in the engagement.

Where are all the front-line managers?

A number of years ago, we started an interesting study called the “whereabouts” study. The idea behind the study was to try to illustrate where a front-line manager spends most of his or her time during the course of the day; correlate it to what is actually happening in the business at the same time

Why CEOs struggle to align their organizations

Properly integrated management systems are the most important tool that a CEO has for aligning an organization and creating a culture of accountability and continuous improvement. Management systems help all management levels plan, execute, report and improve their area of responsibility in accordance with the CEO's strategic direction.

The origin of “R2”

When we studied organizations and how management reacted to off-schedule conditions or variances from their plan, we noticed that results that came relatively close to an objective were generally considered "good enough."

Changing management behavior is difficult

If you put some smart people in a room and ask them to look closely at your processes and systems, they will figure out better ways to do things.