To whose benefit?

There’s a Latin expression that will resonate with anyone who has struggled to implement change in an organization: “Cui bono?” Commonly attributed to the Latin orator Cicero, it means “To whose benefit?”

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The analytical side of management behavior

We tend to zero in on management behavior, as opposed to employee behavior, because we find that management behavior is critical to a well-run organization and, in turn, significantly influences employee behavior.

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The “X-Factor” paralysis

The X-Factor means problems that were initiated externally (i.e., outside the department) and were therefore difficult, if not impossible, to fix because local managers had no authority.

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“Cushman bait”

Employees are often initially worried that our watching them work is some kind of “Big Brother” intrusion and that the outcome won’t be beneficial to them.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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