The key to making people accountable
For accountability to work, which is necessary if you want to manage performance, people must be truly accountable for at least what they can actually manage.
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Why you should keep the main thing, the main thing
This maxim reminds us that it is very easy to get distracted and start putting energy and focus into areas that are not necessarily important or relevant. This can and does happen on projects, in presentations, in meetings, and in daily communication.
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The never ending search for expertise
There is a tendency in our business (management consulting) to think we know quite a lot about the functional areas or businesses we study.
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Wrench time: The secret to performance improvement
As a recent college graduate, one of our partners had asked an experienced consultant what to look for when working in a maintenance area. The veteran said, "The same thing you look Read More
Don’t put down your audience
We had done quite a lot of work in one particular industry and through word of mouth we were invited to speak at a national convention. We prepared an insightful speech that Read More
Numbers lie
In many organizations some of the reported performance numbers aren't very "real". It's very similar to people's golf handicaps. The handicap system is a wonderful mechanism to track performance and to allow Read More
How to build business relationships that last
In project-based work like ours, a strong start is critical because the customer may be slightly uneasy having just made a significant buying decision.
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How to update your client in 30 seconds or less
“The Elevator Test” refers to when your top customer (or boss or board member) walks into an elevator that you are on and asks, “So, how is everything going?” You have approximately 30 seconds to say something meaningful that the person can take away with him or her, which is roughly the time of a typical TV advertisement or news feature.
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