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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.

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.

How managers propagate Parkinson’s Law

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

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 better planning can sometimes hurt a good career

A basic objective of many improvement programs is to figure out how to improve planning. The idea is that if you can plan better, you won't end up scrambling as much when it comes to actually executing the plan.

Productivity improvement with no benefit

One of the great heartbreaks of performance improvement is to generate legitimate gains in productivity, but then discover that they have had no material impact on an organization's financial results.

The Achilles heel of every management system

Management systems are tools created to help managers plan work, execute the plan, and then measure and report on the results.

The importance of volume and rate

When we study processes, one of the first things we think about analytically is to break the process down into two components: volume and rate. These are the two main drivers of cost in any process.

Variability is difficult to manage

One of the things we look for when we examine organizations is the degree of variability present. The more variability, the harder it is to manage. Variability can be both inherent in the nature of the industry and it can be self-imposed through policy or errors.

Learning through observation

People are often curious about how we can go into such a wide variety of organizations and businesses and somehow help them improve. One advantage we have is that we tend to see similar patterns over and over across industries and even across nationalities.

The emotional roller coaster (of change management programs)

During a change program, everyone goes through a real emotional roller coaster. You tend to be a little overly optimistic at the front end

Don’t feed the pigs

Lesson Learned #34 Several years ago we worked in a factory that produced cookies and crackers, along with various ...

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