In Part I and Part II of this series we discussed the benefits of using a closed-loop process for managing regulatory compliance called the “circle of compliance,” pictured in figure 1. I also ... [Read More]

If your organization is like so many others, it seems to have all the ingredients for success firmly in place. A well-thought-out vision? Check. A realistic strategy? Check. Skilled, highly engaged ... [Read More]

These days when the economy is uncertain, smaller organizations worry about survival while many larger, well-established organizations sit smugly, thinking they don’t really have much to worry ... [Read More]

Often when I write articles or have a speaking engagement, I like to polarize things into black and white. Almost every time I do this, I’m challenged about the audacity of the approach. Nothing ... [Read More]

Ben Margugilio wrote a nice article for Quality Digest Daily outlining how failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) and what might be called just good practices could have prevented the Gulf oil ... [Read More]

T here is a stereotype of the creative person who chafes at standards, convinced that any sort of process-driven continuous improvement will have a negative effect on how his work is ... [Read More]

We humans take a fairly long time to reach adulthood compared to many other species. Biologists say that’s because much of what we need to know to survive isn’t etched in our DNA, but something ... [Read More]

One of my favorite value-stream walks is with the senior managers of several organizations who share and jointly manage a value-creating process that stretches all the way from raw materials to the ... [Read More]

Until I was 30 years old, I wasn’t much of a fisherman. I’d take a rod and reel along on a camping trip, but I never expected to catch much of anything. In my mind, fishing was a relaxing ... [Read More]

What are the root and contributing causes of the accident in the Gulf? What could have and should have been done to prevent the accident? If the potential for the accident could not have been ... [Read More]