All Features
Mike Figliuolo
It’s all well and good to pontificate about “the customer comes first” or “deliver outstanding service,” but often it’s hard for your team members to wrap their heads around what that really means. You can say these things until your jaw muscles are sore, and post all the customer service rules you…
Gleb Tsipursky
Many employees are unaware that they can leverage the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to request work-from-home (WFH) accommodations based on mental health conditions. This knowledge gap has the potential to reshape the “return to office” (RTO) landscape, creating both opportunities and…
Andreas Janz, Horacio Falcão
Failing to identify faults seems to be a prevalent issue nowadays, considering recent reports of quality control problems at Boeing and numerous recalls by car manufacturers, to name a few. Yet, excessive fault-finding occurs when the ability to pinpoint faults—a beneficial behavior—is taken too…
Jones Loflin
I was driving along listening to the audio book Trust, by Henry Cloud (Faith Words, 2023). When the person reading the book made the comment, “Trustworthy leaders make their teams care less,” I almost had to pull over. Hearing that made me question exactly what they were talking about.
However,…
Mike Figliuolo
Congratulations! You’ve arrived. You’ve earned that nice cushy office where you can shut the door and no one can hear you listening to the greatest American Idol video ever on YouTube (or looking for a video card to send to your mom on Mother’s Day).
Yep, the office is fantastic. But if you want…
Creaform
When it comes to aircraft, poorly documented dents can lead to more significant problems, potentially compromising structural integrity or performance. Dents can trap moisture and lead to corrosion. The stress they generate can initiate fatigue cracks. Their effects on the structure can also affect…
Kate Zabriskie
‘I don’t like confrontation, but I’m tired of his abuse. He signed me up for another committee without asking.”
“I know I need to say something about her taking credit for my work, but how to start?”
“Another joy of adulting, I’ve got to have one of those thorny conversations. Not fun.”
Difficult…
Harish Jose
I have always been interested in the idea of autonomy in a social setting. In this article, I’m looking at autonomy in a social setting—such as an organization—from a cybernetics viewpoint. I’ll lean on the ideas of Heinz von Foerster and Stafford Beer.
Von Foerster came up with the notion of…
Mike Figliuolo
Are you giving your lowest-level employees the power to make crucial customer-relations decisions without supervision? If not, you’re making a huge mistake.
Within a four-hour period on Friday I witnessed both excellent leadership and an abject failure of it. These experiences occurred with the…
Jones Loflin
I love gardening and growing fresh vegetables. Recently I had checked in on my Brussels sprouts seedlings and, well, they looked awful! The reason quickly became obvious to me: I had overwatered them.
I was so excited about growing Brussels sprouts this year, I didn’t want anything to happen to…
Matt Fieldman
If you look around your plant floor, I’m sure the layout, equipment, and technologies are different today from what they were 10—or even five—years ago. You’ve put time, effort, and money into improving every aspect of your operations. You’ve cut costs and made investments where they were necessary…
Etienne Nichols
If you’re a medtech professional who’s been working with the quality system regulation (QSR) in the United States, then you’re probably familiar with the three terms the U.S. Food and Drug Administration uses for record-keeping requirements: 1) device master record (DMR), a compilation of records…
Bruce Hamilton
As years roll on, I’m noticing more parts of me breaking down: Teeth, eyes, knees, cardiovascular, stomach—the list keeps getting longer, as does the list of docs I see. I’m blessed to be living in an area with the world’s finest medical care and lucky that healthcare innovation (and Medicare) have…
William A. Levinson
The International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and ISO have published a joint communiqué to require organizations to “consider” climate change in the context of risks and opportunities relevant to the management system.
Although this is pursuant to the London Declaration, which has goals for…
Stephanie Ojeda
Look through even a few FDA warning letters and you’re likely to find violations related to change management.
For instance, a recent warning letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cited a pharmaceutical manager for changing drug components without justification. Another noted a lack of…
Mike Figliuolo
You can learn a lot about leadership from Master Oogway in Kung Fu Panda. He emphasizes leading today rather than worrying about yesterday or tomorrow.
My expectations for the movie were quite low. I mean, a panda that does kung fu? A jackrabbit I could buy. But a panda? Then again, I’m a huge…
Daniel Marzullo
Be honest: How satisfied are you with your work right now?
When was the last time you took a step back to assess your level of job satisfaction?
Whether you’re self-employed or work full time, it’s essential to regularly check in with yourself to measure your well-being at work.
Over time, roles…
Veronica Muzquiz Edwards
Health connects each one of us to one another. No matter where we are in the world, who we are, or what we do, the state of our health is a key determinant in our quality of life. Simply put, it’s our most valuable asset.
Individual health crises can be disastrously grim, and if not addressed…
William A. Levinson
Although quality management has been around in some form or another for thousands of years—a cover of Joseph Juran’s Quality Handbook depicted Egyptians making very precise measurements for the construction of pyramids—this article will show that quality is but one aspect of value, which should be…
Gleb Tsipursky
In the evolving landscape of workplace dynamics, the trend toward revoking employee flexibility and mandating a return to the office (RTO) is gaining traction among corporations, as evidenced by significant players like Boeing enforcing near-full-week office attendance. Leaders often cite the…
Mike Figliuolo
One of the most exciting things you can do as a young tank platoon leader is participate in a tank gunnery exercise. Essentially it’s going to a shooting range with some really big cannons mounted on a 68-ton chassis. One particularly hot summer in Colorado, I went to my second gunnery.
About six…
Jim Steventon
Integrated quality, when done correctly, plays a vital and pivotal role in enhancing any business, especially manufacturing operations. But, in fear of sounding like the archetypal head of quality, I say it shouldn’t be seen solely as something you do in manufacturing operations. In fact,…
Andy J. Yap, Winnie Jiang, Mark Mortensen, Spencer Harrison
Imagine a world where your boss could be fined for contacting you after hours. California is considering a law to make this a reality.
The “right to disconnect” movement is gaining traction globally, with Australia joining France, Italy, Slovakia, Luxembourg, Portugal, and the Canadian province…
Mike Figliuolo
I just rewatched The Green Hornet, and it was awesome. As I finished the movie, I wondered what made him a great leader (or not) and how those lessons might apply to the business world. I know. I’m weird like that.
The good news is I’ve unlocked the secret of great leadership, Green Hornet-style.…
Sara Harrison
As a newly hired assistant professor of organizational behavior and sociology at the Yale School of Management, Walter (Woody) Powell observed a strange phenomenon through his office window. It was 1979. Bold colors and patterns were in style, and his students came to campus dressed in jeans and…
