All Features
Robert Gabsa
In today’s talent market, employees are consumers of the workplace: They are attracted, recruited, and wooed into making employment decisions, similar to how companies market products and services to shoppers.
It’s an emotional journey for both sides, filled with ups, downs, and a variety of…
Naphtali Hoff
A story is told about a reporter who was interviewing a successful bank president. He wanted to know the secret of the man’s success. “Two words: right decisions,” the banker told him.
“And how do you make right decisions?” asked the reporter.
“One word: experience,” was the banker’s reply.
The…
Dick Wooden
Iran across the book, Successful Human Relations: Principles and practice in business, in the home, in government (Harpercollins, 1952) while browsing older books about relationship development from William J. Reilly, who also wrote The Law of Intelligent Action (Joanna Cotler Books, 1945). His…
Chip Bell
The 1962 film, Lawrence of Arabia, won the Oscar for Best Picture at the 35th Academy Awards. Given the current conflicts in the Middle East, I recently watched the four-hour movie to learn more about the cultural history of the area.
Thomas Edward Lawrence (played by Peter O’Toole) was a British…
Donald J. Wheeler
Some properties of a probability model are hard to describe in practical terms. The explanation for this rests upon the fact that most probability models will have both visible and invisible portions. Understanding how to work with these two portions can help you to avoid becoming a victim of those…
Mike Richman
There are many ways that we lose attention on tasks at hand. From nosy and noisy colleagues to extraneous emails and meetings to burdensome and often pointless short-term projects, even the most dedicated professional can misplace the ability to find meaning and value in the daily routine. And that…
MIT Sloan School of Management
Traditional corporate hierarchies tend to rely on static design. There’s the CEO at the top, followed by directors and managers. Red tape and inefficient processes can bog down decisions.
Dynamic work design is a more effective method of managing workflow, especially intellectual work, says MIT…
Knowledge at Wharton
Volatile markets, challenging consumer demands, and the technological disruptions resulting from digitization and Industry 4.0 are producing unprecedented rates of change. In response, companies have worked to increase organizational agility, hoping to foster innovation and shorten go-to-market…
Mike Richman
On the May 4 episode of QDL, we discovered that love is a key component to winning a Baldrige Award, learned how to be more efficient at work, and discussed how great art helps us to really see our processes. Here is an up-close look:
“Undersecretary of Commerce and NIST Director Walter Copan…
Mark Rosenthal
A couple of weeks ago I posed the question, “Are you overproducing improvements?” and compared a typical improvement “blitz” with a large monument machine that produces in large batches.
I’d like to dive a little deeper into some of the paradoxes and implications of 1:1 flow of anything,…
Mary Hallock
In lean we talk about “seeing the waste” and using visual tools. Many of us who use these terms have had a lot of training in engineering, manufacturing, and other highly technical areas. However, the skills needed to “see” problems may lie more firmly in the study of art.
I recently read an…
Harry Hertz
The greatest challenge I have each year when I return from the Baldrige Program’s annual Quest for Excellence Conference is prioritizing the most important messages for me and my organization, whether that is my work organization, volunteer organization, or—yes—my family (this one might be stealth…
Scott Berkun
The great surprise for people with good ideas is the gap between how an idea feels in their minds and how it feels when they try to put the idea to work.
When a good idea comes together, it feels fantastic. Good ideas often come with a wave of euphoria, a literal dopamine high, and we’re joyously…
Bruce Bolger
Grace Swanson, vice president of human capital at Accumold, a leading micro-molding plastics injection company located just outside Des Moines, Iowa, knows the field of standards well. Her company has certifications in ISO 9001 for quality management, ISO 14001 for environmental management, and ISO…
Marin Hedin
Limiting first-year medical residents to 16-hour work shifts, compared to “flexing” them to allow for some longer shifts, generally makes residents more satisfied with their training and work-life balance. It also makes their training directors more dissatisfied with curtailed educational…
Richard Harpster
The AIAG-VDA FMEA Handbook committee and everyone who responded to the request for comment on the proposed AIAG-VDA failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) manual must be applauded for their efforts. Harmonizing the VDA and AIAG FMEA methods is not an easy task. According to industry sources,…
Gwendolyn Galsworth
The six core questions you see below are a window to help us understand why we struggle at work. Why? Because the answers to them are missing! The remedy is to first notice that—to notice the motion caused by those deficits. Then remove the motion by implementing visual answers. Imbed the answers…
Dirk Dusharme @ Quality Digest
In our March 30, 2018, episode of QDL, we discuss the gig economy, metrology training, and psychobabble (you know who I mean).
“Are You (and Your Company) Ready for the Gig Economy?”
More and more employees are joining the gig economy. What does that mean for your company?
“Taking on the…
Manfred Kets de Vries
I find myself increasingly intimidated by people in the executive coaching world. They give me a sense of unease about my own abilities. Many in the profession claim to be able “to unlock clients’ dormant potential and to provide them with a sense of self-fulfillment.” As these coaches seem to…
Paulina Kuo
I am a scientist. I am often wrong, and that’s OK.
You may have heard about major errors in science and engineering that made the news headlines, like the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, aka “Galloping Gertie,” or the 1999 crash of the Mars Climate Orbiter. Or maybe you’ve seen the recent…
Davis Balestracci
Because of a growing movement in the health insurance industry toward not reimbursing hospitals for any expenses caused by a system-acquired infection, one health system made efforts to improve its infection rate starting in the last quarter of 2016. In June 2017, a year-over-year graph was…
AssurX
When a change management system is designed effectively, it defines how strategies, procedures, and technologies will be applied to address changes in the business environment.
Implementing a change management process for quality and compliance requires planning and preparation. Starting with a…
Dirk Dusharme @ Quality Digest
In our March 16, 2018, episode of QDL, we looked at universal basic income, management status quo, ISO 10018, and how a community college is teaching cutting-edge metrology skills.
“Public Split on Basic Income for Workers Replaced by Robots”
Gallup asks Americans if they would support a universal…
Bob Hunt
Much has been written about the benefits of identifying and leveraging an organization’s core competencies to gain competitive advantage. But are organizations putting this concept into practice, and are they doing it strategically? Do they understand that by not doing so they risk losing…
Stanislav Shekshnia, Veronika Zagieva, Alexey Ulanovsky
In our previous article, we discussed the mindset of athletic leaders, specifically their improbable combination of mental toughness and adaptability. Now let’s look at what they do.
We have identified five leadership meta-practices of athletic CEOs. Each of them allows leaders to effectively…
