All Features
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…
Mike Richman
This week’s episode of our show looked at the various ways in which quality organizations plan to ensure long-term success. Here are the stories we covered:
“Worldwide Study of 25,000 Business Leaders Reveals Six Leadership Megatrends Changing the Workplace” The Conference Board, in conjunction…
Barry Johnson
People naturally fear change. I hear that all the time, but I don't believe it. What people really fear is the unknown. People actually embrace change if they understand it. We see this when people try to change their habits, their bodies, their relationships, and their jobs. They don't fear those…
Laurel Thoennes @ QD
Employers can’t find people with the skills needed for the today’s workplace, because high schools and universities fail to teach students useful job skills. The skills gap is a decades-old and well-known problem that will remain unsolved unless we flip priorities not only in our school systems…
Robert Napoletano
‘Don’t thank them for anything. They’re the ones who caused this problem.” When I got that message, I thought, “This is all wrong, and there must be something somewhere that says so.” After some searching around, I didn’t find anything to support that assumption. What I did find were many…
Curt Redden
We all seem to get it by now—more engaged employees perform at a higher level. The organizations that get their strategy right in this area provide a superior customer experience, have lower levels of employee churn, higher morale, and ultimately much higher financial performance. Their customers…
Jim Benson
Tonianne DeMaria and I run the Personal Kanban, Modus Institute, and Modus Cooperandi Corp-o-plex pretty much duo-handed. There’s a lot of work. The rules of Personal Kanban apply to us, too. We are constantly experimenting with new ways to visualize our work and limit our work-in-process (WIP).…
John Bell
I have written more than a 100 blog posts about leadership, strategy, and culture. Within that portfolio are several accounts of business reinvention and transformation. Yet it was only a few months ago that I composed my first post on another type of reinvention: personal reinvention. My own. …
Noah Askin
Music lovers will likely know Spotify, a music streaming service that has become famous for curating tunes based on its users’ preferences. Back in 2013, Spotify had a personalized news feed called Discover that gathered together artists, album reviews, new releases, recommendations, and playlists…
Wendy Wood
Employers have a stake in their staff’s health. It’s not just a matter of keeping health insurance premiums in check which is a consideration in countries without universal healthcare. It’s also about maximizing employee engagement and productivity, and even happiness.
Promoting health habits is…
