All Features
Chip Bell
A reputable B2B company recently received feedback indicating widespread customer concern it was not helping its customers remain on the cutting edge of their own industries. The company was so focused on trying to sell that it lost sight of helping its customers stay informed about their new…
Benjamin Jones, Mohammad Ahmadpoor
What does hailing a ride with Uber have to do with 19th-century geometry and Einstein’s theory of relativity? Quite a bit, it turns out.
Uber and other location-based mobile applications rely on GPS to link users with available cars nearby. GPS technology requires a network of satellites that…
Laurel Thoennes @ QD
There’s nothing like a splash of cold water to wake you up. Imagine what a 33-trillion-gallon splash would do. Maybe 24 hours of wind at 185 miles per hour would sweep you onto your feet. Hurricanes Harvey and Irma said, “Wakey wakey,” and we can’t afford to nod off.
How do you recover from…
Dr T Burns
I had humble, that is, poor, beginnings. I didn’t even know the taste of real ice cream until later in life. One of the first impacts I felt of the luxury that technology brings was the diode my father bought for me to replace the cat’s whisker on my crystal radio. My high school was lovingly…
MIT News
The first of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) half online, half in-person supply chain management master’s degree programs is making a profit and bringing dozens of new degree-seeking students to campus.
The results from the blended program in supply chain management are…
Tony Uphoff
The U.S. manufacturing industry—once one of the most robust and powerful economic engines in the world—is now in a state of atrophy. Baby boomers are retiring in record numbers, taking their unique knowledge and skills with them as they head out the door for the final time. The people taking…
Michelle LaBrosse
It’s summertime. You’ve saved up your time off and planned a great vacation for yourself and your family. How, as a project manager, do you make sure your vacation just has those fun “risks,” that everything runs smoothly while you’re away, and you’re able to enjoy your vacation uninterrupted?…
Dirk Dusharme @ Quality Digest
Our August 11, 2017, episode of QDL looked at the role of technology in after-market service, stairs that help you up, Fidget Cubes, and more.
“Climbing Stairs Just Got Easier With Energy-Recycling Steps”
These stairs actually help you go up.
“The Curious Case of the Fidget Cube”
How a product…
Bruce Weinberg
Science funding is intended to support the production of new knowledge and ideas that develop new technologies, improve medical treatments, and strengthen the economy. The idea goes back to influential engineer Vannevar Bush, who headed the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development during…
Bruce Hamilton
At GBMP’s launch of the Shingo Institute’s Build Excellence workshop, it occurred to me that perhaps systems thinking might be more aptly named systems rethinking. Workshop participants offered up current systems in their organizations that actually impeded continuous improvement, each time…
Dirk Dusharme @ Quality Digest
Our July 28, 2017, episode of QDL we looked at science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) education for the deaf and hard of hearing; Quality 4.0; and cloud computing.
“Teaching STEAM Skills to Deaf Kids Using Drones and 3-D Printing”
The deaf and hard of hearing are underreprented in…
John Guaspari
‘You want me to pull the kids out of school for what?”
I could tell that my wife didn’t like my idea because she had used the tone she uses when I say something that is, to employ the pet phrase she employs in such instances, “really stupid.”
“For Guaspari Family Quality Day,” I replied. “We take…
Dirk Dusharme @ Quality Digest
I n our June 23, 2017, episode of QDL we look at STEM education, personal kanban, and common mistakes when using SPC.
“ASME Supports STEM Opportunities Act of 2017”
Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) has introduced H.R. 2653, which promises to increase engagement of women and minorities…
Christopher Martin
Many of us are familiar with the concept of the Ohno Circle, innovated by Taiichi Ohno at Toyota during the 1940s. While familiarity with the technique and the goals it sets to accomplish is one thing, how many of us have actually participated? The surprising answer is… probably all of us, in a…
Laurel Thoennes @ QD
You can be known as a hard worker and counted on to tie up loose ends, but fall behind when co-workers’ tasks are on hold until yours are complete, and you’re perceived as needing an attitude adjustment. What would you want to do? Place blame or work on a remedy? There is a solution: Personal…
Jesse Lyn Stoner
Sometimes leaders make bad decisions or harm team morale by making autocratic decisions without involving others. And other times they waste their team’s time by unnecessarily involving them.
How do you know when and how much to involve your team in decisions? Sometimes the answer is pretty…
Iffet Turken
The world faces a new crisis situation more or less every day—be it political, economic, or humanitarian. Wherever a crisis is experienced, echoes are felt around the globe. In the digital age, social media conveys crises in real time, resulting in rich portfolios of pictures, videos, written…
Lolly Daskal
After decades of coaching powerful executives around the world, I have observed that leaders rise to their positions relying on a specific set of values and traits. But in time, every executive reaches a point when his performance suffers and failure persists. Very few understand why or how to…
Miguel Noguerol
The restaurant industry confronts many of the leadership challenges that other industries, corporate leaders, and entrepreneurs face. Chefs and chef-owners play a significant leadership role in their organizations through a variety of operational and social processes. Among these leaders, only an…
Jesse Lyn Stoner
Coaching is not just for problems. Coaching helps you avoid problems by providing space to think and be more intentional about your goals and actions. And coaching is especially helpful for getting clarity on where you want to go.
Working with a coach gives you: • Space for self-reflection •…
Morten Bennedsen
Employee absenteeism is a problem for companies everywhere. When employees are away from the office, for good reasons or not, the cost has been measured at somewhere around 4 percent of the world’s gross domestic product. Absences lead to delayed work, colleagues take on more, and projects are…
Mike Richman
On our most recent episode of QDL from this past Fri., April 14, 2017, we took a close look at innovation and engineering. Here’s a quick recap:
“SAE Institute Creates Webisodes to Benefit STEM Education” This piece demonstrates the good work that the San Jose, California, campus of the SAE…
Steven Sweldens
The tide of popular opinion seems to have turned against multitasking. Recent articles scoff at the notion that people could satisfactorily complete more than one activity at a time, labeling it a myth and a fallacy. This purist pushback in the press mirrors common resentment among professionals…
Jim Benson
The notion of a successful distributed team seems like a wonderful yet unobtainable dream.
But stop and think: How often are your nondistributed teams successful? When have they been successful, and why? It’s never because of your plan, or because you hired the best people. It’s not because you…
Peter Robustelli
The largest problems facing businesses isn’t competition, globalization, or access to capital. It is something else, something embedded in the fabric of organizations as their most important asset. Human capital, the people who make organizations work, is one of the largest single issues being…