Lean

When people hear the word innovation, they often think of groundbreaking products, disruptive technologies, or revolutionary ideas. But not every improvement needs to reinvent the wheel. Small changes might seem insignificant at first, but their cumulative effect can be transformative.

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In this article I’m looking at Shunryū Suzuki’s beginner’s mind in Zen and Heinz von Foerster’s ethical imperative. Readers of my blog know that I love connecting the dots often in seemingly varying fields.

Suzuki said something useful: “In the beginner’s mind, there are many…

With Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence’s recent announcement of its inclusion in the NASCAR Competition Partner Program, details on the strategic partnership have emerged. By cementing this tie, the two companies can expand a professional relationship that will enable them to focus on precision…

A food company spends months and significant budget on consumer research before launching a new product. The survey scores are strong, so the store managers stock it. Six months later, the product is quietly pulled from the shelves. The consumers who said they would buy it didn’t.

In the larger organizations I worked for as a quality leader, supplier auditing was almost always calendar-driven. Sometimes supplier audits happened once a year; in other places, they might happen twice. I’d build the schedule to accommodate that, and the system would just run.

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Quality Digest recently spoke with David Isaacson, the executive director of portfolio marketing at Octave. Besides his work on marketing strategies, he also helps people manage, understand, and better control their operations with software solutions that protect industry assets and people while…