Running to standard Whenever there is a problem, we should always first ask the question: Are we running to standard? Often the issue is that we’ve not followed the standard and we simply aren’t doing what we ought to be doing. It can be hard to admit to ourselves that we’ve merely been human and...

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A Confusing Start to My Own Operational Excellence Pursuit Officially, I began my operational excellence pursuit almost 45 years ago. However, I did not know it at the time. Between 1985 and 1990, I was at work in my first true operational excellence workplace. My first two employers were traditional manufacturers. This third site was...

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Summary.   Setting resolutions often feels like a pointless exercise — something we do at the beginning of each year only to then feel guilty by February. The pandemic has only made the practice feel more helpless. Why even attempt to set resolutions when you have no idea what will transpire in the coming months? The author explains...

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Back in the middle of 2017, as Tesla was ramping up the production of the Model-3 and the company was worth only $63.5 billion (as opposed to $1 trillion today), Elon Musk famously stated that he was entering “Production Hell“.  Evidently, he made it through just fine. But people reading this might think; “Isn’t Musk...

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“My dear, here we must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place. And if you wish to go anywhere you must run twice as fast as that.” The Red Queen, in “Through the Looking-Glass” by Lewis Carroll Introduction Industry experts assert that data is the new gold. Even more valuable than...

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Mule and JP start the show with a topic that morphs as rapidly as a cicada’s wings and which is about as irritating; the COVID rules and regulations du jour. JP shares his latest experience with traveling between Germany and the States. Whereas arriving to the States is a matter of having a right to...

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I invite Aaron Roe, presently the Process Owner of Customer Experience at Roche Diabetes Care, as my guest on this episode of “State of Readiness“. This is a really great conversation full of enthusiasm and passion. Aaron Roe has spent the last 15 years at Roche, holding positions and roles including; Commercial Excellence Director, Business...

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Joseph Paris welcomes to “State of Readiness” Manuel “Manny” Ugarte, Director and Strategic Accounts Manager of the United States Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC).  The US Army’s CCDC mission is to provide the research, engineering, and analytical expertise to deliver capabilities that enable the Army to deter and, when necessary, decisively defeat any adversary...

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We welcome Philip Holt, Vice President of Operational Excellence at GKN Aerospace, for a conversation on State of Readiness.  We start off the program discussing Philip’s two books, “Leading with Lean” and “The Simplicity of Lean”; the latter having won the Bronze Medal in the Axiom Book Awards.  We take a walk in Philip’s shoes...

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What if the government ran more like Silicon Valley? Engineer Matt Cutts shares why he decided to leave Google (where he worked for nearly 17 years) for a career in the US government — and makes the case that if you really want to make an impact, go where your help is needed most. See...

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For 20+ years Joe has been empowering organizations, teams, and individuals to continuously improve processes and outcomes toward their goals and ultimately achieve Excellence in their chosen business, function, or discipline.  What makes Joe unique is that he has led successful transformation programs across several Fortune 100 companies – and he has experienced the deployment...

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The world has been turned on its head thanks to COVID19 and as with most negative things, such as wars and other pandemics, there is generally a hidden benefit that appears once the crisis is over. The fallout from the Coronavirus is already beginning to demonstrate new ways of working and bringing about changes to...

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Topic:  JP shares his challenges with a recent move of premises.  Many of the frustrations involve the discarding of waste in Germany; the myriad of bins and methods of discarding and the confusions that go with their use is but one of the challenges.  The biggest challenge, besides JP holding the opinion that his landlords were assholes...

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Craig Costello uses mathematics to secure the digital world, both against the threats that exist today and those that may exist in the future. In this glimpse into our technological future, this cryptographer discusses the world-altering potential of quantum computers, which could shatter the limits set by today’s machines – and give code breakers a...

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This is an except from Chapter-1, Introduction from my book, “The Simplicity of Lean”. Lean means many things to many people and its success or failure is important to a large number of stakeholders: customers, employees, management, shareholders, suppliers, and society as a whole. Is Lean a toolkit? Is it about cost saving? Is it...

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There are tens of thousands of books regarding management,  leadership, and culture. They all boil down to a list of base principles that are key to running a sound business. Simple to understand, very hard to execute. We should beware to confuse simple with easy. In fact, most of the behaviors that make us healthy...

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There are very few people that actually enjoy meetings.  I have never heard anyone say, “I can’t wait for the meeting this afternoon” unless it’s followed by “I won’t have to eat at my desk.” Certainly, the people who are called to attend a meeting largely lack enthusiasm are energetic unless they, or their project,...

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Our experience and research demonstrate that successful agile organizations consistently exhibit the five trademarks described in this article. The trademarks include a network of teams within a people-centered culture that operates in rapid learning and fast decision cycles which are enabled by technology, and a common purpose that co-creates value for all stakeholders. These trademarks complement...

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Packaging is everywhere.  Almost everything that we buy comes packaged in some form.  New cars are packaged in protective films for transport.  The jeans on the store shelf came in a corrugated paperboard box.  Even the fresh fruit at the farmer’s market arrived in a box, and you took it home in a bag. The...

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MIT Sloan means that innovation is one of the driving forces in our world. The constant creation of new ideas and their transformation into technologies and products forms a powerful cornerstone for 21st century society. Indeed, many universities and institutes, along with regions such as Silicon Valley, cultivate this process. The crux of the article...

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I just got off the golf course hitting 9-holes with my Pop, who is 84 years old.  God bless him, I hope he has many more rounds to play and I look forward to getting out as often as I can with him.  We played the En-Joie Golf Club; a stop on the PGA Tour...

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The Operational Excellence Society is proudly hosting its latest online business educational initiative, coined The Operational Excellence Webinar Series. This webinar’s thought leader is Benjamin P. Taylor, Managing Partner at RedQuadrant. Tuesday, April 30, 2019 from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM (EDT) Webinar Abstract When tough times hit, it is crucial that people collaborate. In a time of political uncertainty and...

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Since the beginning of recorded history, great leaders of engagements have known two things; 1) Time is the enemy with speed and decisiveness in making a decision being an advantage and 2) there is no such thing as the perfect plan.  Therefore the ability to adapt as circumstances unfold is critical to success. Sun Tzu,...

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Its time for improvement, as always! In the UK, we are constantly reminding ourselves – where others don’t do it for us – that “Productivity is a huge issue”. From Public to Private sector and now even Third sector (not for profit) organisations, calls for increased “efficiency”, “productivity” and “cost-effectiveness” to list but a few...

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Operational Excellence (OpEx) is a term that embodies many things that CEOs seek to achieve, such as consistent strategy execution, profitable growth and sustainable cost reduction.  While there are many definitions of the term, most would agree that it entails focusing on customers, cross functional execution and consistent delivery of outcomes that create value for...

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I have been inspired by Benjamin Franklin, who said: “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing”. I believe I have discovered some tricks to make life more efficient, which I would like to share with you. This article is for anyone who wants to excel at what they do, at work and...

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This article by EY means that maximizing the value of your automation strategy necessarily requires linkage to your people strategy and organizational analysis. Starting with the premise that automation offers tremendous potential for leaders looking to drive transformation in their organization: from cost savings and increased delivery speed, to new operating models, to higher value...

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With changing health care reimbursement models, growing consumer demand, and advances in digital technologies, virtual care is a must-have for health systems. But how can hospitals and health systems gain physician buy-in? Deloitte means that it might be easier than you thought… Read more

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With this insert, McKinsey & Company means that in order to speed innovation and fend off disruption, R&D organizations at incumbent companies can borrow the tools and techniques that digital natives use to get ahead. Starting with the premises that between rising customer expectations and unpredictable moves by digital attackers, the existence of R&D organizations at...

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If you ever find yourself saying; “There must be a better way”, I can guarantee you that there is.  All we must do is find it.  And, once a successful solution is suspected, try it.  And when found, implement. One of the biggest stones in my shoe was scheduling appointments and calls.  It was a...

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