(On the photo, a post(wo)man delivering mail to the residents of Freising, Munich area) Door-to-door mail delivery to urban customers has been phased out in Canada in the last five years. This was a major cost-saving initiative of Canada Post. As a performance improvement specialist, I doubt its value for Canadians. Without a doubt, there is […]
Tag: organizational change
What did I do to James?
I have not yet met a single manager who would not complain about ‘boring’, ‘endless’ and ‘useless’ meetings they have to host or attend on a daily basis. And yet most of them are literally just a few words away from making their meeting a really effective communication and teambuilding tool. I once worked with […]
Canoeing with Mintzberg
The CoachingOurselves Reflections 2017 – Rebalancing Society conference was an outstanding 3-day event filled with ideas, presentations and passion shared with us by the brightest minds: Henry Mintzberg, Philip Kotler, Dan Ponterfract, Ed Schein, Jonathan Gosling, Mitch Joel and many other prominent thinkers, businesspeople and coaches. This true feast of sustainable leadership was concluded with a savory dessert – The Great Canadian Canoe Trip, […]
Reflections 2017 Global Conference
To learn more about the critical role Leadership Development professionals play in society, come to the Rebalancing Society Event, hosted by Henry Mintzberg, Philip Kotler, Mitch Joel and many others. ““Leadership, like swimming cannot be learned by reading about it.” Henry Mintzberg. Register to see Henry and other thought leaders at Reflections 2017 Global Conference!
Why Most Lean Six Sigma Projects Fail?
Stats indicate that the success rate for Lean initiatives is hardly over 5%. That means that up to 95% of continuous improvement programs fail to rescue the operation and have no sustainable effect. The data and my analysis do not claim to be exhaustive but I believe the TRUE ANSWER to the question is […]
What Do Starbucks and Lean Six Sigma Have In Common?
In essence, both are not new. They are derivatives from older businesses or trends that have been in existence for at least some decades: Lean is a mass-market Toyota Production System and Starbucks is a mass-market coffee retailer.
What Makes Life Worthwhile? Good People Made Better
Once in a while you get news that makes your life worthwhile. Last week a colleague sent me a text with the phone number of a former client: “He wants to speak with you.” I called the new mobile number right away and learned that Vlad has been promoted to the top position at an […]
Coaching Ourselves May Be the Way Forward
I attended an interesting webinar – “Peer-Coaching Groups with CoachingOurselves: A modern approach to developing leaders.” Peer coaching with professional facilitation is an interesting concept. Although I did not hear Henry Mintzberg ever mentioning this, but it reminds me of the Quality Circles. They were popular in Japan in 1950s-1960s, made popular in the West […]
Performance Can’t Be Improved With One Weird Trick
Having worked for and with a number of businesses and business leaders over the last 25 years, I observed three closely related problems negatively impacting individual and organizational capabilities.