From the monthly archives:

December 2009

Favorite Blog Posts

12.31.2009

It’s the end of the year, and my first year with a dedicated blog (I’ve been blogging as a guest for LeanBlog since 2005). So as a point of reflection, I thought I would share my favorite blog posts so far. Here’s my top picks:
Solve your own darn problems – the more I think and [...]

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Forget the New Year’s Resolution..

12.30.2009

..set a real goal instead. Resolutions are just about your intentions. But goals, when done correctly, are about your actions. Don’t resolve. Resolve is like hope. Only planning and action will move you forward.

Yes, it’s the goal setting time of year. But don’t set goals just because your company says you have to. And don’t [...]

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Management Carnival Annual Roundup

12.28.2009

What are the best blog posts of 2009? I would be willing to say that the best blog posts have probably contributed more than the best book releases. John Hunter of Curious Cat blog has done a wonderful job beginning a practice and a community of people sharing the best blog posts on lean, Deming, [...]

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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

12.24.2009

I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a very happy, and safe, holidays. I’m going to take a few days off, and I mean 100 percent off. You won’t see me on the blog, on twitter, on facebook, or even on email until next week. I’ll be sitting by this tree enjoying [...]

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Some Christmas Blogger Fun

12.24.2009

Mark Graban of LeanBlog was nice enough (the way an 8 year old boy is nice to his 6 year old brother) to put together this collection of lean bloggers in this Elf dance. Besides Mark and myself, you will also find Kevin Meyer of Evolving Excellence, Pete Abilla of Shmula, and Ron Pereira of [...]

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Make the Most of This Time

12.23.2009

Are you the only one in the office this week? Or the only one next week? What a great time to get something done that is important, but not urgent.
Pick one thing that’s been frustrating you. It could be your own email or file management system, or your project tracking, or your calendar management. Take [...]

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Test for Actual Use, not Intended Use

12.22.2009

When you test, what attributes are you testing for? Most testing begins with design criteria. This is reasonable to include but not the right starting point. You must develop with the user in mind. You must test with the user in mind. You must test for actual use, not just the use you intended.
This past [...]

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Successful Lean Steering Committees

12.21.2009

Do you have a group of people leading lean? Whether formal or informal, there is often such as group particularly early in the lean journey (meaning the first several years). I get a lot of questions by email, some by clients and others by readers. Many are two specific to the situation to share, but [...]

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Take Fridays Off, or Work While They Slack?

12.19.2009

Here are two contrasting points via video. One video is from Chris Brogan of ChrisBrogan.com. The other video is from Cameron Herold of BackPocket COO. Check out both the videos.
Chris says work while they slack and you can distance yourself from the competition. Cameron says take Fridays off. No, that’s not the secret. His real [...]

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Building a Culture, One Habit at a Time

12.18.2009

I get a lot of emails and questions about culture change. I even get it directly: “how do you change culture?” Email isn’t quite sufficient for such a question, and either is a blog post. But we can peel back the layers of the cultural onion, one later at a time.
Habits are a little-appreciated aspect [...]

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