From the category archives:

General

Valid or reliable – in the board room

07.30.2010

In my last post on the theme of looking at metrics as either valid or reliable and the balance between them, I wanted to examine the impact on decisions in the board room. So far we have covered the following:

Valid or reliable – take your pick
Valid or reliable – trying to break the tradeoff
Valid or [...]

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Valid or reliable – is your culture right?

07.29.2010

This week I’ve been writing about the tradeoff between measuring things in a valid way or a reliable means. Two posts published so far are:

Valid or reliable – take your pick
Valid or reliable – trying to break the tradeoff

How does this impact culture?
Culture is one of the most vital yet most difficult to measure dimensions [...]

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Valid or reliable – trying to break the tradeoff

07.28.2010

Yesterday I wrote about how measurements are often in conflict between being valid indicators and reliable indicators in Valid or reliable – take your pick. How can we possibly break this tension so there is no tradeoff?
One method, staying within the domain of measurement, is a stronger use of ratios. Many of the reliability failures [...]

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Valid or reliable – take your pick

07.27.2010

Last week we had an interesting conversation. It started as a discussion about projects, particularly how you make sure you projects are going in the right direction. Ideally, you should choose how you’re going to be measuring yourself before, during, and after the project. If you wait to the end to say “how do we [...]

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Too Many Problems

07.22.2010

My latest article, Too Many Problems, articulates that I see problem solving in organizations as much more than problem solving skills. Many times people roll out new problem solving skills thinking that is enough. But beyond that, you also need systems and infrastructure to support those skills, and the right culture and behaviors to enable [...]

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R.I.P. George Steinbrenner

07.19.2010

Photo credit: AP
George Steinbrenner passed away last week of a heart attack at the age of 80. I’m a die hard Red Sox fan, so it was always hard to watch a man of Steinbrenner’s caliber beat you. But George was a winner, and that should be celebrated. As I look at what I can [...]

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Forget SMART Goals – Do you have DUMB goals?

07.14.2010

A lot is written and taught about developing SMART goals. I wrote about the topic earlier this year when everyone was developing their annual goals in the post Forget the New Year’s Resolutions.
There are mistakes in developing goals that I find far too common. Let’s call them DUMB goals. It’s not that the people are [...]

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The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs

07.12.2010

Aesop’s Fables present timeless lessons. As my mind thinks, I related these back to organizational lessons and to lean transformation, as I wrote about The Mice in Council before. One of the most famous phrases, even if people don’t really know the story, is The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs. Here’s the story:
A man [...]

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Management Improvement Carnival #103

07.10.2010

Thanks again to John Hunter of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog for inviting me to host issue #103 of the Management Improvement Carnival.
Lean Consumption: A Summary – since Womack and Jones Lean Solutions book, there still hasn’t been much written about lean consumption but Pete Abilla take it on here.
UK Government Wants Lean and [...]

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Cultivating a Global Village

07.08.2010

Today I participated in Lehigh University’s Global Village program run by the Iacocca Institute. It brings together well over 100 students, many of whom are in their twenties, for a 6 week learning experience every summer from every corner of the globe – Russia, China, Israel, France, Brazil – pick a country and it is [...]

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