Category Archives: Rigidity

The Perfect Storm

By John Evelyn  |  August 14, 2009  |  Adversity,Agility,Alignment,Capability,Competition,Execution,Leadership,Lean,Leverage,Operational Excellence,Resources,Rigidity,Six Sigma,Sustainability,Technology,Transparency,Winning

Our customers make us better! Have you heard that phrase? When I have, the translation that emerges is that our customers sometimes have to drag us into improvement. In fact, it often means that we become aware of the needs to improve from feedback and complaints. Someone might argue that we sometimes innovate from negative feedback
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“Band of Brothers”

By John Evelyn  |  August 12, 2009  |  Adversity,Agility,Alignment,Blind Spots,Capability,Competition,Diagnosis,Execution,Leadership,Leverage,Resources,Rigidity,Risks,Teamwork,Technology,Winning

A must read chapter is “Battle of the Nile.” For me, it resonates with the importance of knowing your competition and your real estate (where you are competing), planning, innovation, and most of all, empowering your team to win. It also serves as a vivid example of how much the rigid controls of an adversary created wonderful opportunities for execution with agility and surprise.
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“What Do You Think?”

By John Evelyn  |  August 10, 2009  |  Blind Spots,Capability,Diagnosis,Fit for purpose,Leadership,Rigidity,Transparency

“Cogito, ergo sum” means “I think, therefore I am” is a principle developed by Rene Descartes in 1637, often referred to as a foundational element of Western thought and philosophy. It speaks to how we attain knowledge among other things. Western culture places great value on the individual, so the word “I” is a big deal for us. If we believe Rene, and we are because we think, then how we do this stuff called “think” is a pretty important process.
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Francis Bacon, Top Guns, and the Breakfast of Champions

By John Evelyn  |  August 7, 2009  |  Adversity,Agility,Blind Spots,Capability,Competition,Deming Prize,Diagnosis,Execution,Fit for purpose,Leadership,Leverage,Operational Excellence,Resources,Rigidity,Risks,Technology,Winning

It’s time for breakfast. I’m having a bowl of OODA Loops, a true Breakfast of Champions. Want some?

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“Once Upon a Time … and Then They Lived Happily Ever After”

By John Evelyn  |  August 5, 2009  |  Adversity,Agility,Blind Spots,Capability,Diagnosis,Execution,Fit for purpose,Rigidity,Risks,Sustainability,Transparency

“Once Upon a Time … and Then They Lived Happily Ever After”
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Felix the Cat

By John Evelyn  |  July 31, 2009  |  Adversity,Agility,Capability,Diagnosis,Execution,Fit for purpose,General,Leadership,Legacy,Resources,Rigidity,Sustainability,Tailoring,Technology

How often do we use our nostalgia magic bag? It’s the one where we keep our memories and trusted well-worn tools, similar to Felix the Cat’s bag of tricks. Like Felix, when he gets in a fix, we face problems …
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“Something In The Way She Moves……”

By John Evelyn  |  July 24, 2009  |  Adversity,Agility,Capability,Competition,Execution,Leadership,Leverage,Operational Excellence,Rigidity,Winning

We were having a discussion one night about agility. It started with the language of sports or war to develop metaphors for illustrating business parallels. Agility became my pet for that chat and endless ranting to come. I concluded that …
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“If I Had a Hammer, I Would Hammer in the Morning, …”

By John Evelyn  |  July 17, 2009  |  Agility,Execution,Fit for purpose,Leadership,Rigidity,Sustainability,Tailoring,Transparency

“To a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”  This quote is attributed to Mark Twain (and a few others, including Abraham Maslow).  When I first heard the phrase, it was also quoted as a Japanese proverb and …
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You Can’t Go Back To Somewhere You’ve Never Been To

By John Evelyn  |  July 6, 2009  |  Agility,Capability,Execution,Fit for purpose,Leadership,Lean,Operational Excellence,Resources,Rigidity,Six Sigma,Technology,Winning

My first car was a beautiful 1956 Oldsmobile; I bought it in 1968, during the early half of my senior year in high school. It increased my degrees of freedom and mobility. No more having to catch rides with my …
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Harmony and Dissonance

By John Evelyn  |  July 1, 2009  |  Agility,Capability,Diagnosis,Execution,Fit for purpose,Leadership,Legacy,Rigidity,Tailoring

The YinYang has been a powerful framework for me when endeavoring to frame and evaluate what are ahead, my decisions. The importance of considering the duality of opposing, mutually defining forces or dimensions, as fundamental to evaluating completeness, is very thought provoking. …
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