Tag Archives: complexity

When is the Exam?

By John Evelyn  |  May 26, 2010  |  General

Ever been caught in a situation for which you were not prepared? Ever dream where you forgot to attend a certain class at school, did not go for months, and then remembered, and the exam was to be in one hour, forgot the room, hadn’t studied, and then … panic? It can be unnerving. It evokes a very special anxiety, an unforgettable sensation. This type of anxiety is different than a surprise calamity that came from nowhere and it was something you could not have prepared for. The anxiety that comes from being unprepared is different because the consequences are typically very severe, sometimes disastrous, but very possibly preventable, had we prepared for it or to be surprised. It is but one dimension of the cost of unreadiness. That cost of unreadiness is terrible, nightmarish, fraught with self doubt and remorse, and becomes overwhelming when it is basking in the public eye. Sometimes, others suffer because of our unreadiness.

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A Gulf of Inconvenience

By John Evelyn  |  May 18, 2010  |  General

The oil well disaster events of the last weeks have been nothing short of ugly. In the background, the echoes of simplistic politicians ranting “Drill, baby, drill!” strike discordance with the fears and unavoidable harm playing out in the Gulf and spotlighted on the nightly news. Congressional hearings into the events are fraught with finger pointing at those called to testify and between those testifying with blame becoming the volleyball, destined to be set up, passed, and slammed until it hits a score.
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What If?

By John Evelyn  |  May 6, 2010  |  Agility,Blind Spots,Capability,Execution,Integrity,Lean,Risks,Six Sigma,Sustainability,Transparency

There may be a really big storm brewing. It may be a signal from a political barometer, or positioning, real outrage… not sure, but the thunder is increasing. The last few months have stoked the fires of outrage, anger, frustration, and deteriorating confidence from a public that may feel that they may have been too trusting.
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I Can’t Hear What You’re Seeing

By John Evelyn  |  March 19, 2010  |  Blind Spots,Capability,Competition,Customer Experience,Customer Service,Diagnosis,Fit for purpose,Tailoring

For many years, the term Voice of the Customer has been a source of incalculable confusion and a hazardous source of misdirection. The reality of dealing with a cacophony of voices that can often come from the many interfaces and service points is daunting for some. Discerning the signal from the noise fosters subjective simplification and can and too often yield risky and sometimes shallow insights carried forward into our delivery of services.
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Think About It!

By John Evelyn  |  January 4, 2010  |  Blind Spots,Capability,Diagnosis,Rigidity,Transparency,Winning

Have you ever thought about how we think, particularly the kind that leads to decisions? What drives important decisions? How do we know if we made the “right one”? As we enter into the New Year, how will we decide how to navigate ourselves and our enterprises successfully?
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Simply Speaking with Albert Einstein

By John Evelyn  |  December 15, 2009  |  Capability,Lean,Rigidity,Risks,Six Sigma

Years ago I was visiting a financial services regional office and conducting an informal “walk-through” prior to deciding on whether to pursue business development with them. This particular division serviced auto loans. As I went around the workstations I noticed a desk with a very large stack of mail, a very large stack. One individual was opening and sorting each envelope. I asked about it and was told that the individual was the accounting manager and they were the only person in the facility authorized to open incoming mail. I tried very hard to mask my reaction as I asked why that rule was in place. “Well, a few years ago we had an individual steal some money from a payment envelope, so we implemented this improved control so that never happens again.” Flashes of Humphrey Bogart and strawberries in the “Caine Mutiny” suddenly appeared.
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Where is That Report?

By John Evelyn  |  November 12, 2009  |  Blind Spots,Capability,Diagnosis,Fit for purpose,Leverage,Resources,Tailoring,Technology

To a small to large extent, most reports that are produced and delivered are late, early, inaccurate, or incomplete, with too much or too little at the time when needed to make decisions. Ouch, that sounds like a nasty indictment. But …
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What’s the Score?

By John Evelyn  |  November 10, 2009  |  Agility,Alignment,Blind Spots,Capability,Diagnosis,Rigidity,Risks,Transparency

Have you ever balanced a scorecard? What did you do? How did you decide what balanced meant? What did you do with the scorecard? Did you win? Was it a competitive win or was it a within the scorecard win? Would an outsider evaluate you as a winner without seeing your scorecard?
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Just in Case

By John Evelyn  |  November 2, 2009  |  Alignment,Blind Spots,Capability,Diagnosis,Fit for purpose,Obesity,Risks,Transparency

Just in case. When packing for a travel, what did we add to the bag as we said, “just in case?” Did we sufficient “in case” stuff that we paid extra weight fees for our baggage? When walking into the closet and seeing a wardrobe assortment spanning 6 years and 50 pounds ago, do we hesitate before reaching for something to put into the give-away bag saying, “maybe I’ll wear it keep it, just in case?” How about the files we keep in our desk drawer or in a section of our hard drives, just in case? Do any of the books on our shelf look brand new and unopened after a decade of taking up space, but we keep them, just in case? Are we saving five year old magazines for “when I have some time to reads them?”
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On the Dock of the Bay

By John Evelyn  |  October 6, 2009  |  Alignment,Blind Spots,Books and Publications,Capability,Diagnosis,Fit for purpose,Legacy,Vision

Have you thought about how we make decisions? It’s fascinating and frightening. I believe decision making is by far our greatest Achilles Heel. In his book, “Fateful Choices,  Ten Decisions that Changed the World”, Ian Kershaw delivers a monumental and …
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