For most of the history of civilization, humankind has been devoid of, arguably, the most important number in the universe. It possesses the power of infinity and it is immeasurable or elusive, sometimes. But this number became the invisible fulcrum that redefined how we now weigh matters and many decisions in our world. That number is zero
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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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“How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?” says Sherlock Holmes to Dr. Watson in Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle’s “The Sign of the Four” (and two other books in the series). Many problem solvers have applied the maxim to separate the signal from the noise, finding the real cause. I believe that the maxim creates a real struggle for those under the gun to find the culprit causes. This is one maxim that lots of folks at Toyota are stressed over.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way.” So begins “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens. Although a story replete with social commentary, it brings into focus the impacts of adversity, particularly on the elite and unprepared. Aristocracy meant respect and a special place in the eyes of many, perhaps leading to hubris, and hubris often led to disaster.
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Years ago a colleague asked me to define what a successful consultant, coach, or mentor does to help their client. “Hmmm”, I thought about the question, “we work in a process of managing epiphanies! We help others discover what is, perhaps has always been, but not necessarily in focus”. It certainly was not original thought, but I believe that it is nonetheless true, and we owe much of that to Socrates. Socrates, a Greek philosopher, mentor of Plato, helped others to find truth, or fallacy in thought by asking great questions. Great answers pick the destination and great questions lead to discovery.
A long time ago I studied engineering, mechanical engineering. I loved the subject and the lenses it brought. It was and is about transformation, solving problems, creation, leverage, and making new things that work and making old things work better. …
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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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Are we confident that our processes are delivering to the right quality and compliance requirements? How did we decide what the right controls, checks and balances are? Do we build in a safety margin or pay for insurance because we might fail? After all, failure has consequences, and insurance and safety cushions can be costly.
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This week, there is lots of buzz about the upcoming Black Friday; the day people abandon civilized behavior for the sake of a deal. For many, it may be the only day that affordable gifts may be within reach, or shoving range. For merchants, the day that books move from red to black, maybe. It is the demarcation from the day of eating stuffing to the season for buying stuff.
How do you know if your Lean and Six Sigma training and development program is succeeding?
When you set out on your implementation, did you develop metrics to gage progress and success?
Is success measured in terms of training and certification indicators or on the changes in business performance?
Have you has what appeared to be a successful implementation in a failing business or business unit? Are you counting projects and certifications still?
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Your couch. It is mine.
Im a cool paragraph that lives inside of an even cooler modal. Wins
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