Tag Archives: Execution

Opportunity in Every Storm

By John Evelyn  |  August 31, 2011  |  Adversity,Agility,Blind Spots,Capability,Execution,General,Leadership,Lean,Rigidity,Six Sigma,Sustainability,Teamwork

Five years ago this last Monday, Katrina struck along the Gulf Coast. Its aftermath still lives with us, the 9th Ward in New Orleans still devastated with diminishing hope. The Katrina experience was transformative along many dimensions. It graphically illustrated the execution rigidity borne of planning and responsiveness that comes from leadership gained through cronyism and political machines. Lives were lost and value was destroyed in an experience that put light on our soft underbelly. In fact, 1836 people died and 135 were missing and financial losses exceeded $108 billion. The aftereffects from looting, violence, and losses to the economies would fill scores of books. It reshaped the local economy, created a diaspora of resources and cast doubts globally about our values.

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I’m Shocked

By John Evelyn  |  June 10, 2011  |  Adversity,Agility,Blind Spots,Capability,Execution,Fit for purpose,General,Lean,Rigidity,Risks,Six Sigma,Sustainability

The 9.0 earthquake that devastated northern Japan continues to have severe aftershocks. They are shocks in what clever physicist would ascribe to a type of space-time. It’s not about Star Trek stuff, or the time travel that fantasies love to use, but rather how one type of event starts a whole series of other events along a different type of path, affecting a different space at a different time, but connected. These types of other events are very real “butterfly effects” where a small change in one place can cause a whole bunch of changes downstream. Believe it or not, that earthquake has changed our lives, our businesses, and our collective futures.
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Steering and Branding

By John Evelyn  |  May 11, 2011  |  Agility,Capability,Customer Experience,Customer Service,Execution,Fit for purpose,General,Legacy,Rigidity,Sustainability,Winning

What’s in a name? How about the three R’s: recognition, reputation, and revenues? What’s the value of a brand? BRANDZ has just published their evaluations and valuations of global brands. It’s a measure of just how valuable the commercial brand is and supporting insight into the whys and wherefores. The shifts and changes in their rankings are a barometer of how our choices of who delivers value are manifested in our buying behavior. It’s not an opinion poll, but rather an evaluation that incorporates business results with analysis inclusive of some subjectivity.
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Getting the Point

By John Evelyn  |  April 20, 2011  |  Blind Spots,Capability,Execution,General,Lean,Rigidity,Six Sigma

The Macedonian Phalanx was a battlefield formation developed by King Philip, father of Alexander the Great. It was the most effective military ground weapon to meet enemy forces head on, enabling attack by cavalry and other forces along the flanks. It utilized collapsible long spears and was virtually undefeatable for over 300 years. It combined the interlocking and cohesion of shields and the long reach of the spear. The units were well trained. It was a marvelous combination of strategy, technology, resources, process and, execution. Sounds like a phrase of a business book.
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Class Struggles

By John Evelyn  |  March 28, 2011  |  Blind Spots,Capability,Customer Experience,Fit for purpose,General,Lean,Six Sigma,Winning

Best in Class! How often do we run into the term? I don’t believe it’s a term that has lost much meaning. I suspect that overuse, or selective playing around with what “class” we pick, or the unreliability of rating organizations render it useless too often. In the world or process improvement it is applied to a goal setting step for evaluating how large a gap there is to close and subsequently chartering projects and resources to close that gap. There are some pitfalls to the approach
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The Winter of Our Discontent

By John Evelyn  |  February 15, 2011  |  Adversity,Agility,Capability,Customer Experience,General,Leverage,Resources,Rigidity,Technology

The yearly onset of winter has been a critical milestone in our history, life for that matter, on this planet. It triggered severe constraints in access to food, travel, safety and the quality of life overall. Travellers who needed to get across mountain ranges had to make tough choices, and often make winter quarters and postpone travel until the thaws. Even in war, some armies huddled in winter and fought from early spring to late fall. Today, winter continues to constrain and often reminds us that our advancement and technology can be humbled by severe weather. Those in the tropics see a different face of nature, the tropical cyclones and monsoons.

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Get Lost

By John Evelyn  |  October 18, 2010  |  Alignment,Blind Spots,Capability,Execution,Fit for purpose,General,Lean,Six Sigma

Last Wednesday, October 14th, H.R. 946, or in plain English, the Plain Writing Act of 2010 was signed into law. It’s a refreshing intent to align the language of government with the language and understanding of the people governed. For centuries, our law has been written in codes that require specialists to interpret and often serve as combatants in a system wherein the consequences are typically borne by others. Granted, it does not address doublespeak in contracts and service agreements, but it is a good directional beginning. Specifically, “plain writing” in the new law is defined as writing that is “clear, concise, well-organized and follows other best practices.” Perhaps now the governance battle moves to decide what best practices are.

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Check Up or Check Out?

By John Evelyn  |  September 29, 2010  |  Blind Spots,Capability,Diagnosis,Fit for purpose,General,Lean,Obesity,Operational Excellence,Six Sigma

Over the last two weeks, I’ve been going through a round of “safety checks” to evaluate my personal operating systems. Although the medical professionals may have more sophisticated terms, they are nonetheless evaluating my operating capabilities to see how much may have changed. These capability evaluations have paid off with rates of return that run off the charts. I am just like many business operating systems in that I’m subject to the risks of decay and disruption.
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For the Birds

By John Evelyn  |  September 21, 2010  |  Agility,Alignment,Capability,Conferences and Events,General,Lean,Leverage,Resources,Six Sigma,Tailoring,Technology

Ever watch birds flying in formation? There are some fascinating bits of science that have evolved over the years that enable a large flock (a team with a shared mission) to execute a migratory process effectively and efficiently. They have come up with a process that successfully incorporates the laws of physics, economics and group behavior. Leadership of the flock rotates so that fatigue is dissipated across players rather than concentrated on one alpha. Of course, it’s taken a long time for this to evolve, and they may have some insights worth emulating.

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The Egg and I

By John Evelyn  |  August 26, 2010  |  Capability,Customer Experience,General,Integrity,Leadership,Operational Excellence,Respect,Six Sigma,Transparency

Ever wonder about the question of which came first, the chicken or the egg? It’s hard to escape the current media about eggs, salmonella outbreaks again! I confess that part of me is a chicken, more than a bit concerned about the eggs. Although the broadcasted data says my eggs are likely to be safe, the current outbreak is disturbing. Egg farmers everywhere are sharing the chilling thoughts of what fear can do to our buying behaviors. A bad egg amongst the good can spoil the lot. It’s not just about eggs, is it?
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