Improvement: A Hundred-Year Plan for Progressive Management (Cubic LLC, 2020) By Ken Eakin From the title of Emiliani’s recent book[1], you might expect a specific, detailed blueprint for how to implement a better, more progressive style of business management from now until 2121. You might imagine project milestones stylishly illustrated in colourful Gantt charts, telling you … Continue reading Book Review: Improvement by Bob Emiliani
I’m a consultant who, amongst other things, helps organizations increase their organizational productivity and employee engagement through process improvements. In other words, I’m one of those nerds who, while waiting in line, can’t help but see inefficiencies and devise ways (in my head) for how to improve it. I do this while waiting in line anywhere: … Continue reading My Covid Test: A Simple Way to Speed Up the Line
Once upon a time, I took a meditation class. I have since lapsed in my practice—but I still remember distinctly some of the teachings that the instructor shared. The one that really stuck with me was this: “there are only three things that are certain in life: time will pass, you will get sick, and … Continue reading Book Review: Management Mysterium by Bob Emiliani
As a Lean advocate, I used to be a little skeptical about the notion of “complexity thinking”. I thought it was just another new label on the same old bottle of wine. I am already familiar with (and a big fan of) the writings of W. Edwards Deming, Russel Ackoff, Peter Senge, and Derek and Laura Cabrera, … Continue reading Complexity, Pareto and COVID19
“A bad system will beat a good person every time”—W.E. Deming The best thing about Emiliani’s latest book is that it challenges you to think in uncomfortable ways. Sure, most business books make you think a little, but often they simply validate your own point of view by articulating it in language better than your … Continue reading Book Review: Irrational Institutions by Bob Emiliani
Consider what the great 20th Century management thinker W. Edwards Deming has to say about the use of targets: “Eliminate work standards (quotas) on the factory floor” and “eliminate management by numbers, numerical goals.” This would seem in opposition to the way most people practice Lean, where numerical targets are the apparent sine qua non, … Continue reading Are targets bad?
Some of the leanest thinkers I know love online grocery shopping. They rave about how much more convenient it is. Yet, like lean itself, it has not caught on in a widespread way. According to a 2018 article, only 5.5% of all US groceries are purchased online. That lags a lot behind other sectors, such … Continue reading Lean Groceries
