Imagine a scenario where everything moves along smoothly with no problems. Imagine you have the power to wave a magic wand and every problem solves itself. For many members of management this the way they face reality. They forget the process is called Continuous Process Improvement. We do not have processes that just move it on. We do not have a problem with which we can wave a magic wand in the air and call the problem resolved. So when we become complacent and base our actions on…

As I read the literature out in the market I see wide responses to organizational problems with the usual suspects. We resolve performance issues by cutting costs. We resolve performance issues by cutting human capital spend. We resolve performance issues by cutting overhead. Here is the problem, without experimentation we will not find the true answer to the problem before…

Last week in our weekly blog post we talked about what the TLS Continuum was, however I left out of the discussion a valuable point about what is missing from most continuous process improvement efforts. That missing element is critical thinking. Hey I get it, it is just not you. Our next generation can’t critically think either. The base of the TLS Continuum is critical thinking so it is important that we understand the role it plays in process improvement.

The TLS Continuum process…

I got into a discussion in the past days over the use of acronyms. The comment was passed that nobody understands acronyms so why use them. So for you who are reading this blog let me give to the basics of the TLS Continuum.

The letters TLS stand for the three components of the continuum. The letter T stands for the Theory of Constraints. Created by Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt in his book “…

I got into a discussion in the past days over the use of acronyms. The comment was passed that nobody understands acronyms so why use them. So for you who are reading this blog let me give to the basics of the TLS Continuum.

The letters TLS stand for the three components of the continuum. The letter T stands for the Theory of Constraints. Created by Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt in his book “…

The very essence of our organizations is found within the corporate culture of the organization. It creates the vision of the organization both internally and externally to your organization. From the very beginning of the TLS Continuum series we have stressed the need to see a problem, feel its affects on your organization and create a new corporate culture. In the April…

The continuous process improvement field is inundated with articles and practices touting the benefits of working with cross-functional teams. The TLS Continuum methodology is based on the input of various views as to possible solutions to the problems facing organizations. But there is a downside to this effort to arrive at consensus on potential solutions to these very problems. That downside is groupthink.

What do we mean by the term groupthink? Irving Janis tells us that…

Those of you who have followed this blog since the Blogger days in the early 2000’s know that there are two topics I have strongly avoided in this space – one is religion and the other is politics. And yet the current political climate provides clear evidence of the dangers of assumptions in our lives. Every protestor must be a paid plant from the other side. Every member of…

In last week’s post we asked the question, who really is your process subject matter expert?  In this week’s post I want to take the discussion to another view of the question. If we have assumed who the process SME is within your organization, then what are their obligations to the organization?

Deming in his 14 points of quality stated that one of the…

As I have stated earlier I am currently in the process of reading Michael Rother’s Toyota Kata. In the book the point is made as to who should be the one who is considered the SME…

Over the course of this series of blog posts, and most recently the last couple of weeks, we have stressed that the TLS Continuum requires the creation of a new normal in the organization. It calls for a new form of corporate culture. But where is the correlation between the TLS Continuum, Change management and the New Normal?

In order to answer that question we need to backtrack to the beginning of the journey if you will. Your organization has been in existence for decades, however…

Change is hard, and we understand that. It is never easy but at times there is no recourse. Those of you who have followed this blog since 2006 when we began know that there are two topics I never discuss – Politics and Religion. But when we look at the current political turmoil that has come about due to the upcoming presidential race, I have to stop and consider the impact on the business world and change in particular.

Consider these facts:

• 1 in 5 of the supporters of…

Trust me I am not trying to delve into your personal affairs. What I am asking is your organization in financial trouble? I am asking for a reason unrelated to a full investigation of your organization’s finances. I have had to cancel two training sessions in the past week due to the fact that the market served by the organizations was being confronted by layoffs because the oil prices are too low. I am much more concerned with how you view your human capital assets. Are you allowing them to…

How many times have you heard this from a department manager or even from top management? Everyone thinks they are basically running a tight ship but under the surface lies this scary monster we call waste. It is right under our noses and we choose to ignore it for whatever reason. Some are subtle nuances to our processes, other are the result of a just not the way we do…

Over the past several weeks I have talked about change and by this I mean real change. It is a change that has rocked the very essence of the organization that you work for. It is change that has created a new corporate normal characterized by a new corporate culture unlike anything you have experienced before. What I hear quite often is that “Oh well, if it does not work we…

Let me begin this week’s blog post with a question: Who do you work for? I know it sounds like a weird question, but I want you to stop for a moment and think about your answer. I am not a betting man but I bet I can predict most of your responses. The vast majority of you responded by saying you work for XYZ organization or you work for some VP within the…

A common theme in many corporations is what is in it for us? If we spend this amount to secure this new service or product how much are we going to see in return? Every decision is couched in this idea that decisions must be made dependent on what we will see back from the investment. We avoid innovation and new ways to run more effectively because the ROI equation does not…

I am currently in the process of reading Michael Rother’s Toyota Kata, which brings up some interesting points regarding process improvement. We stated in Part 28 of the series that true…

In the April 2015 issue of Talent Management Magazine an article written by Warren Parry and Randall Wandmacher of Accenture discussed Using Fact, Not Feeling to Deliver Change. The article contained a list of 10 drivers of change. This blog post with their permission will look at…

Look around the corporate landscape and you are bound to find a corporation, which has a department or a program called quality assurance or quality effectiveness. We get that, but they are approaching it the wrong way. Process improvement is not a program. Process improvement is not a department. Process improvement is a process. So what do we mean?

As we stated in…