I keep on coming back to the topic of KPIs. I’ve written earlier about typical mistakes and how to prevent them, mostly in relation with commercial teams. What I’ve found is that it’s really important to differentiate between leading and…
Today was the day that after a typical European summer break of six weeks, my two youngest boys had to go to school again (our teenager had 7 weeks of vacation and only starts on Wednesday with actual classes –…
No matter what they say, sales or the act of selling is not an art. (for the record: neither is marketing). Succesfully selling a product, service or solution is either luck (you’d be amazed how often people get lucky) or…
Only last week did a customer for the first time talk about my logo, and he had it figured out. He recognised what it meant. In proper lean cultures, where KPI’s are set properly, you have a safe environment for…
Let me try a more provocative title this week. Many people have heard about lean, about manufacturing processes being optimised. When it comes to implementations beyond the shop floor in more transactional or commercial areas, people tend to have a…
For a large organisation to be effective, it must be simple. Jack Welch – former CEO of General Electric Doing something in a simple way is better than doing it in a complex way. Makes sense right? It’s too obvious.…
KPIs are meant to give direction, represent priorities and drive behaviour. In many companies however, commercial KPI’s are used to micromanage their teams and reports are used for windowdressing or wallpaper. Here are six mistakes you can make as a…
If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. not sure: The beauty about Lean Business is that in many cases, it’s just common sense, but rigorously applied. The ideas aren’t necessary groundbreaking, the biggest part is just about…
Luck Is What Happens When Preparation Meets Opportunity Seneca – Roman philosopher I’m quite a fan of (among others) the roman writer/philosopher Seneca. His letters to his friend Lucillus can be very inspiring, even today. One of the famous quotes…
Progress cannot be generated when we are satisfied with existing situations. Ohno Taiichi (大野耐一, Ōno Taiichi) What Mr Ohno describes in this quote is a core belief of Lean. It’s about the fundament of Kaizen, the idea that things can always be…