For many people just starting with lean, nothing can be more intimidating than a full blown Value Stream Map with all those lines, numbers and different ways to measure time. This is a Lean Consultant’s rookie mistake – don’t blow…
We all know a version of this quote form Aristotle: We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence therefore is not an act, but a habit. And then some may have heard about this quote, or read it in a book…
Introduction In many B2B organizations, the marketing and sales teams operate like separate entities, each with its own goals, processes, and metrics. I’ve seen in really all companies I worked for and with. So there’s no shame, it happens to…
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…
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, KPIs are used to micromanage their teams and reports are used for windowdressing or wallpaper. Here are six mistakes you can make as a Lean…
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…
Might be weird to say for someone like me that promotes the use of a certain set of tools. But I’m 100% sure that only using a set of tools won’t make you smarter. Or win. Or make you successful…
One of the big misconceptions around the concept ‘process’ is that it is scary, cumbersome, leads to more work and flat-out boring. Process is seen as the enemy of creativity, of innovation and even as the nemesis of fun at…