Don’t Keep Them Busy – Part 2 of 3
In my previous post I explained how keeping people busy can lead to issues such as increased WIP, decreased cash flow, increased lead time and parts shortages. This time, let’s talk a little bit more about the mechanics of how these issues are created by “keeping them busy”. It is common knowledge among operations managers […]
Don’t Keep Them Busy – Part 1 of 3
Virtually every manufacturing company I’ve visited since I started auditing and consulting focuses on keeping the people moving instead of keeping the product moving. They can’t stand to pay an employee for standing idle, so they have them continue to make product that isn’t really needed at the moment. They somehow feel that they are […]
Don’t Continuously Improve
If you have a quality management system in place, demonstrating continuous improvement is a requirement. In theory this is great. In practice, not so much. The first problem I’ve observed is that what many organizations call continuous improvement, really isn’t. I see corrective action, repairs, problem solving, risk mitigation and a host of other activities […]
Don’t Be Efficient
I watched a video recently where Russ Ackoff said “The difference between efficiency and effectiveness is the difference between knowledge and wisdom.” Knowledge is just information. Wisdom is application of the knowledge. This means that knowledge is useless, dangerous even, if not applied in the right manner. The same is true with efficiency and effectiveness. […]
Don’t Give Advice
I remind myself not to give advice in two contexts. The first is closely tied to my previous blog “Don’t add value”. In this case, imagine someone has just shared a problem with you. This could be a coworker, family member, friend…or just the guy sitting next to you on the bus. If you are […]
Don’t Add Value
Everyone is trying to “add value” to everything they do. It’s a near compulsion. Many of us have even been groomed to have that “add value” mentality. I hear it a lot. Sometimes it is even advertised as a feature. A hyphenated “value-added” term has been coined. While adding value may sound applaudable, it isn’t […]
Don’t Say Yes – Part 2 of 2
Evidently, I have a lot to say on this topic, so I split it in two. In addition to what I discussed in Part 1, sometimes I find myself in danger of falling into what I call a “Yes Trap”. In this context, except for the very last one, resisting the urge to say yes […]
Don’t Say Yes – Part 1 of 2
When I approach potential clients to arrange a discovery meeting or ask for a start date I often get rebuffed with some variation of “I don’t have time right now. I’ll reach out when things settle down.” I don’t say this directly, of course, but I don’t believe them. I’m not even sure they believe […]
Don’t Believe
This isn’t the first Don’t I came up with nor do I consider it the most important. But I do think it is a good place to start my blog journey because, although I will try to convince you of my position in these posts, I don’t want you to believe me. Seriously. What I […]