Finding the Force: Continuous Improvement and Meeting Goals 🆕 (1/6)

A critical part of business planning is preparing for things to change. The better you can control that change, the easier it will be. How do you control change? Use a mission statement.  It’s easy to innovate with a great mission statement. Stay on mission A good mission statement guides your employees. It guides their…

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Celebrate success: measure, plan, recognize good work 🍾  (6/6)

Don’t forget this step, in any part of your business.  A powerful way to ensure more good work is to recognize what’s working, celebrate good results, and give the team the spotlight. Make sure everyone in the business knows when good work is happening.  Measure customer satisfaction First and foremost. It is up to your…

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The historical lens of lessons learned

One of the challenges of studying history, classics, and the past, is knowing how to read stories through the right lens: is it ours, or is it the lens of the time? Do you know how this comes up in business?  In your Lessons Learned.  Lessons Learned After a major project or process update, you…

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The best lessons are the ones we learn

There’s nothing wrong with things going wrong in business.  Do you remember Apple’s first hand-held device, the Newton? No? That’s ok, neither does anybody else.  Managerially the company did everything right and yet the product was a huge flop.  But the brand didn’t disappear, and 13 years later they launched the iPhone, which quickly set…

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Stop trying to stop making mistakes

Mistakes should never be your primary goal.  If you know that something is the wrong thing to do, don’t do it. You don’t have to chase mistakes because they’ll happen anyway, regardless of your planning and precision.  When we don’t make mistakes, we get to do things right. When we do make mistakes, we get…

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Innovation happens when you think inside the box: start with the everyday

Innovation happens when you are good at something you do… and then you do it a little bit better.  Innovation matters because it ensures that you are always doing things in the best possible way. “Innovation is about tweaking systems that are already faring well”, according to Business News Daily. It’s the little changes you…

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How to stay busy without losing your mind

A client recently told me that his favorite thing about working with me was the accountability it gave him. We created a new management plan, rolled it out to his employees, and then structured his management meetings.  While he enjoyed all this work, the knowledge of upcoming meetings with me, and knowing that the work…

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Failure usually isn’t (what we think it is)

“It was a complete failure. All the time: wasted. Everything I tried: wrong. Now I’m doubting everything I do.” Statements that, unfortunately, sometimes happen in a business environment.  When I heard this one I took issue with, well, all of it.  Something had indeed gone wrong. But no time had been wasted and I didn’t…

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