All Features
Laurel Thoennes @ Quality Digest
Employers can’t find people with the skills needed for the today’s workplace, because high schools and universities fail to teach students useful job skills. The skills gap is a decades-old and well-known problem that will remain unsolved unless we flip priorities not only in our school systems…
Robert Napoletano
‘Don’t thank them for anything. They’re the ones who caused this problem.” When I got that message, I thought, “This is all wrong, and there must be something somewhere that says so.” After some searching around, I didn’t find anything to support that assumption. What I did find were many…
Curt Redden
We all seem to get it by now—more engaged employees perform at a higher level. The organizations that get their strategy right in this area provide a superior customer experience, have lower levels of employee churn, higher morale, and ultimately much higher financial performance. Their customers…
Jim Benson
Tonianne DeMaria and I run the Personal Kanban, Modus Institute, and Modus Cooperandi Corp-o-plex pretty much duo-handed. There’s a lot of work. The rules of Personal Kanban apply to us, too. We are constantly experimenting with new ways to visualize our work and limit our work-in-process (WIP).…
John Bell
I have written more than a 100 blog posts about leadership, strategy, and culture. Within that portfolio are several accounts of business reinvention and transformation. Yet it was only a few months ago that I composed my first post on another type of reinvention: personal reinvention. My own. …
Noah Askin
Music lovers will likely know Spotify, a music streaming service that has become famous for curating tunes based on its users’ preferences. Back in 2013, Spotify had a personalized news feed called Discover that gathered together artists, album reviews, new releases, recommendations, and playlists…
Wendy Wood
Employers have a stake in their staff’s health. It’s not just a matter of keeping health insurance premiums in check which is a consideration in countries without universal healthcare. It’s also about maximizing employee engagement and productivity, and even happiness.
Promoting health habits is…
Jun Nakamuro
The sad truth is that the word “engagement” is not very engaging. It’s one of those fluffy, ambiguous terms that have become all too familiar around the business world, like “empowerment” and “respect.” What does engagement really mean, and how do you, as a leader, engage your workforce? The…
Christopher Martin
My youngest son entered first grade this year with great excitement. As a high-functioning autistic, his obsession from an early age has been numbers and letters. He memorizes license plates at a glance, can count to the millions (and break down the digits), and tell you how many minutes he has…
Miriam Boudreaux
If you are a manufacturing company or a service provider, there is a good chance that you have heard about standards such as ISO 9001. In fact, you may already be certified. But whether you are certified or not, read on for some of the expected trends in the world of standards and certification…
Dirk Dusharme @ Quality Digest
Our Jan. 12, 2018, episode of QDL looked at smart manufacturing, remanufacturing, pants-on-fire bosses, and five things your QMS needs.
“Impatient With Colleges, Employers Design Their Own Courses”
Microsoft, Amazon, and others are teaming up with third-party online courseware providers to…
Debashis Sarkar
We all know the famous quote, “The customer is always right.” It was coined more than a century ago. In the United States, it was popularized by Marshall Field during the early 1900s. In the United Kingdom, it was popularized by Harry Gordon Selfridge of luxury retailer Selfridge’s fame. Since…
Scott Berkun
On Tuesdays I write about the top-voted question on “Ask Berkun.” This week’s question came from J.R., who wrote: “What is a favorite theory that you wish more people understood?”
A favorite theory that I wish was more well-known is the Satir Change Model. It’s popular in some circles, but often…
Mildred Hastbacka
Start a social media conversation thread about mentoring, and the replies from those in the working world will get your attention. At the summary level, the responses are remarkably similar across geographies, types of business, professions, genders, age, and years of experience.
Professionals…
Michelle LaBrosse
It is common knowledge in the project management field that process management helps with project management; projects go much more smoothly and efficiently if you have a consistent process for doing them. It’s the same in every other area of your company where you do repetitive work—you need…
Robert Stewart
Sponsored Content
During the past 40 years, according to a Nov.-Dec. 2015 Military Review article, “The United States Army’s Secret to Success Capitalizing on the Human Dimension to Enhance Its Combat Capabilities,” the U.S. Army has completely transformed its structure and culture by “enabling…
Mark Seay
SSL, a global leader in integrated space technologies, has recently gone through a complete redesign of its quality organization by reinventing its purpose and role in the company. These changes were not only foundational in nature but also required a significant cultural shift by the quality…
Laurel Thoennes @ Quality Digest
Who hasn’t been subjected to fear, manipulation, hypocrisy, and greed? The majority of the human race is continuously under the thumb of individuals who have succumbed to these unconscious states of existence. If you want change but don’t know what to do, here are points in a hopeful direction.
It…
Kelly Graves
In my career as a business consultant, I’ve helped dozens of companies surface quality issues, develop managers as well as employees, build better trust and communication, transition ownership from one generation to the next, and unleash new levels of financial performance.
I’ve worked with…
Mike Richman
During last Friday’s episode of QDL, we examined the potential of quality thinking to improve outcomes for people’s health, manufacturing, and workplace efficiency. Let’s take a look:
“World Toilet Day” ISO truly has a standard (or at least a standard in development) for everything. World Toilet…
Genevieve Shaker, Robert Christensen
Has your boss ever asked you to donate to the United Way? Has a co-worker approached you about giving to the Red Cross? Does your employer encourage giving to nonprofits, or does it match your charitable donations?
Whether they’re responding to emergency requests for disaster relief or making…
Barbara A. Cleary
When W. Edwards Deming urged managers to “institute training on the job” in his Fourteen Points for Managers, he undoubtedly meant far more than simply teaching workers how to use specific equipment or procedures involved in their work. Indeed, developing an organization’s culture demands a…
Jesse Lyn Stoner
It’s quite frustrating to be not heard when you speak up, and unfortunately, it’s more common than you might think.
Speaking up in a group setting is one of the biggest challenges many people face. You have some valuable information and opinions to share, but no one listens to you. It can be hard…
Dirk Dusharme @ Quality Digest
Our Nov. 17, 2017, episode of QDL looked at factories controlled by large-volume 3D metrology, the value (or not) of four-year degrees, and creepy Christmas.
“Developing the Light-Controlled Factory”
A UK development project directed by the University of Bath and supported by University College…
Davis Balestracci
During the early 1990s, I was president of the Twin Cities Deming Forum. I had a wonderful board to work with, one of whom was Doug Augustine, our self-appointed provocateur. Doug was a 71-year-old retired Lutheran minister, and we all loved him because he always pulled us right back to earth with…
