Strategy is about identifying a direction and creating robust solutions to move coherently in that direction. It involves identifying the systemic changes that need to be created. There are three main phases for this: what to change what to change to how to make the change happen For each of these phases, there is […]
The Importance of Understanding “Constraint” for 21st Century Organizations
Today’s post looks at ways to understand what “constraint” means for an organization and why we need to identify it and manage it in 21st century organizations. This is an extract from the business novel + website, The Human Constraint. May opened the window of her apartment to let in some fresh air. The morning was […]
Transformation Towards Systemic Optimization
What is transformation of an enterprise, why do we need it and how can we achieve it? Dr. Domenico Lepore, Founder of Intelligent Management Inc. outlines how we can use our brains to make systemic change for a sustainable future. From exile to freedom: splitting the Red Sea Stupidity, as Dr. Deming has reminded us, is […]
Complexity and Root Cause Analysis – Where Is the Fit?
We’ve been asked how come we talk about complexity and also root cause analysis. Aren’t they incompatible? The answer is no, and here we explain why root cause analysis is your best friend in managing complex situations and environments. Why complexity and a “reductionist” root cause analysis are not incompatible Let me preface this post […]
An MBA for Complexity?
The major problem managers face today is complexity, and the current MBAs on offer are not equipping their graduates with the right knowledge and tools. Managers today must be able to understand how things interdepend and evolve in order to navigate complexity. Here we offer a solution. Why MBAs are stuck in the past Many business […]
Why a Performance Review Makes No Sense – a Systems View
A company is not a collection of individuals. Contemporary science helps us to understand that organizations are, instead, “complex systems”, ruled by non-linear interactions that make it difficult to make any prediction when any change is effected. That’s why any approach to improve the system has to be “holistic”, and consider all the interactions/interdependencies. The […]
Idle Is Good – Resource Optimization Part 2
Our recent post, ‘Resource Optimization? Don’t Make the 100% Efficiency Mistake‘ received thousands of views, hundreds of likes and we are grateful for the many insightful comments received. Here, Dr. Giovanni Siepe takes a further look at resource optimization and why it is essential to always have some excess capacity. Infinite resources only exist in Heaven In our […]
Systemic Organization Management for the Age of Complexity
As this post is being written in Italy where we first set up our firm and where we are visiting for projects, it’s not surprising that we often think about how we first started in the mid 1990s in Milan. Back then, we worked with organizations to transfer Deming’s principles about Quality. It quickly became clear […]
Resource Optimization – Don’t Make the 100% Efficiency Mistake
Do you think getting everything in your system/organization to work at 100% is the right way to create maximum efficiency? Dr. Giovanni Siepe explains how we can learn from management science (and other sources) that there is a better way. Not too long ago I was reading about “Sukkot”, a holiday celebrated at the end […]
I’m Right, You’re Wrong. I Win, You Lose – Try Joy Instead
We have all experienced this. The desire to prevail, to show we know best, to come out as the “winner”. Cultures are based on it and awards are won for it. It is a zero sum game. This attitude promotes a divisive and competitive humanity. Social media often serves to encourage and magnify arguments and […]
