by mmartyn | Jan 18, 2011 | Brain, Change, Enterprise Alignment, Human Behavior, Leadership, Systems Design, Teams
“You’ve got to think about big things while you’re doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.” — Alvin Toffler Robert Krulwich of NPR distilled decades of research in an attempt to answer the question, “why...
by mmartyn | Dec 23, 2010 | Changing Behavior, Continuous Improvement, Engagement, Enterprise Alignment, Leadership, Motivation, Operational Excellence, Results
Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally was a runaway winner of the 2010 MarketWatch CEO of the year, easily beating out Steve Jobs, Vikram Pandit, Jeff Bezos and Reed Hastings. Since the hiring of Mulally in 2006, Ford has been on a roll. While Ford continued to post...
by mmartyn | Dec 9, 2010 | Changing Behavior, Cultural Enablers, Enterprise Alignment, Leadership, Results, Teams
For Starbucks, the world’s leading retailer, roaster, and brand of speciality coffee, 2008 was a tough year. Amid a struggling economy and increased competition from cheaper rivals, the company’s net income during the first three months of the year fell 28 percent...
by mmartyn | Dec 2, 2010 | Best Practices, Creativity, Culture, Enterprise Alignment, Innovation, Organizational Structure
A couple of years ago, the Harvard Business Review published an article on creativity and collaboration at Pixar. According to Ed Catmull (President of Pixar), the trick to fostering collective creativity is three fold: place creative authority for product...
by mmartyn | Nov 9, 2010 | Best Practices, Continuous Improvement, Culture, Enterprise Alignment, Leadership, Operational Excellence, Results
The Shingo Prize (www.shingoprize.com) is a non-profit organization committed to the education, assessment, and recognition of organizations achieving operational excellence. The process of applying for and receiving recognition from the prize is extensive and...
by mmartyn | Sep 26, 2010 | Continuous Improvement, Engagement, Enterprise Alignment, Human Behavior, Problem Solving, Visual Management
After spending countless hours analyzing visual management boards in office and manufacturing environments, many fail to live up to the expectations we set for them and die a slow and painful death. Here are three simple mistakes I routinely see made when designing...
