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The following is an excerpt from Kaufman Global’s latest white paper, “Engage the Organization and a Performance Culture Will Follow,” written by Principal and President Jerry Timpson. The white paper examines the reasons why leaders fail to pursue engagement, even while it’s proven to be fundamental …Read More >

I’m excited to introduce this issue of KeyNotes. Our goal for this edition is to provide news, methods and evidence that inspire you to ACT DIFFERENT and be more aggressive with your change initiatives. In today’s economic environment, avoidant behavior is much too common. There is an …Read More >

There are times when a manufacturing operation needs to get better (a lot better) — fast. This can be the result of many things. Often it’s in response to an external stimulus, such as competitive pressure, a quality “event,” or a troubled product launch. Sometimes it happens when …Read More >

It’s In Our Genes | Humans have an aversion to loss; we don’t like to lose things we already have. This sense is measurably stronger than our desire to achieve a gain. We also avoid risk. We don’t like to take chances; it’s part of our wiring. When …Read More >

Taiichi Ohno’s Afterward* in his seminal book Workplace Management is sublime. It reads:

Whatever name you may give our system, there are parts of it that are so far removed from generally accepted ideas (common sense) that if you do it only …Read More >

Whenever a catastrophic event occurs as a result of human error, the issue of process discipline comes into sharp focus. How often do we hear about how things go dramatically wrong because a procedure that should have been followed; wasn’t?

Answer: always

Everyone’s attention is riveted when lives are lost—and …Read More >

When I was young, around 12-years-old, I went to summer camp for a couple of weeks each year. It was an overnight camp with a lake, a lodge, campfires—basically everything. We were separated into cabins of 8 or so campers. Each cabin had an identity based on a …Read More >

Metrics are such an important element of continuous improvement. Wait…Metrics might be the most important element of continuous improvement. Why? Because continuous improvement by definition is the measurement of improvement — and if you aren’t measuring, how will the organization know how far it has come or where …Read More >

Peter Drucker said, “Company cultures are like country cultures. Never try to change one. Try, instead, to work with what you’ve got.”

For anyone that has tried or is trying to change the culture inside their company, this certainly has a ring of familiarity to it. Company cultures are …Read More >