Hate goal statements? I can guess why. They are long, boring and contain lots of buzz words. But here is nice example from Nike in this article. Article also covers more aspects of Lean Manufacturing at Nike
Nike has 2 overarching goals in their strategy:
- Make Today Better
- Design the Future
Pretty simple and can easily be remembered by all employees. Under these two main pillars in their strategy, Lean begins to take context.
One more blog post that completely made my day. Directly goes to a good stuff library. It is so well put where should we focus our energy on - http://flowchainsensei.wordpress.com/2013/08/26/how-can-we-do-this-better/
Quote from the post
It never ceases to surprise me just how few people seem to grasp the power of compounding –something “both obvious and very surprising”. I’m also regularly surprised by how few organisations seem to understand the connection between compounding and continuous improvement. And I don’t mean understand it intellectually, but understand it viscerally – such that they take it to heart, ingrain it into the fabric of the organisation, act on it as if the very life of their organisation depended on it. Which, one could reasonably argue, it does.
“It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.” ~ W. Edwards Deming
And, again, I’m often surprised by how little priority deliberate and systemic continuous (e.g. in-band) improvement receives from senior management groups.
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” ~ Chinese Proverb
I was just amazed by one post of ThinkPurpose about German words. One more argument to start learning this language 🙂 So, it’s not only japanese words you can use while talking about agile and improvements. I wonder if these words are used often in daily life…
“A supposed improvement that makes things worse” I wish there was such word in my language to cut doubtful improvements in one second without building long sentence.
“The ability to think clearly about many individual complex events and treat them as a whole.” That’s long sentence to explain such an important thing … It’s a biggest challenge not to forget taking a holistic view to overcome the problem of local optimizations. Fingerspitzengefühl!
“An extreme specialist who only knows about their field, and doesn’t know or care about what happens around them” I bet you know such people. And there is tons of discussions about T-shaped professionals and cross functional teams.
Limiting yourself of trying to see the problem from a different angle limits possible solutions and creativity
Original link - http://thinkpurpose.com/2013/08/24/4-german-words-we-should-all-use/
Decided to put interesting thoughts that i am reading in different places for myself into a special section called “Good stuff library”
1. Analytical types want to know that a project is valuable, and that their work makes a difference to its success. They need a leader who excels in a particular area, and whose expertise they believe benefits the group. They prefer compensation that is commensurate with their contribution. If they have done a tremendous amount of work on their own, don’t expect them to be happy if you reward the whole team.
2. People who are “structural” by nature want to know their work aids the company’s progress. They prefer a leader who is organized, competent, and good with details. They like to be rewarded in writing, in a timely manner, in a way specific to the task. An encouraging email is appropriate to communicate with them.
3. Social people want to feel personally valued, and that what they are doing has an impact on a project. They go the extra mile for a leader who expresses faith in their abilities. They prefer to be rewarded in person with a gesture that is from the heart. If your own preference is for written communication, send a handwritten note to a particularly social employee.
4. Innovative employees must buy into a cause. To them, the big picture matters more than the individual who is leading the charge. They prefer to be rewarded with something unconventional and imaginative, and would find a whimsical token of your esteem very meaningful.
5. Quiet staffers don’t need a lot of fanfare, but they appreciate private, one-on-one encouragement.
6. Expressive people feel more motivated when assignments are openly discussed and an open door is available. They like public recognition, with pomp, and ceremony.
7. Peacekeepers hope everyone will move in the same direction. They’ll never demand a reward or recognition, so it’s up to you to offer it.
8. Hard-drivers are independent thinkers. If they agree with you, they’ll be highly motivated. They will let you know what they’d like as an extrinsic reward, and they tend to want whatever it is right away.
9. Those who are focused team members must have confidence in the leader and in the project, or their motivation may falter. They want know up front what kind of reward they can expect. Make sure you follow through on whatever is promised.
10. Flexible people go along with the team, as long as a project does not contradict their morals or beliefs. They’re also happy with any kind of recognition.
Original link - http://www.inc.com/geil-browning/ten-ways-to-motivate-anyone.html
I was cleaning up my disk and as always found very interesting and i think useful thing - Business Model Canvas template in Visio. I don’t remember from where i downloaded it, but credit goes to - Alexander Osterwalder. Thnx!
The Business Model Canvas it’s the the same thing as you would have your business model on one page. It gives you general overview.
It is a strategic management and entrepreneurial tool. It allows you to describe, design, challenge, invent, and pivot your business model.
You can find out more here - http://www.businessmodelgeneration.com/canvas