Category: Business Leadership

What is an 800 Pound Gorilla?  Well as this blog is not about biology or animal species it is safe to assume we are not talking about the Western Lowland Gorilla, the Eastern Lowland Gorilla, the Mountain Gorilla, or any…

The Quality Approach to achieve this alternative definition of quality is to follow the basic tenets of Total Quality.  In 1991, The General Accounting Office of the US Government published a wonderful study, Management Practices: US Companies Improve Performance Through…

In his book, Introduction to Quality, Kaoru Ishikawa defined quality in the following way: An alternative definition of QC could in fact be, ‘Everyone doing what should be done, in an organized, systematic way’ It is a very simple and…

Kaoru Ishikawa is one of the most famous Japanese Quality Control thinkers, teachers, and authors. His books What is Total Quality Control? (1985) and Introduction to Quality Control (1990) are still among the most influential books I have ever read.…

Recently I was engaged in a discussion where someone floated the idea Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma initiatives are focused more on training and certification than anything else. As a result, more money is spent than generated. Why is…

How often have we seen management initiate change with great enthusiasm and expectation and then passively manage the process to a failed outcome? A leader’s capability to manage change is often the determining factor behind a successful process implementation. Without…

Earlier this year, I saw a quote in The Reader’s Digest attributed to Colin Powell. Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers. This quote resonated with me because I believe in the power of simplification in Supply Chain Management and…