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News, articles, books, podcasts, and videos about how to make the workplace better.
Operational Excellence, Improvement, and Innovation
Why Start The Year With A Blank Chart?
Many of us love the idea of a fresh start when the New Year rolls around. But does that mean wiping the slate clean when it comes to key performance metrics and improvement efforts? Mark Graban challenges this common practice, arguing that starting January with a blank chart can strip away valuable context and hinder our ability to track meaningful progress. Instead, he recommends carrying over enough historical data to provide a clear picture of trends and improvements. So, why start the New Year with a blank chart when history holds the key to better insights?
Improve How You Improve
Creating an enduring advantage is increasingly difficult. By the time you've gained the benefit of a new offering, your competitors may have matched it or bettered it. The only enduring advantage is to get better at being better.
The Hidden Power of Regression in Data-Driven Success
In a world overflowing with data, are you truly harnessing its power? With analytic tools more accessible than ever, regression offers a powerful yet underutilized way to uncover the factors that drive quality and target your improvement efforts with precision. Despite its potential, regression often gets overlooked–misunderstood, misused, and underestimated. Are you ready to unlock its true value and transform the way you approach improvement?
Author and quality expert Michel Baudin breaks down regression and how to use it improve quality in three excellent instalments:
Using Regression to Improve Quality | Part I – What for?
Using Regression to Improve Quality | Part II – Fitting Models
Using Regression to Improve Quality | Part III — Validating Models
How to Sustain Transformation Success
With a background of over 20 years in large scale transformations, I found this podcast deeply resonated, condensing 20 years of insights into a compact 40 minutes of wisdom on how to sustain transformation success. I highly recommend!
Creating a Culture of Improvement
Climbing the Ladder to Nowhere, Eh? : Canada's Claim to the Peter Principle
Have you ever heard of the “Peter Principle”? It's the idea that people often get promoted until they reach a role they can't quite handle. But here's something you might not know–Canada is the proud birthplace of the original satire behind this concept! Even more fascinating, a 2018 study analyzing over 50,000 sales employees found real-world evidence to support the idea. Seems like there's more truth to this quirky workplace phenomenon than we thought!
Fail Smarter, Not Harder
We may learn more from failures than successes, but that doesn't mean we should be happy about all failures. Don't embrace mistakes and basic failures – embrace intelligent failures.
As If Cancer Isn't Bad Enough
Working conditions in healthcare are spiraling downward, and the situation shows no signs of improvement. Take CancerCare Manitoba, for instance–they recently received a damning report highlighting a toxic culture that disrespects physicians and care providers alike. As the challenges within the healthcare sector continue to escalate, there's simply no room for toxic leadership that overlooks the invaluable ideas and heartfelt dedication of its experts. After all, their crucial work is what truly keeps our communities healthy, isn't it?
Coaching – Developing Self & Others
Try a Pre-Mortem Instead of a New Year's Resolution
Instead of “what do I need to do in 2025?”, try asking yourself, “what can you do in the next three to five years that I will respect looking back from my deathbed?” This year, try a premortem instead of a resolution.
Act Sooner
I've long adhered to the “go slow to go fast” principle, but this shouldn't be mistaken as a reason to delay any action at all. There's a difference between acting deliberately and not acting at all. When you have a good idea, you should act on it.
Effort or Outcome? Why Grit Alone Won't Earn an A
What matters more? Effort or Outcome? Both. Many students now believe that their grades should reflect their effort and not outcomes. While grit is an admirable and useful quality, stubbornly sticking to a losing strategy is a low return endeavour. No, you don't get an A for Effort.
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