One of the issues raised time and time again is the disconnect between what some of us “know” we should do and the chains of existing legacy that continually wrap themselves around us when we actually try to go to a “new place.” It almost seems that many of the other people in the organization are actively resisting our desire to do the Right Things and that they do so through the use of legacy roadblocks.

(more…)

Gilead Systems wins the Triple Crown – simultaneously improving revenues, reducing costs and enhancing service.
As Business Week puts it in the prelude to this years review of the top 50 performers in Standard and Poors 500 stock index “for many years pharmaceutical companies viewed the development of HIV treatments as a necessary – but unprofitable – public service. There was some logic to that view, given that the majority of victims lived in developing nations and were unable to pay what drug makers could earn from selling other products. But Gilead Systems had a different perspective"

(more…)

By Steve Towers & Terry Schurter

It’s a confusing world out there. At the last count there were over 6,000 improvement methodologies (Wikipedia) all geared to helping organizations get better at business. So at least there’s always been plenty of choice depending on your particular flavor of the month however one has to ask the question why so many and why do even the better ones fail to help our companies adapt and change? (more…)

By 2011, according to the International Air Traffic Association (IATA) there will be 4.75 billion airline passengers a year. In other words that’s the equivalent of 3 out of every 4 people on the planet taking a flight in one year, and everyone of those trips involves an average of 1.6 bags per person – that is 7.6 billion bags a year. Every bag has a unique bar-marked id attached, however despite that it is estimated 1 in 100 gets misplaced, involving finding, tracking and reconciling with worried owners. If the ‘lost’ bags were lined up end to end the line they would stretch to the moon and back. (more…)

Best in class processes won’t lead to success without the right strategic objectives. And yet creating strategic objectives has largely been the work of management teams often distant from the scene of real work, where the organization actually touches the customer, at the place where the products and services create the value that translates into revenue and profit. Having strategic objectives and best in class processes is just not enough today if we are not aligned, everyone everywhere everytime in our companies, with achieving these Successful Customer Outcomes. Like good musicians need an excellent conductor to achieve harmony and success so does the SCO help to create and define the organizations efforts through its people, systems, processes and strategy. (more…)