There is clearly something very wrong with the way most companies above a certain size are managed. They are fragmented, wasteful, slow, over-bureaucratic, unable to leverage internal talent, detached from their customers’ needs and, in most cases, a frustrating place to work. When a global crisis hits, these inadequacies become acute and a real threat […]
Deloitte’s ‘Adaptable Organization’ Transformation – Nice Images, Shame About the Content
We are not in the business of comparing or contrasting what other consultants do. Consequently, we would not normally engage in a takedown of anybody’s work. However, the inadequacies of what Deloitte is proposing with its ‘Adaptable Organization’ could not elude us. We’re grateful to all those thousands who viewed our post on LinkedIn […]
Roadmap to Economic Recovery: An Open Letter to Leaders on Adopting a Growth Mindset
Six leaders of the largest business associations in Canada recently wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister Trudeau, praising him for his swift response with relief measures that succeeded “thanks to the government’s conscious decision to act quickly, pursue bold policies and take risks.” The signees stress that for success to be achieved going […]
Constraints and Bottlenecks – You Need to Know the Difference
Bottlenecks are a new buzzword. This is a sad reflection of what is happening with the Coronavirus and the tragic chaos caused by the shortage of intensive care beds as well as protective equipment. Never before has it been so clear on a global level how important effective supply chains are to our wellbeing. Bottlenecks […]
Making Businesses Fast, Reliable, Digital – Practical Steps for Beyond the Crisis to Accelerate Flow
The pandemic crisis is revealing unsustainable economic and business models and practices in a brutal and accelerated way. Nobody can predict today what the “new normal” is going to look like, in spite of the myriad of articles offering advice on how to adapt and be more resilient in a post-COVID-19 reality. One such article […]
Transformation for Optimization – Learning from Deming to Start Again
In a moment when so many businesses must learn to start again, they could not do better than build their efforts on the solid foundations of Deming’s Theory of Profound Knowledge. His credentials are impeccable: Japan was able to emerge from devastation and become an economic powerhouse by absorbing and applying his teachings after WWII. […]
Out of the Crisis
This week, the Intelligent Management team is in Italy for week 4 of total lockdown. We hope that all our subscribers and readers and their families are safe and healthy and have the opportunity to practice the social and physical distancing that is gradually producing its first results in Italy. May we all emerge from […]
A Practical Process for Working Remotely in a Team from the Theory of Constraints
Over the last three weeks of lockdown in Italy, the team at Intelligent Management has been working intensively with clients and partners remotely. We have been able to switch from working onsite to working remotely with great ease thanks to years of consolidated practice using the Thinking Processes from the Theory of Constraints. People always […]
How Coronavirus in Italy Revealed a Digital Business Innovation Success
The Intelligent Management team is currently in northern Italy where the Coronavirus has created unprecedented levels of disruption to daily life and to businesses and the economy at large. The extraordinary circumstances, however, have also highlighted the unique advantages of a solution developed by one of our oldest clients and dear friends at Hyphen-Italia, a […]
Why Your Pricing Strategy is Losing You Business
A company in the furniture business lost a good repeat customer a few months back. They were devastated because they were already selling considerably less than previous years. Their customer wanted to a pay a price for their product that, according to traditional cost accounting, was not a price that allowed them to make any […]