Monthly Archives: March 2011

Build vs. Buy: How To Decide?

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Chris Niccolls

Some management issues are eternal and come up over and over again, with no real answer.  The underlying issues change over time and from one situation to another. But they are important questions, so they never go away. For example, … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Practices, Common Sense Contracting, Decision Making, Delivering Services, Unique Ideas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Projects Of The Living Dead!

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Chris Niccolls

I just can’t take another vampire movie. When did Vampires stop being spirits of the damned and become moody teenagers? True, hanging out with the cast of Twilight is pretty close to being damned, but without the pleasant brimstone aroma therapy. Give … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Practices, Decision Making, Delivering Services, Improvement, Continuous or Not, Uncategorized, Unique Ideas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Don’t Look Now!

Posted on March 12, 2011 by Chris Niccolls

One final lesson from “Freakonomics”, and then we’re done with Sumo wrestling. In the last post, we chatted about Sumo wrestlers who lost matches to help fellow wrestlers. The Japanese didn’t believe that Sumo wrestlers could cheat. Betraying their profession, … Continue reading →

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Win, Lose or Cheat!

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Chris Niccolls

If you’re setting up a system to track metrics, a big question is, “Will the people who are responsible for collecting the numbers do the job honestly and competently?” It’s a good question. I think in almost any situation, especially … Continue reading →

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Not All Numbers Are Equal!

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Chris Niccolls

Managers that have moved away from management by instinct to management by metrics are often frustrated by the strange quirks and illogical results they get from their management reports. This can be terribly frustrating, because it takes a lot of … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Practices, Decision Making, Delivering Services, Improvement, Continuous or Not, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Game Of Numbers

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Chris Niccolls

A lot of managers I speak with tell me that they haven’t yet set up the metrics and tracking systems that they need. Have you developed all the metrics you need? Does every product and service you produce have numbers … Continue reading →

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