Category Archives: Improvement, Continuous or Not

Learning about improvment projects

S’what’s a SWOT?

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Chris Niccolls

A lot of perfectly respectable management theory has been left to marinate in too long in strange acronyms and hard to remember buzz words. Good management doesn’t need to be complicated, and it doesn’t need a special language. There’s a … Continue reading →

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Bulking Up Your Staff?

Posted on April 5, 2011 by Chris Niccolls

Everyone I talk to tells me that there are good signs of growth in the economy. And managers in large firms are talking about the positive signs they see that new positions will be… although, not just yet.  The resistance … Continue reading →

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What To Expect in 2011 Outsourcing…

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Chris Niccolls

Without getting too philosophical about it, what’s next depends on what’s already happened at your firm. Since every firm is in a different place, from those who are just dipping their toes for the first time to those who have … Continue reading →

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Too Smart Phones…

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Chris Niccolls

News alert: Smartphones are getting smarter and more powerful!  Hmmm… not new news? How about this one, “Cloud computing is becoming more popular!” Did I hear someone snoring out there? OK, we’ve all heard these stories for so long now … Continue reading →

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Build vs. Buy: Transparent Operations Build Better Products!

Posted on March 16, 2011 by Chris Niccolls

Yesterday we looked at the old “Build vs. Buy” question, “When does it make sense to have an internal department develop a product/service, and when does it make sense to use an outside product/service?” We left off saying that a … Continue reading →

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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 →

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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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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 →

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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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German & NYSE Exchanges to Merge, Will It Be Successful?

Posted on February 23, 2011 by Chris Niccolls

According to the Financial Times, the upcoming merger between the NYSE and German’s Bourse is expected to yield $400 million in merger, lower operating costs, cross selling, etc. Will they ever achieve their goal? More importantly, are they putting anything … Continue reading →

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