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Discretionary Effort

By Eric Michrowski I was recently meeting with the CEO of a professional services firm that has developed a business model, which is quietly disrupting his industry. Founded in a dislike in the conventional business model that his competitors have been reinforcing for decades, he has changed a few key variables to transform the service offer, namely: - Shifting from “à la carte” pricing to “all-inclusive” value-based pricing;- “Leaning” the end-to-end service offer to create a highly repeatable, optimized and even-loaded delivery mechanism at a significantly lower cost – while this limits his target audience, it provides significant value to the segments

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When I was about 10 years old, my father gave me my first pocketknife. It was a small one – just two blades, nothing more, and I chose to get a green one, rather than the traditional red. Within about a week, I had cut myself closing the small blade. Today, I carry a Leatherman multitool that’s indispensable in most small work around the house. Again, I’ve opted to keep it (mostly!) simple, so my Leatherman isn’t the super-complex one – it has two knives (serrated and smooth), a file, the multi-tool pliers (pliers, needlenose, wire cutter), a saw blade, scissors, a

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By Eric Johnson When embarking on a process improvement journey, it is critical to first know the details of the root causes, your resources skills and constraints, and most importantly your culture's ability to thrive under the new changes. Process Improvement initiatives often arise out of a number of different situations as a solution to issues organizations currently face. The initiative may be an idea of an executive that has prior process improvement experience or exposure to process improvement information or conversations, and ascribes to capturing those benefits for her area. Or it may originate from a middle manager who has participated

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In the June 12th issue of ESPN The Magazine, Seth Wickersham published an outstanding story about four-time Pro Bowl defensive back Richard Sherman and his struggles to move past the Seahawks’ inability to close out a win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX, the most-watched television program in American history. As a quick reminder – the teams played to a tie (14-14) in the first half, before Seattle scored ten unanswered points in the third quarter. In the fourth, the Patriots replied with two touchdowns of their own, to take a 28-24 lead, with approximately two minutes remaining

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By Eric Johnson Data is only useful when it is used to change behaviors, processes and/or activities. Data can make or break an organization and often many executives ignore it at their peril. When done incorrectly, a data strategy can be used to misrepresent actual performance, serve as tools in political fights, and reduce the focus to meeting simple numbers instead of strategic initiatives. However when viewed holistically, data can be an immensely productive part of an organization and can even establish a strategic advantage over other market players. But to capture these benefits, the organization must instill the mindset of using

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By Sarah Moore Business leaders are scratching their heads wondering, 'how do we avoid the type of hot water Wells Fargo is currently dealing with?' We recommend starting here… The first step Tim Sloan should take to clean up Wells Fargo’s culture. By now, we all know the vast unethical practices Wells Fargo sales agents used to pad their bonus checks. Many thousands of employees opened millions of accounts in their customers’ names, but without their awareness or consent. If you are like me, after you picked your jaw up off the floor when the story broke, you may have wondered 'How the heck

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