The Hidden Factory is a term that refers to activities in an operation that were not designed into it, but grew over time as workarounds for the
Business Complexity Reduction: Purposeful Simplicity, Unthoughtful Complexity
Most people or organizations do not, by design, create a product or service with the goal of "making the most complex product that nobody can use".
Jiffy Lube Waiting Room and the Role of the Bay Window
Earlier this week, I went to Jiffy Lube to get my oil change. I once worked for a person responsible for the redesign of many waiting rooms in various
Customer Service Retention Example A Chance for Redemption
Customer Service Retention Example - A Chance for Redemption is an article about my experience at Home Depot - what they did to respond to my
Customer Service and the iPhone [video]
This article shows how Apple Customer Service can be strategic in reducing customer pain points through the use of Lean and Six Sigma. In some
Mind Before Money, Creativity Before Capital
My Kung Fu brother and I spoke last week and he taught me something that remains with me: I continue to do Wing Chun because it allows me to
The Atomic Rules of Kaizen
Systems that are internally consistent and externally pragmatic stem from just a few rules. Systems with exceedingly many rules typically fail or
Can Twitter be Used for Epidemiology Surveillance?
A few weeks ago, I posted on my experience with Twitter, Part 1. That post was retweeted by Robert Scoble, the traffic came, got a bunch of new
Reconciling Culture and People with Revenue and Costs
In this very tough economic environment, organizations turn more and more focus on the Profit Tree. The course of history shows us that zeitgeist --