Inside The Process: How We Work
I’m often asked how we do what we do. How do we consult with a company, battered by its trip through the Business Storm Cycle, to help put its people, processes, and technology back together? First, we sit down with all the departments – R&D, operations, production, and the back office – in one big room, to go through every single [...]
When Faster Isn’t Better
Have you ever created a personal fitness program that backfired? Maybe you decided to lose those love handles and whip yourself into shape. So, you went on a juice diet that left you feeling dazed and starved, and you bought yourself some “magic bullet” piece of exercise equipment guaranteed to work out every muscle in your body at the same [...]
Spring and the Tornado
As the long, gray winter throws in the towel, at last, we’re treated to one of Nature’s finest shows – the arrival of spring – as the cycle of the seasons turns in its predictable and expected way. It’s always a thrill to see the flowers bursting up out of the ground along with the reappearance of butterflies as they [...]
Business Cycles? They’re All Around Us
Cycle Theory is an idea that’s been around for a very long time. It’s a pretty straightforward concept that applies to many aspects of life, and a way that humans have made sense of the universe for millennia. In fact, we’ve been talking about cycles for thousands of years. The pre-Columbian Mayan calendar was based on cycles, the Hindu belief [...]
Getting Back On Track
If you have a company that’s had two massive transition points—first a Tornado and then an Avalanche—you have two options. First, you may have to sell. Even worse, of course, you could simply go under, with nothing to show for all of your hard work. Your best alternative, though, is to follow the path of Devon Energy. In a previous [...]
Springing Back From a Downturn
When your company’s been through the punishing rounds of the Business Storm Cycle – from the high-growth Tornado where sales are climbing so fast you can’t keep up, to the Avalanche of high inventory and shrinking margins that follow – how you deal with the consolidation phase that follows can mean life or death for your enterprise. Make the wrong [...]