HP, in general, and Mark Hurd, in particular have been criticized by IBM’s leadership for being penny wise and pound foolish in cutting R&D spending for short terms bumps in profitability.  Today’s “Heard on the Street” column, in the Wall Street Journal, adds some substance to that criticism. (”Big Blue’s R&D Machine Benefits Shareholders,” WSJ, [...]

A common problem/symptom is work ping-ponging or churning. We see this problem in design, very often in services, and sometimes even in the production of a physical product.
There seem to be at least three distinct causes for this ping ponging, each with their own appropriate treatment.
1: Concurrent versus sequential design.
2: Better definition of handoff [...]

Many have called for ‘the government to create jobs’ as an antidote for slow economic recovery and persistent unemployment.  All well and good, but how can the government best accomplish that?  Is the right approach increased spending—especially on long term, slow set up projects—to replace spending not being done by consumers and businesses?
While appealing in [...]

Healthcare is the uncommon industry in which quality, affordability, and availability don’t reliably increase simultaneously. As evident in “Factory Efficiency Comes to the Hospital” (NY Times, Sunday July 11, 2010), learning from other sectors can alter that.

Pick any product or service. What was once unreliable, rare, and costly is now dependable, plentiful, and inexpensive. Food, clothing, communication, entertainment, transportation—problems are often of over abundance, not scarcity. Not so healthcare.

BACKGROUND: WHY LOOK AT TOYOTA?  BECAUSE IT CAME FROM BEHIND TO DOMINATE ITS COMPETITION!
Understanding the tremendous commercial success of Toyota, rising from an uncompetitive auto maker in the 1950s and 1960s, to the most dominant in the world by 2000s, and understanding the vast benefit that has come to some that have diligently sought to [...]