This is the final edition of the Process Perspective newsletter (#103). I SINCERELY thank you for your time and attention over these past 2 years, it is genuinely appreciated. I’ll still be determinedly working on building trustworthy and profitable…

It’s a great time to learn how to “Sit Chilly”, if you don’t know how to already. “Sit Chilly”, as I am referring to it, is a term coined by a legendary and very remarkable horsewoman, Sue Sally Hale. Sue Sally had a mantra that she taught her polo,…

Things are in chaos. Coronavirus is a formidable enemy. So, how can I say “Let’s Build”? Well, what other choice is there? None. Who needs help? Doctors, nurses and all the health care workers. If we help them, they can help the rest of us. It’s…

The “Coronavirus Storm” continues. Some manufacturing is halted. “Critical” manufacturing operations are continuing. Last week, I discussed being a good captain in these stormy conditions. How can we navigate successfully when visibility is low and…

[An editor’s note…I don’t normally write about current events. I much prefer more consistent and timeless themes and ideas. However, this week, I felt that not writing about the Coronavirus would be “ignoring the elephant in the room”.] Coronavirus…

“Most people you run into in real life…plumbers, taxi drivers, accountants, tax advisors, garbage collectors…pay a price for their mistakes”. – Nassim Taleb Taleb is talking about people having “skin in the game”, and paying for their own mistakes. I…

Sheep do not build Great Manufacturing Processes. The sheep I’m talking about are not the wool-producing kind. No…I’m talking about people who have a sheep-type mindset. So, what is a “sheep-type mindset”? A sheep in this context can be defined as:…

“Outside the Box”!!! Sure, sounds good, but… Where outside the box…exactly? That’s what nobody ever tells you, they just want to go “outside the box”, to get some fresh thinking and ideas. Where can we reliably go to get a fresher perspective? I’d…

Fun with equations, sure! That sounds like a stretch! Well, let’s see what we can do. Here is the equation: E + R = O, where: E = Event R = Response to the event E O = Outcome resulting from Event & Response This is a simple but quite powerful…

“Men wanted for hazardous journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in event of success.” – Earnest Shackleton The above quote is from a newspaper advertisement by Earnest…

INVISIBLE Leverage, what is that? It’s leverage you don’t know you have, because some things are non-obvious. Let’s start with a quick thought experiment. Imagine that… Before the 9-11 terrorist attacks, a stronger “impenetrable” cockpit door was…

"People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures." – F.M. Alexander I think the above quote applies to many things, including building Great Manufacturing Processes. What process building habits have…

Today is day 199 of 2019. The year is 55% gone today. Tick-tock… How much have you improved your key processes in the first half of the year? How are your “Great Work” process improvement projects coming along? I described Great Work and asked about…

I would like to share a personal story about processes and process control, and how customers can be lost, forever, with concrete and significant financial impacts. Coffee has long been important to me, ever since I started working night shifts at a…

Process innovation is a challenging “high wire” act. On the positive side: new materials, products and industries can be created. However, if the risks are not managed judiciously, the innovation can fail at great cost. This week’s Process…

It is vitally important to know the difference between a solution and an adventure. It may seem like an obvious and trite distinction. However, knowing the difference allows you to not only gain perspective, it also lets you decide which path you…

The process at the heart of manufacturing operations resides inside of equipment, hidden from view. It is extremely difficult to tell the quality of the process by looking at the equipment. The robustness of the process depends on engineering…

The dictionary defines stewardship as “the job of supervising or taking care of something”. Process Stewardship is a key and vital ingredient in the creation of robust and highly profitable manufacturing processes. Process Stewardship ensures that…