Peter Drucker once told us about an interesting investment rule that the financier J.P. Morgan had developed more than a century ago. Morgan had observed an interesting pattern in his client companies. Those having excessive pay differences between levels in their hierarchies did not perform as well. Consequently, he would not invest in a company if pay differences from level to level were more than thirty » Read More
Not long ago, the owner of a medium sized software development firm asked me a very good question. “How does a high performance idea system work in a project environment where every project is different?” We discussed that in a project-based company like his there were lots of processes that could be improved, but his question made a good point. A project environment does have unique challenges for a high » Read More
Perhaps the biggest fear expressed by employees when they hear that their company is planning a high-performing idea system, is that it will cause them or their colleagues to be laid off. Their fear is not unreasonable – we see it realized all the time. For me, the most shocking instance remains the first time it happened to me. I was asked to help a local company of about 600 people that was in serious trouble. A » Read More
I used to play a game with my daughters when they were younger. Whenever we stayed in a hotel or motel, we tried to see who could figure out the quickest if it had a good idea system. It usually didn’t take longer than 15 to 20 minutes. Most often, it would be because we found an obvious problem that front-line employees were all aware of, but had been unaddressed. One time, for example, we drove up to Montreal » Read More
Imagine an automobile manufacturer producing over a thousand cars a day, employing 3500 people, and putting less waste in landfills every year than an average family does every day. And imagine its green initiative is adding millions to the company’s bottom line each year. The Subaru manufacturing plant in Lafayette, Indiana (Subaru Indiana Automotive, or SIA) is such a company. Its last waste shipment was sent to » Read More