When we look back at 2020, what will we have learned after a global health crisis, a national reckoning around racism, and a divisive election?

On election day in the U.S. we talked with Harvard Business School's Frances X. Frei to discuss how we can best navigate the emotional and personal challenges of this moment.

It never hurts to be prepared for the worst. Especially when it comes to losing your job.

Everyone says to “be authentic” or “just be yourself” at work. But what does that really mean, and why does it matter?

As more people get access to a Covid-19 vaccine, organizations are facing an opportunity for a real reset.

Panera’s leader Niren Chaudhary has firsthand experience of leading through adversity.

Apple leaders need deep expertise, immersion in details, and collaborative debate.

When Apple was smaller, it may have been reasonable to expect leaders to be experts on pretty much everything going on in their organizations. However, they now need to exercise greater discretion regarding where and how they spend their effort.

In these unprecedented times, corporate leaders’ principles are being put to the test. The best, says former Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly, are rising to the challenge.

Today, Bitcoin consumes as much energy as a small country. This certainly sounds alarming — but the reality is a little more complicated, says Nic Carter, whose firm invests in public blockchain startups.

Diversity does not always translate to inclusivity. How to ensure that your efforts are making your employees feel like they belong. (2 of 3)

Under that humble exterior lies a powerful design tool. Here’s how to unlock it.

Black women are often “the onlys” in their organizations, putting tremendous pressure on them in uncertain times, but also offering unique opportunities.

Former Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly: Empowering Workers to Create ‘Magic’

Brewer, CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance and one of only two Black female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, says inclusion and equity are about making employees feel seen and heard.

Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines, leads a company that has been on the front lines of pandemic challenges.

There’s a lot of advice out there about resolutions. Here are our tactics—backed by research—for actually taking them on.

Ever feel like your brain has run out of ideas? Here’s how to break out of a creative rut.

Giving feedback can be tricky and awkward, especially if you’re conflict averse. How do you give feedback that’s empathetic yet effective?

"There is no excuse. Creativity has to be at the forefront.” If not, one day you'll wake up and discover your competitors have the edge.

I'm happy to announce a live-streamed recording of my Lean podcast with my guest Jarvis Gray. You can join us Live on Linkedin on Wednesday, October 30 at 1 pm ET. EVENT LINK The episode will also be released as a podcast via the normal feeds and my YouTube channel. But if you attend live, you can ask questions via LinkedIn Chat. We'll discuss his new book, MASTERING HEALTHCARE EXCELLENCE: A Leaders Guide to Getting […]

The post Coming Soon: A Livestreamed Podcast Episode with Jarvis Gray by Mark Graban appeared first at Lean Blog.

Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #518 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Jerry Wright, author of the new book The Insanity Trap: What Your MRP Consultant Won't Tell You. Jerry M. Wright, PE, MBA, is an accomplished operations executive and teaching professional with over 39 years of experience in the manufacturing and service sectors.  His extensive career spans various industries, including aerospace, consumer goods, healthcare, medical […]

The post Breaking the MRP Insanity Trap: Jerry Wright on Lean Systems and Supply Chain Transformation by Mark Graban appeared first at Lean Blog.

As we celebrate Halloween–a season for all things spooky–it's a good time to reflect on the “fear factor” that can haunt our workplaces. While ghosts and goblins are fun once a year, fear shouldn't be part of our day-to-day culture. Yet, in many organizations, fear holds people back from speaking up about problems, sharing new ideas, or admitting mistakes. Dr. W. Edwards Deming, a pioneer in quality and improvement, famously said: “Drive out fear so […]

The post Halloween, Dr. Deming, and Eliminating the Fear Factor at Work by Mark Graban appeared first at Lean Blog.

Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #519 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Jarvis Gray, the Managing Director of The Quality Coaching Co. He offers more than 16 years of strategic planning, quality improvement, and operations leadership experience in the healthcare industry.  Through his firm, The Quality Coaching Co., Jarvis and his associates help healthcare organizations foster cultures of system-wide quality improvement by offering customized Lean Six […]

The post Achieving Healthcare Excellence: Insights from Jarvis Gray on Lean Six Sigma and Leadership by Mark Graban appeared first at Lean Blog.

I'm happy to be hosting and moderating this webinar that will be presented by Brent Loescher, a fellow instructor with me at TKMG Academy. A Lean practitioner at heart, Brent received his formal Toyota Production System training while working for Toyota Motor Sales in their North American Parts Operations. He helped develop a Lean program for the landscape maintenance industry, implementing and evolving continuous improvement programs across the country since 2009. This included co-leading a […]

The post Creating Leader Standard Work (LSW) Across a Distributed Business Model — Webinar Preview by Mark Graban appeared first at Lean Blog.

“Perfection isn’t a prerequisite for self-trust... It’s consistency in another form: knowing that I do my best, learn from my mistakes, practice honesty, and pull through most of the time. Understanding my version of ADHD has transformed my ability to trust myself.”

Business leaders with ADHD do best when they surround themselves with teammates who offset their executive functioning weaknesses.

In the second of this two-part series, an expert predicts the innovations that could reshape how ADHD is diagnosed and treated in the years to come.

Sleep problems disproportionately impact adults with ADHD. This study found a higher risk for women and those with co-existing mental health conditions.

"If you hold a leadership position in your workplace, commit to these five strategies to create a positive work environment. While its benefits will extend to everyone, for neurodivergent employees, these strategies could mean the difference between struggling in silence and thriving in an environment that understands and meets their needs."

You've invested time, effort, and money into designing your recruitment strategy — but you're still not getting the results you'd hoped for. What's going wrong with your recruiting strategy? Why isn't it attracting the top talent your business needs? To help you troubleshoot, here are a few of the most common reasons why recruitment strategies fail — and how to fix the problem: 1. Using Outdated Recruiting ...

Last week marked the end of an era, as Monster and CareerBuilder announced they were entering a marriage of equals, more or less undermining most of their sales messaging over the last two decades of this once powerful duopoly. Not so very long ago, of course, such a move would have been unthinkable.

Since April, Recruiter.com has been tracking recruiter sentiment and hiring activity through the Recruiter Index®, an ongoing survey of recruiters and hiring professionals on the front lines of the job market today. While May's poll showed significant improvements in recruiter confidence and job market activity over April's, June's results are strikingly positive. For the first time since the survey began, the majority of recruiters — 51.4 percent — believe their job requirement ...

With states starting to lift lockdown restrictions amid fluctuating infection and hospitalization rates — and some localities even forced to pause reopenings in progress — the safety of heading back to the workplace is still very much in question. What will it take for the typical worker whose routine has shifted as a result of the pandemic to ...

For years, there has been a national shortage of interstate long-haul truck drivers — and the COVID-19 crisis has only compounded the problem. As supply chains were interrupted by company closures in response to government directives, demand for truckers who could transfer and deliver business and consumer goods skyrocketed. At the same time, state driver's license agencies shuttered, abruptly halting the process of getting new truck ...

When sales reps are hunting for a new job, they're looking for more than just robust compensation packages and quality products. Of course, these two factors are key attractors for many quality candidates, but the best sales reps want more. To succeed and be satisfied in their roles, they also want to work for great leaders who set an example and support them on their paths. To an extent, your recruiting ...

Having visibility into a team's processes and projects is important to every manager. However, when you're managing a remote team, visibility becomes even more critical. How can you guide your staff on priorities and deadlines when you aren't sure what's actually going on behind the scenes? With remote workforces, simply getting work done isn't enough. Inefficient processes become more problematic as employees are no longer in the same room and communication becomes more difficult or delayed. Managers also need to see ...

The two-day event will once again take place in the UK city of Nottingham.

Indiana's employers are investing heavily in automation and manufacturing efficiency.

Desktop 3D printers generate ultrafine particles (UFPs) while in operation. UFPs may pose a health concern since they are the size of nanoparticles and may be inhaled and penetrate deep into the human pulmonary system.

Easy ain’t easy. Sounds like something said by cultural catchphrase artist and legendary baseball player Yogi Berra, but it sums up a conversation I had at a recent tradeshow in Atlanta.

Titan Tool Supply, Inc. announced the introduction of its new model ZDM-3 vertical displacement microscope to measure minute variations in height. The Z-Axis electronic depth measuring microscope features a built-in LED co-axial illuminator to allow the user to focus on the top or bottom of the part being inspected.

From e-vehicles to consumer electronics and implantable medical devices, standards and expectations for the quality and reliability of sealed devices and components continue to rise. This puts the burden on manufacturers to employ methods of leak testing that are objective, reliable and repeatable.

Testing potential improvements can get complicated when working with multiple suppliers in different steps of a process. Using a Monte Carlo Simulation can help illuminate the results you’d like to see.

Since they have achieved this cyber security status, EPM are currently ahead of the industry. Less than 30% of companies are where they need to be with cyber security compliance, according to their auditor.

If you've been a recruiter before and probably even if you haven't, watching Bravo's new headhunting reality TV show The Headhuntress is a lot of fun. The new show documents the daily work of Wendy Doulton, a headhunter in LA, as she screens candidates, works with clients, coaches candidates, and gets frustrated with her staff. The Headhuntress stays true to the recruiting business. A recruiter watching the show will say over and over again, "...

Wanting to start a business isn't the same thing as starting a business. However, having a very strong motivation to become an entrepreneur is an absolute first requirement. Inspiration and motivation are often more critical to success than the actual idea itself. I stumbled across this graph from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (what, you don't surf labor stats for fun?) that shows the percentage of the population that intends to ...

Some events cause you to look back retrospectively on what got you there, others cause you to think about the future and dream about what's going to happen. But other events make you look forward and back at the same time. Few things stir your imagination and cause you to reminisce like moving. That feeling of putting your new key ...

What comes to mind when you think about your morals and values? Is it plausible to think these very basic principles could quite possibly be responsible for your perception of the world around you? What about the effect they have on your job or your work ethic? Family development expert Stephen J. Bavolek defines our morals as a code of conduct with identified rights ...

There's a good chance you know someone who works a day job and also spends part of their free time working on a side hustle. In fact, according to a survey commissioned by Vistaprint, 27 percent of Americans have already turned their hobbies into side businesses, and 55 percent of us would like to make the same move. Side hustles are a great way to make extra cash, but getting one ...