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Silver Bells, Marketing, and Sales
(Hopefully you read the blog title with a Deep South accent.) Happy holidays, reader! I’m going to begin this post with a slightly embarrassing self-quote from 5 years ago, when I was a first-year MBA student. The following is an excerpt from the introduction I wrote for a marketing plan…
Why Process Automation Won’t Cure Inefficiency
“The first rule of any technology used in business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency” –Bill Gates Process automation is yet another high-profile concept…
How Leading Organizations Make Change Last
I can barely get my kids to pick up after themselves, turn off lights after they leave the room, or really make their beds. By really making their beds, pulling up the top cover while the sheets are still balled up at the foot of the bed is a huge win. All I am asking them to do is…
Introducing the Same Old, Brand New, Digital Me!
You can tell a lot about how digital your life has become simply by examining the thirty minutes before and after you sleep each night. When I woke up this morning, the first thing I did was swipe the screen of my [digital] phone to turn off my [digital] alarm clock, which was blaring Your Love is…
A Multi-Generational Model for Collaboration
The main reason I go to the Aspen Ideas Festival is for the new ideas, models, and people. I never would have met Henry Elkus elsewhere. Henry is a twenty-something entrepreneur who envisioned a global network in his Yale dorm room. His “big thinker” network, now called Helena,…
What is Blockchain?
Much is being said these days about blockchain, also referred to as distributed ledger technology, and its impact on business. Let’s be honest with each other: are you familiar with blockchain? If you are not, then the good news is that you are not alone. And if you are extremely familiar, you are…
Better Process Management Through Improved Customer Service and Experience
I talked to Roy Barnes, author of ‘Customer Experience for Dummies’ about the difference between customer service and customer experience and how better process improvement matters for both. Roy, you have talked about realizing the difference between customer experience and customer…
The Future Is Here, Are You Ready?
Digital transformation is on the strategic agenda for many organizations. However, there is confusion about how to differentiate true digital transformation from discrete digital projects shrouded in hyperbole. Process automation is nothing new. However the sheer scale of processes that can be…
How Do Productive People Do It?
Why are some people more productive than others? To find out, I asked two stellar and productive past Big Thinkers to “Describe the circumstances under which you are most productive.” Charles Duhigg is a husband, father of two young children, Pulitzer prize winning NY Times reporter…
Locate Where Process Improvement Can Help You Most
I talked to Georg Lange of Syngenta AG how they digitized their HR-function to reduce costs and increase promoter score. Georg will be presenting ‘The Digitalization of the HR-Function of Sygenta’ at APQC’s Process & Performance Management Conference. Why did you start your…