Recent Posts:
Compression Thinking
How can a global population of 9 billion live well using no more resources than were consumed by only 4.5 billion (in 1980)? Not the way we live and work now. Methods to do this are well known: Re-use, re-purpose, remanufacture, recycle, redesign, substitute, restore...
Vigorous Learning
Even if resources aren't limited, consuming them just to generate economic activity isn't smart. Lean thinking starts down this path, but is limited because the present system stresses labor productivity. Financial hackles rise when labor is paid, but does nothing....
Measuring Ourselves by Ourselves
July 28, 2010 Self-deceptive measurement was recognized in antiquity. As the New Testament notes, "they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise" (2 Cor. 10:12). Measurements showing that we’re better than others...
Gulf Wars
July 14, 2010 Around the world, a lot of gulfs are in what The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration classifies as one of 64 Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) based on ecological factors, not human ownership or political divisions. Collectively, LMEs account...
The Expanding Case for Compression
July 2, 2010 The opening chapter of the book, Compression, could only reference a few reasons why Compression appears necessary. The main objective, of course, is to drastically reduce consumption of resources. Almost any problem of the 21st century can be alleviated...
The Nigerian Muddle
June 25, 2010 Nigeria's muddle is more like the muddle we all face in Compression than the oil spill in the Gulf. Nigeria sits on a lot of oil, sweet crude preferred by American refineries. About 40% of Nigerian oil exports go to the the U.S., and it accounts for...
Titanic Syndrome
June 15, 1010 Bad news from the Gulf continues to flow. Much of it is about which culprits to blame and who pays. Stock caps, bonuses, and dividends are at risk. Liability lawyers circle their own version of black gold. This fiasco point up how a huge economic...
Quo Vadis?
June 15, 2010 Compression concepts are not intrinsically difficult, but Compression Thinking takes practice. It turns conventional business thinking upside down. At first, almost every thought about your business reverts to the standard mantras. The initial problem...
Endocrine Disruption
June 3, 2010 Worrywart’s are beating endocrine disruptor drums louder and louder. In very small concentrations these are known to adversely affect glandular functions and chemical balances in animals. Accumulating evidence suggests that endocrine disruption may...
Light Cones and Model Myopia
June 3, 2010 Fumbling in the dark, we grab a flashlight to “expand our light cone.” In a car at night, we hit the high beam for the same reason. And if infrared night vision is an option, a driver can indirectly expand her light cone using another wavelength of...
Compression and Sustainability
May 27, 2010 Sustainability is a big umbrella term addressing a host of issues. Many writers emphasize only a few aspects of sustaining the planet in condition to support life, but the scope of concerns is so broad that it’s difficult – or impossible -- to think about...
Toyota Discovers a New World
May 27, 2010: Toyota's recalls are old news fading from mainstream media, but not automotive media. Core problems in the company will take time to rectify, and like everyone else that screws-up, its leadership may not be completely through denial yet. Everybody can...
Natural Balance?
May 20, 2010 A recent EPA party-pooper report estimated that 63% of all methane and 36% of all nitrous oxide (N2O) in the atmosphere is man-made. Despite imprecision, these suggest pushing nature out of balance. The National Academy of Sciences just released a report...
Prepping Ourselves
May 20, 2010 In a recent speech, Dick Schonberger packed a PowerPoint slide with a list of techniques associated with lean operations, a looooong list, in fine print. That's why organizations that regard lean as a collection of techniques can never master them; nobody...
Routine Disruption?
May 13, 2010 Major disruptions in industrial societies liven the news. Dense populations and properties fatten the damage, and complex industrial societies are highly vulnerable. Imagine New York City without electrical power for a week. Natural disasters include...
Making Your “Business Model” too Important to Fail
May 13, 2010 “Too Big to Fail” justifies bailing out companies so big that discontinuing operations would disrupt everyone’s lives. But if their mission is that vital, they have a public service obligation. We should expect excellent performance; perhaps demand it....
Incautious Optimism
May 4, 2010 Q: What do Enron, Lehman Brothers, BP, and Toyota screw-ups have in common? A: Tunnel vision on growth, abetted by hubris, diverting concentration from quality performance. The subtle version of this is "incautious optimism" that growth will let us clean...
The New Fable of the Bees
May 4, 2010: The Fable of the Bees, written by Bernard Mandeville in 1705, is a poem which observed how each bee serving its own interest contributed to the common good. Adam Smith took up Mandeville’s themes, which are the bedrock of capitalist philosophy to this...
Does Vigorous Learning Need “Work Rules?”
April 26, 2010: In a nutshell, yes. Just to function, every organization needs work rules and standard procedures. And we know some best practices of fast-learning organizations today: Open to innovation from anywhere: sustain R&D; have playpens or spin-offs to...
Bubble Psychology
April 15, 2010: Markets wildly overvalue traded financial securities when exuberant traders balloon prices higher and higher; then reality dawns en masse. Bang. Bubble gum spatters everywhere. Global-scope bubbles like the Big Financial Pop gum up the whole world....