One of the most common complaints I hear from business owners is this: “Why don’t my employees get the basics?” The “basics” usually aren’t complicated — show up on time, greet the customer professionally, wear the right gear, finish the job thoroughly. Simple, right? But then I ask: “Do you have it written down? Are you reviewing them against those expectations?” The answer is almost always no. They...
When most people hear the word Lean, their minds immediately jump to factories, assembly lines, and production floors. But Lean thinking isn’t reserved for manufacturing. In fact, the principles of Lean apply just as powerfully to office teams, service businesses, and administrative operations. The truth is—every business runs on processes. And many of those processes are clunky, inefficient, and full of waste. People get used to doing things...
When companies only measure lagging indicators—like revenue, profit, or customer churn—it’s like checking the scoreboard after the game is over. You know the outcome, but you don’t know what actually led to it—or how to change it next time. Worse, it leaves your team in the dark. Set Your Team Up to Win Everyday As an engineer earlier in my career, I’d show up to quarterly or yearly...
