Tag: best practice

What Does ‘Systemic’ Actually Mean?

The word Systemic is tossed around quite loosely these days.  Especially when discussing social issues and politics. But what does it really mean when we say something is systemic by nature?  By one definition it is, “Of or relating to a system or a system and other relating to or affecting the entire body or

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Artificial Stupidity

Listen closely and pay attention as our menu has changed. The frustration to the automated phone operator are legend.  All of us have had our issues with this form of (non) customer service. Recently this pundit placed a call at a number provided by the vendor and went though all the (voice) menu items, only

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How Effective at Multitasking are We?

According to no less than the Cleveland Clinic, ” Studies (regarding multitasking) show it makes us less efficient and more prone to errors.” Cleveland Clinic goes on to make the case: When tasks are easy and routine such as, “like listening to music while walking, or folding laundry while watching TV,” these are generally not

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Burrattery

Burr!  Its winter in the northern hemisphere and many shiver from the cold.  The ‘Many’ include batteries. We have know for generations that cold weather negatively affects electrical batteries.  So, it should come as no surprise that Electric Vehicles (EVs) performance can suffer greatly when the temperatures are extremely cold.  This phenomenon is not limited

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V R T

In our forthcoming book, “Navigating the Data Minefields: Management’s Guide to Better Decision-Making”  we coined the term, Valid, Reliable and Timely (VRT).  “This term identifies all data dimensions including its temporal component.” Check Up When we go to the doctor we expect that the information conferred by this professional is Correct, Consistent with the current

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Data Management for the Non-Technical Executive

“Per McKinsey research from June 2022, nearly 70 percent of the top economic performers, compared with just half of their peers, are using their own software to differentiate themselves from their competitors.” McKinsey went on to state that: Digital products are driving the need to embed software across the board Increasingly, more value is being

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Valid and Reliable?

The first thing a statistician, data scientist, medical researcher, engineer, social scientist or anyone depending on data is to assess its quality. As of this writing, the recent release of the Durham Report suggests that the FBI was lax in their assessment of the alleged Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election cycle.  This resulted

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Seems Like Yesterday

Hard to believe that 13 years ago the offshore oil and gas industry changed forever.  On April 20, 2010 the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded, later sank.  “Approximately 134 million gallons of oil had spilled into the Gulf, the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.” One recent LinkedIn comment suggested that nothing had changed

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And Just Like That!

Often attributed to the movie character, Forest Gump the title phrase can be interpreted as an abrupt change in one’s life. The past few years have brought significant changes to many of us.  Illness, job change, moving to a new location, kids out of school and so it goes.  Disruption can be intimidating, yet it

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Clickbait Redux

We are offered the world at the tip of our fingers, But!  There are many prices to pay.  Theft by scam simply by clicking on a great opportunity is getting more sophisticated all the time. Recently, this pundit was offered a once in a lifetime possibility if only I would listen to an MS Office

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100

This edition marks the 100th post in our Critical Mass Blog series.  We have sought to provide thoughtful, unbiased insight into the contemporary business and organizational challenges we all face.  Since our first blog post on November 27, 2017 our world has turned over in ways none expected.  Likely, this trend will continue. This series

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Getting to Diverse and Inclusive Teams

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Team Models There is a tendency to see DEI through the lens of initiatives or often a process semi-outside the daily ‘organizational’ grind.  Does this represent reality? Organizations spend countless sums training employees and others they depend on for Operational Excellence performance.  They often trust global Teams to add stakeholder

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Are Your DEI Wheels Spinning?

Originally published as a LinkedIn article on July 6, 2021, this updated version is reprinted here with the permission of the author.  Links to relevant sources are added. Lately, many LinkedIn posts bemoan the state of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The seeming slow take up of great ideas. Some argue that DEI initiatives are no

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Roadmap to Decision Making In the ‘Smart’ Era

“Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide.” — Napoleon Bonaparte Volumes have been written on decision-making and this pundit has offered his share of insight and comment on the subject as well.  Some of our comments regard the appropriateness of the human intercession in electronic decision making.  Others

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ESG Implementation–Strong v Weak Revisited

“A healthy corporation acts on the interests of its stakeholders and customers” — Ari Melber, Journalist Currently, organizations are being implored to implement Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) driven business models.   Proponents even suggest that investment in organizations that do not have this imprimatur should be avoided or even divested. However, one wonders what has

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Its the Heart

“A good, quick, small team can beat a big, slow team any time.” — Paul William “Bear” Bryant, legendary college football coach In the early 1990s my former wife and I, both avid sailors decorated our boat for the local Christmas Boat Lane Parade.  While we had some help, most of the work was performed by the

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Point of View

What Are We Doing?   An interesting sign of the times.  Individuals on social media who identify themselves by name, photo, job (even senior) title, organization etc. are taking controversial positions on a variety of often emotional subjects.  In the old days discussions about , sex, politics and religion were off limits in the corporate

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You’re Kidding, Right?

Not Again   In 2018 we posted an opinion regarding social media driven sales ‘cold calling.’  As noted then, the comments went along the lines, “I reviewed your profile and I know I can help.”  This unsolicited approach continues to be blown off by this and other pundits/potential customers as amateurish. Recently, the tactic has

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Post Covid-19 Operational Performance

Not the So-Called New Normal   The light at the end of the Covid-19 tunnel may not be the train many still believe.  Populations are being inoculated at very high rates.  Moreover, there is ample evidence in my metropolitan area that the general population no longer believes or adheres to the ‘advice of experts.’  This

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Is Your Remote Team Aligned?

Recently, my team and I were tasked with a delicate decision making process.  Due to its nature and signatory level, team members were only authorized to explore and present options.  The final decision was mine alone.  Our project governance model clearly defined this decision making process. One day I received a call from remote members

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Covid-19 Positive: Telemedicine Kicked into High Gear

Crisis Drives Change In 2001 this writer approached the Houston medical community, post tropical storm Allison which flooded many basements in the Houston Medical Center with the loss of experimental data and other records.  We proposed the development of an Internet based solution to hold and manage medical records of all types.  The response to

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Input Response: Cycle Time Reaction

Melvin—a story of growth.  At beginning of my oil and gas career, I was partnered with my mentor to be and at the time my supervisor; Melvin.  A gruff old cuss, he was a long-time south Louisiana ‘Cajun’ field engineer.  Little did I know at the time the next months would be life changing for

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How Dare You!!

Lessons in Leadership—how dare you put young people in jeopardy for loss of life or failures they will live with the rest of their life? As we end Veteran’s Week, we are reminded of President Herbert Hoover’s comment, “Older men declare war.  But it is the youth that must fight and die.”  Hoover was president

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Radar: Technology Game Changer!

The battle of Leyte Gulf in 1944 with over 200,000 individuals involved is possibly the largest naval battle in history.  Hopefully, one of the last ones. In that battle, the submarine USS Darter initially detected (on radar) the Japanese task force early on October 23.  Other US naval vessels spotted that armada shortly thereafter on

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Data Bias: The Latent or Unobserved

In statistics a Latent Variable can be defined as, ‘a variable inferred from observed or measured data.’ Its analysis is often used psychology, economics, and predictive modeling.  This author used Structural Equation Models (SEM) in his 1996 doctoral dissertation, Cross Cultural Negotiations Between Japanese and American Businessmen: A Systems Analysis (Exploratory Study). From that abstract,

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The Tyranny of the Blank Sheet of Paper

We have all had that, “Where do I start” moment?  Confronted with the NEW, sometimes the task seems daunting.  In a recent conversation, a colleague and I were discussing an adult training program.  The subject centered on how to help students jump start a creative flow. We humans are fond of using so called cheat

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Technology Assessment in the Era of Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

App developers have fallen in love with the concept of Minimum Viable Product aka MVP.  Wikipedia defines minimum viable product (MVP) as “a version of a product with just enough features to satisfy early customers and provide feedback for future product development.” This development model might make some sense for consumer software or even some

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man with burning stick while moving in darkness

Agility, Resiliency, Sustainability

In a recent Harvard Business Review, I was struck by an article about Best Practices for small businesses.  From that piece, “To successfully navigate Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) challenges like Covid-19, family business leaders can look to best practices from another organization that specializes in VUCA situations—the U.S. military’s Special Operations Forces (SOF)”

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Hanging App?

By one measure, the US presidential primary season is off to a rough start.  In a small state, counting the ballots became a challenge.  Wasn’t technology supposed to solve the problems of past confusions? Yet the mechanism seemingly failed—again!  How is this different from the Boeing Max 8 disaster?  In one sense it isn’t. Disclaimer: 

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