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Past Issues in red are among the most frequently downloaded.

ISSUE 22: The Second Path
published February 3, 2005

ISSUE 21: Management's Role
published December 29, 2004

Issue 20: Stick the Landing
published September 30, 2004

Because of the strength, grace, balance, and speed required, gymnastics is a focal point of the Olympic Games. With routines so spectacular from athletes so young, we cannot help but marvel at the performances. For the athletes, however, these performances are a competition. As each athlete receives the crowd's applause, judges are methodically separating the best from the very good.

Issue 19: Terminal "E" Illogical
published August 12, 2004

Improving business processes can reduce variation and eliminate hassle, but unlike cutting costs or increasing throughput, most managers don't appreciate these benefits. After all, customers don't normally complain about variation, and some amount of hassle just seems inevitable. In fact, variation creates uncertainty and hassle - which produces unhappy customers and employees. Eliminating variation, therefore, is critical to the success of your organization.

Issue 18: Take Ten Minutes Talks with Scott Woods, Acting CEO of South Carolina Federal Credit Union
published July 16, 2004
There is no way around it; management commitment is the starting point for creating and sustaining a successful quality effort. So what happens when the executive who originally championed the quality effort - the person who made changing the culture a personal mission - ceases to be involved in day-to-day operations? Take Ten Minutes recently spoke with Scott Woods, S.C. Federal's CFO and Acting CEO, to find out.

Issue 17: A Matter of Trust
published June 23, 2004
If trust is the foundation of successful business relationships, we have a lot of room for improvement. We may feel our work is flawless, but if customers find otherwise, complaints, apprehension, and detailed inspection begin. To discover how much confidence people really have in you, just see who's checking your work.

Issue 16: Eliminating (Defective) Customers
published June 7, 2004
I was a defective customer twice last month. Both times I tried to catch a flight from Boston's Logan Airport, and both times I missed the 30-minute window for check-in. JetBlue Airways got me to my destination on time. Delta Airlines used my tardiness to deny boarding. Guess who's winning in the marketplace?

Issue 15: Storming the Problem
published May 18, 2004
Along with failing to identify problems, and not allocating the appropriate resources to correct them, over-reliance on brainstorming is a major barrier to improvement. Why is the most commonly used tool an obstacle to problem solving?

Issue 14: What Are You Becoming?
published April 29, 2004
For all the talk about growth and focusing on the customer these days, there is still more action on the cost-cutting front. Minimizing costs is a necessary activity, of course. But when employees think daily about cost-cutting and occasionally about better serving the customer, growth and customer focus get trampled in the march to greater profitability.

Issue 13: Pass the Hassle
published April 16, 2004
Like some of you, I was on vacation last week. My family and I visited a large resort property near Walt Disney World in Florida, and during our stay I met several of the resort's managers and staff. Throughout the week, I was reminded it's the basics that cause most of the service issues, and the root causes of poor service are hard-wired into our current approach to serving customers.

Issue 12: It's a Quicken World
published April 9, 2004
As good as Quicken is, it is only a tool. Too often we confuse buying a new tool with meaningful change. How many tools has your organization purchased in the last 12 months? Were these tools implemented successfully? Why or why not?

Issue 11: You Are Here
published April 2, 2004
Do you remember a time when you were lost? You knew where you were going, but couldn't get there because you didn't know your present location. Every journey is a trip from one point to the next, so knowing your current position is just as important as your destination. It's the same with corporate transformations.

Issue 10: Give Yourself A Raise!
published March 25, 2004
I'm meeting with one of my suppliers this week who wants to raise her hourly rate. She's very nice about it, explaining which costs are going up and how my rate would stay below what she charges new customers. She can raise her rates all she wants - just as long as she cuts my bill.

Issue 9: Do You Own, Or Just Rent?
published March 18, 2004
I work with a lot of companies and I'm constantly impressed by the people I meet. Many are smart. Most are hard-working. Some are very well-educated. And a surprising number are simply renting their jobs on a weekly basis.

Issue 8: Is Your Quality Policy a Joke?
published March 11, 2004
The other day I passed a white property-maintenance vehicle with the slogan, "A total commitment to better living," written on its door. The logo revealed that the truck belonged to a company known for its properties' decrepit conditions. Whose definition of "better living" is this?? I wondered: does this company have a quality policy behind their slogans?

Issue 7: All Things Being Equal
published March 4, 2004
We often hear that all things being equal, China?s low wage position gives her companies an unbeatable position in the marketplace. But things are very rarely equal.

Issue 6: Can You Withstand the Heat?
published February 26, 2004
While the Concorde is adaptable to a wide range of temperatures, its vulnerability to slower economic growth and increasing maintenance costs put it out of service in 2003. Which raises the question: where is your organization adaptable, and where is it inflexible?

Issue 5: Aspiring to Excellence, Bosu-style
published February 19, 2004
You probably stumble across a "Bosu" every now and then in your business improvement initiatives - something that seems simple in theory but in reality tests your proficiency to the hilt. Once the difficulty is known, weaker players are discouraged, but the strong are challenged to get stronger.

Issue 4: Peeking at the Filling
published February 12, 2004
Do you find yourself peeking at the filling of your business improvement initiatives? Is your company treating project selection like a box of chocolates, selecting what looks to be the perfect project, and then backing off once you've cracked the surface and find it isn't exactly what you wanted?

Issue 3: Celebrate the Not-So-Small Stuff
published February 5, 2004
Take time to celebrate the small stuff--and realize that organizational change is not so small after all. Clear the decks and for a moment relish how much healthier your organization is today than it was last year or even just last week. Keeping your unique corporate culture in mind, find ways to celebrate on an individual, departmental and organization-wide level.

Issue 2: My Daughter's Left Foot
published January 29, 2004
Last Tuesday, I nearly ran over my seven-year-old daughter's foot with a 3,575-pound Subaru Outback. And that got me thinking about how quality is defined as conformance to requirements.

Issue 1: Thinking Like Joe
published January 23, 2004
Take Ten Minutes is the continuation of our efforts to help you focus on business process improvement. It came about as a result of us asking ourselves, "How can we encourage our clients, on a regular basis, to remember to take time out of their busy schedules to look at a problem with a fresh set of eyes ? to recommit to business improvement?"