Switchboard Profit Model

For the second time this month I discussed with someone a very interesting business model: the Switchboard Profit model. The Switchboard Profit model is an exciting model for evaluating and developing business models.

MAYA-principle: a successfactor for implementing change

The key to any well implemented change is how well the change is embedded inside the minds, behavior and actions of the involved people. They MAYA-principle, Most Advanced Yet Acceptable, can be very useful for planning the change to maximize the embedding of the change.

Finding the cause for the majority of the issues

Wouldn't it be wonderful by following some simple steps it is possible to find the root of what is causing the majority of the issues?

One has to remember, often, if not the root, the solution lies outside the periphery we tend to look for solutions. Therefore out-of-the-box thinking is required to address the root of the majority of the issues.

Team Forming

In forming the team three things are important:

having the right styles in the team creating shared values creating a shared vision

Downloading and watching YouTube movies on your computer

YouTube has a large collection of movies. Some of these movies are excellent to augment a training. However, not always there is a (reliable) internet connection during the training. This Blog will show you a very easy and reliable way to download and play YouTube movies from your computer.

on your

PDSA

No, not a typo. There is definitely an "S" in PDSA rather than a "C". Most likely the "C"-version is best known because of the same behavior Deming tried to correct on so many occasions.

LinkedIn toolbar for Outlook

For me it is a bit time consuming to keep my contact list up-to-date. Especially my business contacts. With some I have infrequent contact with, but like to stay in touch with. So I tried the LinkedIn toolbar for Outlook.

and

and

Using Google Wave II

I have now much more experience with Google Wave. Especially in real-live collaboration with others.

Problem Solving vs Goal Realizing

During my education I wrote an application letter for an internship pointing out my problem solving skills. The reply was short: "we don't have problems". At that time my mindset was such that I only could laugh; who doesn't have problems to solve?

Dealing with Half-Backed Ideas

Plenty of situations where you, or others, might have an idea. The idea sounds okay or even great, but ...there is a but. The idea is not 'perfect'. The idea has some serious negatives as well. Result: some people try to chop the idea down, some are resisting the chopping.

Oded Cohen of the Goldratt Institute in the UK developed years ago a very practical approach to deal with these kind of situations. This approach is now known as the NBr or Negative Branch.

Book Review: Think! Before It's Too Late

Think!: Before It's Too Late by Edward de Bono I read the Dutch Translation "Creatief Denken - Slimme technieken om problemen op te lossen"

The first couple of pages I thought: WOW! I got some good insight in some of the Thinking Processes (Theory of Constraints). Key in this was 'perception'.

While progressing in the book I became disappointed. More and more I got the impression: this guy is frustrated. A lot of complaining (pretty much in the style he dislikes from others), quite a bit of repetition of why he and his tools are so great, plenty of references that he is so good.

Acer Timeline 1810TZ

I was looking for a new notebook and I got one for my birthday. An Acer Timeline 1810TZ

The thing was, I wanted a small notebook with long battery time. Easy to take along and no real need to have a powerplug available within a hour or two. These specifications pointed out to a netbook.

Netbooks seem nice, but they are not quite powerful; maximum 1 GB memory and an Atom (like) processor. Nor do they tend to have a reasonable good display. I was looking for a notebook in a netbook format.

Using Google Wave

I have been using Google Wave since Septeber 30^th 2009 and although not perfect, I like it.

The first 2 months I was playing around with Google Wave and trying all kinds of Apps and Robots. This I'm still doing for it is not only great fun, some people really make nice useful things. In this sense Google Wave is still evolving quite nicely. In December 2009 and Januari 2010 I started using Google Wave also for my work.

Project Management versus Line Management

What is so special or different about Project Management? Nine out of ten will anser:

A project:

• Is unique
• Has (clear) predetermined deliverables
• Has a (fixed) start and finish
• Has a (limited) budget
• Works with a multi-disciplinair team

What we found is that regardless the type of industry, the above list is equally, if not more, applicable for non-projects - operations. Below is a generic description, but I like to invite you to verify if it is also applicable in your own experience.