EP032: Investing in and Executing Continuous Improvement Projects Using Lean Six Sigma with Kimberly Watson-Hemphill of Firefly Consulting
Release Date: 03/08/2016
EP057: Patricia O’Connell & Woo, Wow, and Win
Commanding Business
Band-aid strategies for pleasing customers isn’t enough to differentiate your business—it needs to be designed for service from the ground up. In today's interview with Patricia O’Connell we discover the importance of service design in businesses that compete today. Patricia shares her journey of discovery in the field of service design and the inspiration behind Woo, Wow, and Win, a guide to service design, strategy, and the art of customer delight. Patricia currently serves as the President of Aerten Consulting, in New York City. Key Takeaways: [1:03] As a journalist...
info_outline
EP056: Thomas A. Stewart & Woo, Wow, and Win
Commanding Business
Woo, Wow, and Win reveals the importance of designing your company around service, and offers clear, practical strategies based on the idea that the design of services is markedly different than manufacturing. Most companies, both digital and brick-and-mortar, B2B or B2C; are not designed for service—to provide an experience that matches a customer’s expectations with every interaction and serves the company’s needs. When customers have more choices than ever before, study after study reveals that it’s the experience that makes the difference. To provide great experiences that keep...
info_outline
EP055: Marc Stickdorn & Service Design Thinking
Commanding Business
Service design thinking is the designing and marketing of services that improve the customer experience, and the interactions between the service providers and the customers. We interview Marc Stickdorn, consultant, speaker and author of This Is Service Design Thinking. Key Takeaways: [1:03] The big idea behind This Is Service Design Thinking. [3:47] How the linear approach can waste two years of your life. [8:01] Silos make an organization easy to manage, but this creates friction. [11:10] The classic trap of change management. [12:43] Adapt the process to the existing culture in...
info_outline
EP054: John Mullins & The Customer-Funded Business
Commanding Business
In The Customer Funded Business, best-selling author John Mullins uncovers five novel approaches that scrappy and innovative 21st century entrepreneurs working in companies large and small have ingeniously adapted from their predecessors like Dell, Gates, and the Zieglers. John Mullins is an Associate Professor of Management Practice at the London Business School and a worldwide speaker and educator. He is a regularly published author at Harvard Business Review and MIT Sloan Management Review. Key Takeaways: [1:05] The big idea behind The Customer-Funded Business book. [3:30] Raising...
info_outline
EP053: Keith Casey & A Practical Approach to API Design
Commanding Business
Keith Casey is co-author of A Practical Approach to API design: From Principles to Practice. Former Developer Evangelist at Twilio, his current work with Okta focuses on identity and authentication APIs. Keith is a software engineer focusing on creating open architecture, specifically APIs. His goal is to get good technology into the hands of good people to do great things. Key Takeaways: [2:43] Keith Casey describes APIs from a business perspective. [5:04] Why would a business adopt an API strategy? [7:01] Twilio eliminates the need for a carrier contract and provides...
info_outline
EP052: Karen Dillon & Competing Against Luck
Commanding Business
Journalist, author, and speaker, Karen Dillon is a former editor of Harvard Business Review Magazine, and the former Deputy Editor of Inc. Magazine. She recently co-authored Competing Against Luck with Clay Christensen. Using the Jobs to Be Done framework, Karen Dillon and her co-authors help businesses understand what causes customers to "hire" a product or service. With that understanding, a business can improve its innovation track record, creating products that customers really want. Jobs theory offers new hope for growth to companies frustrated by their hit and...
info_outline
EP051: David Hubbard & Technology for Sales and Marketing
Commanding Business
David Hubbard is a Revenue Growth Expert and CEO of Marketing Outfield. He works with private and public companies to strategically align sales, marketing, and product development efforts and grow annual revenues by 25-50%. He creates growth machines by integrating a company’s core values into the customer decision-making process. Key Takeaways: [1:14] Many companies struggle to find alignment between the three revenue-producing functions of product management, product marketing, and sales. [3:31] When companies struggle with alignment, the customer experiences mixed messages in the...
info_outline
EP050: Jim Kalbach on Designing Web Navigation and Mapping Experiences
Commanding Business
Jim Kalbach is a noted author, speaker, and instructor in user experience design, information architecture, and strategy. He is currently the Head of Consulting and Education with MURAL, a leading online whiteboard for digital collaboration. Previously, Jim has worked with large companies, such as Audi, SONY, Elsevier Science, Lexis Nexis, Citrix, and eBay, among others. Jim Kalbach authored #1 Amazon Business Development Bestseller, Mapping Experiences: A Guide to Creating Value Through Journeys, Blueprints, and Diagrams. Key Takeaways: [1:05] Jim Kalbach never worried about what...
info_outline
EP049: Daniel Burrus & The Future of Global Trends and Innovation
Commanding Business
Author of the NYT and WSJ bestseller, Flash Foresight, Daniel Burrus is a leading futurist in global trends and innovation. A leading consultant to Google, Proctor & Gamble, IBM, and many other Fortune 500 firms, Daniel Burrus provides strategic advice for predicting forthcoming market innovators and anticipating disruptions before they disrupt. His Anticipatory Organization Model uses the key components of hard and soft trends to identify transformative, pre-active solutions. Key Takeaways: [1:33] To see the invisible and do the impossible, you must start with certainty. [7:02] How a...
info_outline
EP048: Bill Halal & Technology's Promise
Commanding Business
Author of six books, with a seventh in the works, Bill Halal is a Professor Emeritus of Management, Technology and Innovation at George Washington University. As the President of TechCast, Bill Halal and his team study the impact of artificial intelligence, the age of knowledge as compared to the age of consciousness, and future forecasting with a goal of simplifying change at the meso-economic level. Key Takeaways: [1:09] TechCast is a collective intelligence system that collects background data on emerging technologies, social trends, and wildcards. [2:56] TechCast has...
info_outlineImproving business processes can be a difficult task if management approaches it without first determining the needs of the stakeholders. Gathering information from this group will help the improvement team to understand what drives your business's profit and loss. From there, creating baseline metrics will help the team to measure their progress towards improving processes. The Lean Six Sigma framework takes all of this into consideration when assisting companies with doing what they already do, only better. Kimberly Watson-Hemphill of Firefly Consulting talks with Tim about the commitment needed for a company to reach peak efficiency, implement continuous improvement and sustain the benefits of these important qualities over the long-term.
Key Takeaways:
[1:05] Helping companies do what they do, even better!
[2:54] What are the symptoms I need to look for if I think my business needs improvement?
[4:28] What drives revenue and profit?
[7:17] Empowering employees to make decisions.
[12:06] Good old fashioned communication makes everything better.
[13:44] Lean Six Sigma gives the team tools and a framework.
[15:47] Solving a problem with recruiting - a real life example.
[21:10] When Lean Six Sigma is implemented it is a win for everyone.
[23:10] Linking continuous improvement to all important business problems.
[24:31] Define, measure, analyze, improve and control.
[27:41] Stakeholder analysis!
[30:39] Contact information for Kimberly.
Mentions: