Big Quit Reloaded – Don’t Let Knowledge Walk Out the Door or Escape Through the Window

In November 2018 I wrote a post on this very blog titled Don't Let Knowledge Walk Out the Door or escape through the window. At that time I was helping a startup to scale-up into an industrial manufacturing company, which was losing significant knowledge through employee turnover. November 2022, we are amid the Big Quit, …

Don’t Let Knowledge Walk Out the Door or Escape Through the Window

Established companies as well as startups too often underestimate the value of reusable knowledge, fail to capture it, to secure it and to share it. “Don't Let Knowledge Walk Out the Door” is the title of an October 2018 IndustryWeek article by Norbert Majerus urging companies to “Take steps to gather and share your employees' expertise …

[Muda] Cash-flow depleted startup freezes cash in defective products

This post is inspired by an assessment of a successful startup on its way to scaling up. With some exaggeration I state that startups fall into two categories: either the ones that have cash to burn, thanks to trusting investors, or the ones struggling to find cash. Mine is somewhat in between. A dynamic boss …

30 elements of value, entrepreneur’s food for thoughts

What is value? What is a customer willing to pay? Since Lean Thinking and Lean principles are around, many organizations strive to bring more value to the customer. But apart from reducing costs what levers do they have to bring more value to theirs customers? The article titled “The Elements of Value” published in the …

Is Lean dead?

Is Lean dead? is the provocative title of a podcast hosted by Mark Graban with guest Karen Martin. The question, the podcast description says, is “easy to discuss, but hard to answer”. The reason Karen proposed to discuss this question is because of hearing and reading about “what’s next”, “is it time for something new?” …

How can Theory of Constraints help startups – Purpose, Goal and how to achieve it

I believe most entrepreneurs started with a brilliant idea, a new product, a smart solution, new services... and the underlying desire to write a story on their own, not for a boss. The startupers then start up as the brilliant new offer needs funding and some structure to bring it to the world. But how …

How Lean can help startups – Do not repeat mistakes of established companies 2/2

Entrepreneurs, at the beginning of a new venture, have limited means and therefore should be waste-aware in order not to spoil their so limited resources. >Have you read part one? Waste is a central Lean concept widely known and documented. Here is the minimum to know about waste: Waste is consuming resources without value creation. …

How Lean can help startups – Do not repeat mistakes of established companies 1/2

If there is one way Lean can help startups, it is to provide guidance or "Lean inspiration" from the very beginning and prevent them reproducing the same mistakes of long-established companies. >Lisez cet article en français Most established businesses are built on an outdated model in most cases: the mass production of low variety products, …

Discarded the bloody app, feel better now

It was the one which inspired me my post: “Minimum Viable Product or just crap?”, it kept upsetting me over and over while claiming to be the top app for social media management. I got rid of it and feel much better now. Not only can I get beyond the limitations, but I have a …

Eli Schragenheim on How can Theory of Constraints help Startups?

Startups are hype. I started asking myself how long known methodologies or management philosophies like Lean or Theory of Constraints can possibly help starting companies? When Eli Schragenheim visited our offices in Paris, France, in October 2015, I fetched the opportunity to ask him this question: How can Theory of Constraints help Startups? In this …