The Six Disciplines Blog

The Cost of Bad Project Management - And How Six Disciplines Can Help

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:33:00 GMT

In a recent Gallup Management Journal study, the resulting cost from bad project management is reaching astronomical levels.

Why?

Apparently, "when it comes to project management, most organizations put their practices before their people. They place more emphasis on rational factors -- the process itself -- and less on emotional drivers that could lead to project excellence -- like their employees' engagement with the project and company."

Consider these statistics:

A study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, which reviewed 10,640 projects from 200 companies in 30 countries and across various industries, found that only 2.5% of the companies successfully completed 100% of their projects.
A study published in the Harvard Business Review, which analyzed 1,471 IT projects, found that the average overrun was 27%, but one in six projects had a cost overrun of 200% on average and a schedule overrun of almost 70%.

What's more, it seems that this trend is here to stay. With an ever-growing need for accessible and integrated data, organizations require larger platforms to manage supply chains, customer relationships, and dozens of other crucial systems. Mega-software projects are now common in private and governmental organizations. Development is not slowing down, especially in emerging economies.

Find out how Six Disciplines can help you and your company more effectively manage change initiatives and project management.

Extending the Effectiveness of Microsoft Outlook - With Six Disciplines

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:57:00 GMT

Do you (and everyone else in your organization) spend 80+% of your time in Microsoft Outlook?

We all know that Outlook gives us a great way to manage our email, calendar, contacts, tasks, and our daily to-do list.

But, what if Outlook could also help us (and our entire organization) with:

Strategic planning
Goal-setting
Measures/metrics/KPIs
Performance management
Initiative and project management
Time tracking
Progress-meetings management
Process management
Email/attachment storage

Until now, you had to use several different programs and approaches to accomplish what you really wanted to do. With Six Disciplines - you can do all of this - within Outlook.

The Six Disciplines total performance excellence program includes this innovative add-in to Outlook, as part of a complete process for making you, and everyone in your company, more effective - (not just more efficient.)

Interested in maximizing your use of Outlook? It's time to find out more about Six Disciplines.

Using SWOT Regularly Ensures Focus, Flexibility, Innovation

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:19:00 GMT

Tough times require tough decisions.

During times of economic uncertainty, strategy refinement and execution need to become a top priority for business leaders.

SWOT Analyses are one of the top-rated core services offered by Six Disciplines.

SWOT is a strategic planning tool used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in your business.

The aim of any SWOT exercise is to identify the key internal and external factors that are important to achieving your strategy. SWOT analysis groups key pieces of information into two main categories:

Internal factors: These are the strengths and weaknesses internal to the organization. The internal factors may be viewed as strengths or weaknesses depending upon their impact on the organizations objectives. The factors may include all of the 4Ps (product, price, place, promotion) as well as personnel, finance, manufacturing capabilities, and so on.

External factors - The opportunities and threats presented by the external environment. The external factors may include the economy, technological change, legislation, and socio-cultural changes, as well as changes in your marketplace or competitive position.

BOTTOMLINE: While it's important to regularly conduct a SWOT analysis on your business, it's critical to revisit SWOT during times of economic uncertainty. In particular, it's essential that you focus on the internal factors that you can control; not the external factors you can't control. By focusing on internal factors, you'll be better able to unearth new opportunities for innovation.

Speaking of SWOT - here's links to some VERY useful SWOT worksheets.

The ROI of Total Performance Excellence Programs

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:13:00 GMT

Six Disciplines® is a total performance excellence program. By integrating a proven best-practices methodology and innovative Outlook software, we help you to build an effective culture of continuous improvement, enabling you to achieve predictable and measurable growth.

The desired end result is different for each of our clients, but it's usually centered around growth, higher productivity, improved profitability and greater overall goal accomplishment.

We're often asked by prospective clients about the ROI of the Six Disciplines program. The best answer is to look at our clients. Their results speak for themselves.

In a recent interview with Eric Kurjan, President of Six Disciplines NWO, he shared just a few of his clients' improvements that can be directly attributed to using Six Disciplines during 2011. (the names have been changed to protect the successful...)

Company A (Mfg)- 110% achievement of Revenue and Profit, 79% achievement of all 2011 Goals
Company B (Mfg) - 110%+ achievement of Revenue and Profit
Company C (NFP) - 87 % achievement of all 2011 Goals
Company D (Service) -100 % achievement of all 2011 Goals
Company E Mfg) - from 2007 to 2011 - increased Revenue for $35M to $56.5M and Profit from 4.5 % to 8.8%
Company F (Mfg) - from 2007 to 2011 - increased Return on Assets of 5.6% to 15.4% and Profits from 4.8% to 11.4%

If these results from Six Disciplines clients don't tell a compelling enough story, try this one.

According to a study conducted by Quality Progress Magazine, the results reveal that those organizations that followed a defined process, (in this case TQM) Total Quality Management made a marked improvement in their quality but also their financial performance. The article makes a direct correlation between a solid process implementation and their significant success in numerous areas - Operating Income, Sales, Total Assets, Return on Sales, Return on Assets. These improvements are a result of following a systematic performance excellence approach.

The study points out that this systematic approach (a method) to planning and execution (a holistic, total approach to performance excellence ) works. In the study, they examined over 600 company's results over 10 years.

What the results showed was that it doesn't depend as much on what system they have, but that they HAVE a system.
It doesn't depend on the industry. This study covered over forty 2-digit SIC codes.
It doesn't depend on size, as both large and small companies were examined in the study.
And it doesn't depend on capital intensive or non-capital intensive businesses.

BOTTOMLINE: Following a systematic approach to performance excellence results in huge differences in performance. Let's begin to have the conversation with your organization -today.

The Benefit-to-Cost Ratio of a Performance Excellence Program

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:18:00 GMT

According to a newly released study from NIST, the benefit-to-cost ratio of a performance excellence program (like Baldrige) is 820-to-1.

In their research, economists Albert N. Link, and John T. Scott (University of North Carolina, and Dartmouth College, respectively) used their economic tools to measure the net social value of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program.

Their key findings:

In 2001, when this study was first performed, the net social value of the performance excellence program had been found to be 207:1.
Ten years later, with the expansion of the program to include healthcare, education, and the not-for-profit sectors, the value has grown to 820:1.

Full disclosure: this study was aimed at deriving the value of the Baldrige performance excellence program and the use of “public funds,” but the insights related to the larger question of the social value of quality are strong.

You can read the entire report and its findings here.

BOTTOMLINE: In benefit-to-cost ratio of implementing any kind of program should always be researched and tracked. The fact that a total performance excellence program offers upwards of a 820:1 benefit ratio, should open some eyes. If you're serious about your commitment to performance excellence, and you want to accelerate your Baldrige journey, contact the senior professionals at Six Disciplines, who can show you how.

Continuous Improvement Programs Offer Competitive Advantages On Key Financial Metrics

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:45:00 GMT

IndustryWeek recently reported on a survey it conducted with TBM Consulting about the impact of continuous-improvement programs on three financial metrics: anticipated revenue growth, operating income growth, and cash flow over the past year.

“Across the board, companies with no continuous improvement programs performed worse across all three measures,” TBM Consulting researchers revealed here:

More than 50% of respondents with no continuous improvement program said they expect revenue growth to be 3% or less in 2012, compared to fewer than 20% of companies with mature continuous improvement programs.
Nearly half of respondents with no continuous improvement program anticipate operating income growth of 3% or less in 2012, compared to less than half that percent from firms with continuous improvement programs.
Slightly more than 20% of companies with no continuous improvement programs reported an increase in cash flow over the past year compared to more than 50% of companies with mature continuous improvement programs.
Companies with continuous-improvement programs also were far more likely to employ forward-looking resources in their strategic planning process. Such resources include competitive analysis, market focused business analytics and information about customers' forward-looking strategies.

BOTTOMLINE: Continuous improvement programs such as Six Disciplines (Baldrige, and others), offer companies a way to continually assess their business performance, improve processes, develop organizational learning and leadership, and improved alignment of activities to goals.

Limiting Distractions At Work

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:09:00 GMT

How many times are you distracted at the office on an average day?

What do you think these interruptions cost you in productive work time? The answer is probably more than you think.

According to a recent survey of more than 500 workers conducted by uSamp:

More than 50 percent of workers waste an hour or more each day on interruptions.
60 percent of workers are regularly interrupted by email and other electronic missives
40 percent cite phone calls and communicative colleagues as the biggest distractions.

The survey estimated that distractions cost businesses more than $10,000 per worker per year.

SUGGESTION: Read "9 Ways To Limit Distractions At Work"

The ROI of Performance Excellence Programs

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:06:00 GMT

The ROI of performance excellence programs like Six Disciplines has been researched and proven many times over, by similar quality, performance, and business excellence programs like Baldrige, EFQM, and TQM.

The value of implementing a performance excellence program like Six Disciplines is hard to ignore:

A study by the European Foundation for Quality Management of 120 award-winning companies, including 24 from the U.S., compared their financial performance to that of similar companies that had not won awards. Five years after receiving their awards, these companies outperformed the comparison companies by 77% in sales, 44% in assets, and 18% in operating income.
The cumulative earnings after tax vs. budget of business units that have a high degree of deployment of the Baldrige model is 30% compared to 13% for those with partial deployment and -12% for those just starting the Baldrige journey.
The five two-time Baldrige Award winners grew significantly between their first and second Awards: 67% in number of sites; 63% in jobs; and 93% in revenue
A study by Quality Progress Magazine examined over 600 company's results over 10 years. The study revealed that those organizations that followed a defined process (TQM in this case), made a marked improvement in their quality but also their financial performance, particularly significant in numerous areas - Operating Income, Sales, Total Assets, Return on Sales, Return on Assets.

It doesn't depend on the industry, as this study included over forty 2-digit SIC codes.
It doesn't depend on size, as both large and small companies were examined.
It doesn't depend on whether yours is a capital intensive or non-capital intensive business.
It doesn't depend what methodology/process/system you're using, just that you HAVE a system - and keep using it.

Implementing a performance excellence program requires a holistic, total approach. Nothing else will do.

Find out more about ROI of performance excellence programs (including Six Disciplines) here.

What Companies Should Look for in a Business Coach

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:09:00 GMT

The business coaching industry, which is getting more exposure these days, is still filled with contradictions. Coaches themselves disagree over why they’re hired, what they do, and how to measure success. Here’s what you should know.

A while ago, the Harvard Business Review conducted a survey of 140 leading coaches in order to find out more about the business coaching industry. Despite the widespread use of executive coaches, little is widely known about who they are, what they do.

Here's what the coaches who were surveyed said companies should look for in a coach:

65%: Experience of coaching in similar settings (size of company, industry, challenges, etc.)
61%: Clear methodology
50%: Quality of client list
32%: Ability to measure ROI
29%: Certification in a proven coaching method
27%: Experience in working in a similar role as the coachee
13%: Experience as psychological therapist
2%: Background in executive search

BOTTOMLINE: Ask to see the business coach’s methodology. While you're at it - ask if they have software that you can use every day, to make the process (methodology) easier. If the coaches you're looking into don't have a repeatable methodology, and software you can use every day to make strategy execution EASIER - find another business coach.

How Six Disciplines Can Change Your Organization in 2012

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:00:00 GMT

Often times, we're asked "What exactly IS Six Disciplines?"

It's a business-building methodology that integrates the best practices of strategic planning, quality management, integrated learning, business process automation, people performance management, and measure-driven improvement.
It's a complete strategy execution coaching program that focuses on strategy, planning, measurement, execution, learning, and leadership development.
It is a systematic way for your organization to learn how to set, and more importantly, to execute strategy.
It's a practical way for organizations that use Outlook to help every individual to learn how to execute strategy.
It's a repeatable, cyclical process for continual business process improvement.
It's a holistic way for an organization to transform itself into one that can predictably perform.
It's an unobtrusive way for an organization to continually improve.
It's a transformational way to eliminate bad habits and incorporate new best practices.
It's a continuous way to have your organization become more transparent and accountable.
It's a pervasive way for your organization to learn to communicate more clearly.

BOTTOMLINE: Six Disciplines is being adopted by an increasing number of emerging organizations that want to be transformed into one that can be predictable and profitable. Find out what these successful companies already know. Start 2012 the right way - start the dialog with Six Disciplines.

The Value Of Implementing A Performance Excellence Program

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:05:00 GMT

Six Disciplines is a performance excellence program, and our clients' results speak to its value.

The value of Six Disciplines has been proven many times over, by similar quality, performance excellence, and business excellence programs like Baldrige, EFQM, and TQM.

The value of implementing a performance excellence program like Six Disciplines is hard to ignore:

A study by the European Foundation for Quality Management of 120 award-winning companies, including 24 from the U.S., compared their financial performance to that of similar companies that had not won awards. Five years after receiving their awards, these companies outperformed the comparison companies by 77% in sales, 44% in assets, and 18% in operating income.
The cumulative earnings after tax vs. budget of business units that have a high degree of deployment of the Baldrige model is 30% compared to 13% for those with partial deployment and -12% for those just starting the Baldrige journey.
The five two-time Baldrige Award winners grew significantly between their first and second Awards: 67% in number of sites; 63% in jobs; and 93% in revenue

A study by Quality Progress Magazine examined over 600 company's results over 10 years. The study revealed that those organizations that followed a defined process (TQM in this case), made a marked improvement in their quality but also their financial performance, particularly significant in numerous areas - Operating Income, Sales, Total Assets, Return on Sales, Return on Assets.

BOTTOMLINE: Implementing a systematic approach to performance excellence requires using a holistic, complete approach - but it works.It doesn't depend on the industry, as this study included over forty 2-digit SIC codes. It doesn't depend on size, as both large and small companies were examined. And it doesn't depend on whether yours is a capital intensive or non-capital intensive business. Finally, it doesn't depend as much on what system you're using, just that you HAVE a system - and keep using it.

What matters is that you start the journey. Contact us so we can help you start that journey together.

Baldrige Performance Excellence and Using Six Disciplines

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:10:00 GMT

Each year, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence is presented to a small handful of organizations who have proven themselves worthy by being consistently superior on seven criteria for overall performance excellence. The seven criteria include:

Leadership
Strategic Planning
Customer and Market Focus
Measurement, Analysis and Knowledge Management
Workforce Focus
Process Management
Business Results

Award winners must share detailed information on how they achieved outstanding performance, so that other organizations can benefit.

One example showing the importance of sharing this information is Motorola. They won the award in 1988, drawing attention to Six Sigma as an approach to quality improvement. Since then, Six Sigma has widespread use throughout our economy.

In 2007, a northwest Ohio company, Pro-Tec Coating Company (a division of U.S. Steel) won the award, drawing attention to Six Disciplines as providing a complete program for strategy execution coaching and performance excellence. (Here's what they had to say about Six Disciplines...)

BOTTOMLINE: Baldrige is a proven framework for organizations committed to performance excellence. Six Disciplines is a proven process for implementing Baldrige. The Six Disciplines methodology embraces the Baldrige framework and the seven key criteria for performance excellence with innovative Outlook software. Contact us today and discover how we can help you to implement the Baldrige performance excellence process - using Six Disciplines.

Proven: Follow a Systematic Approach For A Huge Change In Bottomline Results

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 13:01:00 GMT

A key premise behind Six Disciplines has been to help people and their organizations develop a process for planning and execution. The desired end result is different for each of our clients, but it's usually centered on growth, higher productivity, improved profitability and greater overall goal accomplishment.

We are often asked by prospective clients what is the ROI on the Six Disciplines process. The best answer is to just ask our clients. The results speak for themselves. In a recent interview with Eric Kurjan, President of Six Disciplines NWO, he shared a few of his client improvements which can be directly attributed to the Six Disciplines process during 2011. (the names have been changed to protect the successful...)

Company A (Mfg)- 110% achievement of Revenue and Profit, 79% achievement of all 2011 Goals
Company B (Mfg) - 110%+ achievement of Revenue and Profit
Company C (NFP) - 87 % achievement of all 2011 Goals
Company D (Service) -100 % achievement of all 2011 Goals
Company E Mfg) - from 2007 to 2011 - increased Revenue for $35M to $56.5M and Profit from 4.5 % to 8.8%
Company F (Mfg) - from 2007 to 2011 - increased Return on Assets of 5.6% to 15.4% and Profits from 4.8% to 11.4%

Eric and his coaching team's client feedback has been outstanding, and the process is viewed as a significant aspect of their success. And this is just a small sample of the results.

If these Six Disciplines direct client results don't tell a compelling enough story, try this one. According to a study conducted by Quality Progress magazine, the results reveal that those organizations that followed a defined process, Total Quality Management - TQM, in this case, made a marked improvement in their quality but also their financial performance. The article makes a direct correlation between a solid process implementation and their significant success in numerous areas - Operating Income, Sales, Total Assets, Return on Sales, Return on Assets. These improvements are a result of following a systematic approach. Every Six Discipline client follows a systematic approach - the Six Disciplines Program.

The study points out that this systematic approach (a method) to planning and execution (a holistic, complete approach) works. In the study, they examined over 600 company's results over 10 years.

What the results showed was that it doesn't depend as much on what system they have, but that they HAVE a system.
It doesn't depend on the industry. This study covered over forty 2-digit SIC codes.
It doesn't depend on size, as both large and small companies were examined in the study.
And it doesn't depend on capital intensive or non-capital intensive businesses.

BOTTOMLINE: IT WORKS - having a systematic approach produces huge differences in performance. Let's start the conversion with your organization - today.

How Accountability Works

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:30:00 GMT

There's a lot of talk these days about accountability.

For some, it's important for their professional lives (i.e., setting business goals, keeping on track, being responsible, etc.) For others, it's more personal (i.e., diet, weight loss, exercising, etc.)

Whatever the case, it's important to understand what accountability is, and ultimately, how it works. Here's a short course:

What is accountability? Why is it important? If you walk into a room and ask ten people what accountability means, you’ll likely get ten different definitions. To some, it’s something you make people do, as in “holding people accountable”. To others, accountability means accepting responsibility, but only when a project goes off course, or it’s too late to fix. When it’s all said and done, a workable definition of accountability might include the following elements: Taking responsibility for your own behavior; doing what’s right consistently; demonstrating personal integrity, and actively participating in activities and interactions that support the strategy of your organization.

Now that we understand better what accountability is, now consider what it isn’t. Accountability is not something you “make” people do. It has to be chosen, accepted or agreed upon by the people within your organization. People must “buy into” being accountable and responsible. For many, this is a new, unfamiliar, and sometimes, uncomfortable way to work or live. Learning how to become accountable involves an element of discipline. Most importantly, individual purpose and personal meaning comes from accepting responsibility and learning to be accountable.

Holding people accountable is really about the distribution of power and choice. When people have more choice, they learn to be more responsible. When they become more responsible, they earn more freedom. By being accountable, they earn the trust of managers and coworkers. When they are more accountable, they understand their purpose and role within the organization and are committed to making things happen

How can you learn to be accountable for yourself? In reality, it’s very difficult to be accountable to yourself. Depending on your frame of reference (professional vs. personal) you need to find someone who can help you to stay on track, to stay focused. Accountability can be the catalyst for unlearning old habits, and learning new habits. For weight loss, it's the reason that WeightWatchers is a multi-billion dollar business. It's also no secret that the tremendous growth in business coaching (for example, like Six Disciplines) due to its success in applying external accountability coaching.

BOTTOMLINE: Accountability and positive organizational change come through a new set of conversations. So, what are you waiting for? Start the conversations in your organization.

The Four Waves Every Successful Business Goes Through - Recap

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:26:00 GMT

The business excellence model we've described in the past several posts ("The Four Waves Every Successful Business Goes Through" - Parts I, II, III, IV, and V) is an interesting exercise and is not based on company size.

Every successful company once started small. The model, however, is very useful in helping leaders of businesses of any size understand where they are now, offers insight into some of the forces that got them there, and to anticipate what could happen next.

When business leaders indicate where they are today on this quadrant, the purpose is not to label them as being "good" or "bad". Rather, we encourage you to view this as a map that provides guidance as to where to go next.

BOTTOMLINE: Any company that's been around for awhile has traveled through all of these "waves" - and have spent time in all of these quadrants. The ultimate goal is to grow the capability of your organization to stay in Quadrant II (balanced and predictable strategy and execution) for longer and longer periods of time.