Yesterday, 11/21/22, was my last day of employment with West Monroe. Over the last 15 years, I interviewed many candidates for employment at West Monroe. It seems they almost always asked me “what’s kept you here for so long?” For years, I would give a variety of answers. I always provided answers that were authentic … Continue reading why I stayed at the same consulting firm for 15 years
Numbers don’t lie. Liars use numbers. I had a business professor tell me this once and it has stuck with me since. At first glance, you may interpret it to mean people intentionally use numbers to misinform other people. In my opinion, I think he was implying that people have a tendency to misuse numbers unintentionally – presumably … Continue reading numbers don’t lie, liars use numbers
To ensure you are creating the most value, you need to focus on solving for the constraint. Therefore, it’s imperative to clearly understand what a constraint is. In this blog, I explain what a constraint is and provide real-world examples. In my last blog “the weakest link,” I explained that the Theory of Constraints (TOC) … Continue reading what’s a constraint?
The Theory of Constraints (TOC) may be the most effective business philosophy you have never used (or have never heard of for that matter). Today, as much as any time before, business leaders are overwhelmed with the onslaught of things they think they should pay attention to. Applying the principles of TOC brings clarity to … Continue reading the weakest link
Prior to initiating a significant change, leaders should communicate to employees why their company needs to change. They don’t need to have all the answers at the outset. They may not know what to change or what to change to quite yet? Still, they should answer the question “why change?” The truth is that the unvarnished … Continue reading why change?
In this blog, I identify several pitfalls that can stand in the way of creating value. Unless leaders acknowledge these potential pitfalls and take steps to mitigate them, then the idea of creating value is nothing more than a false hope. The pitfalls identified below are not collectively exhaustive and are not mutually exclusive. They … Continue reading false hope
The goal of a for-profit company should be to make a profit now and in the future. That said, there are three other necessary conditions that lead to long-term profit and drive sustainable value. Profit gains can be achieved at the expense of these other three conditions, but rest assured they will be short-lived. In … Continue reading necessary conditions
What should the goal of your company be? How do you know if projects are contributing to the goal? In this blog, I address these questions and more. Think about a project with which you were associated, either as a leader, manager, or team member. For example, it could be a process improvement, customer experience, … Continue reading begin with the end in mind
joel andrew graves 