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# Shipulski On Design

Innovation, Product Development, Design

## Sitemaps

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## Posts

- [Moving From Fixing To Growing](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/08/12/moving-from-fixing-to-growing/) - When I was younger, I tried to fix everything right away. See a problem, fix a problem. Regardless of the urgency, I tried to fix it right now. And regardless of the importance, I tried to fix it right now. And because of this, I was always too busy to think things through. And because
- [Changing Your Perspective](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/08/05/changing-your-perspective/) - From: Caring about what others think about you. To: Caring about what you think about you. From: Seeing what you didn’t accomplish. To: Seeing what you accomplished. From: Feeling for others. To: Feeling with others. From: Doing things others want you to do. To: Doing what you think
- [Designing your new product starts by understanding your existing one.](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/07/29/designing-your-new-product-starts-by-understanding-your-existing-one/) - Everything starts from what’s been done before. Designing a new product starts with assessing the subassemblies of your existing product. Here’s how the assessments go for the subassemblies. First, make two Pareto charts: cost by subassembly and part count by subassembly. Prioritize the subassemblies on the left of both charts. If the functionality is sufficient
- [Back To Basics - Solving The Right Problems](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/07/22/back-to-basics-solving-the-right-problems/) - I’ve been solving problems for a long time. And what I’ve learned is that it’s important to know the specific problem you want to solve. There’s nothing worse than solving the wrong problem because you spend all the resources and get a solution to something that’s non-monetizable. Here’s a post I wrote that talks about
- [Elevating the performance of engineering teams is the most rewarding work for me.](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/07/15/elevating-the-performance-of-engineering-teams-is-the-most-rewarding-work-for-me/) - I’ve built engineering teams that developed the world’s most successful products in their space. At the start of the team’s migration to greatness, they don’t believe in themselves. And that’s why you, as their leader, have to believe in them. Every day, you must tell them why you believe in them. Every day, you must
- [Is it time for a new course heading?](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/07/08/is-it-time-for-a-new-course-heading/) - I’m tired of hearing about North Stars and Idealized Future States. I much prefer to define the current state. I want to move from “let’s do this!” to “how are we doing it today?” Stop: Imaging what could be. Start: Defining what’s going on right now. Every journey starts with a first step. And that
- [Trying New Things](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/07/01/trying-new-things/) - When was the last time you tried something new? How did you feel? What are the chances your current project will be successful? What would you do differently if you had to do things that had a 50% chance of failing? Would you rather do nothing or try something new? Say yes to trying. It’s
- [Observations On My Writing](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/06/24/observations-on-my-writing/) - Sometimes I have nothing to write about. Generally, that means I’m run down. Too much going on, not enough exercise, no clarity. I struggle to choose a topic. I start to advance a theme, and then I tell myself no one will care about it, or it’s not meaningful. I choose another line of thinking,
- [Sustaining Innovation and Disruptive Innovation are not cousins.](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/06/17/sustaining-innovation-and-disruptive-innovation-are-not-cousins/) - Innovation is difficult. Often, we argue about the definition of the word at the expense of actually doing the work. There is sustaining innovation and disruptive innovation, and though they share the same last name, they are not related. In fact, they cannot exist within the same resource allocation rule set. A sustaining innovation can
- [Start From Where You Are](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/06/10/start-from-where-you-are/) - Progress is made through the processes you have, so it’s helpful to define your processes Work is done with the tools you have, so make a list of your tools. Teams are made from the people you have, so create a spreadsheet of the people you have and their knowledge, skills, and abilities. Projects are
- [Battle China With New Thinking](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/06/03/battle-china-with-new-thinking/) - China, as a country, is eating important industries. Here’s the process. They choose an industry that they want to eat; they coordinate their massive network of world-class suppliers and OEMs and let them compete against each other; they create unmatched manufacturing scale; they innovate faster than imaginable; they design and commercialize products that work well
- [Product-First Thinking - A Way To Accelerate Growth](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/05/27/product-first-thinking-a-way-to-accelerate-growth/) - This is the third in a series of blog posts on transformation (changes that make a difference). The first post described the power and benefit of focusing on the current state at the expense of the future state. The second post described moving from dilution to distillation, where resources focus on fewer things to create
- [Transformation Through Distillation](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/05/20/transformation-through-distillation/) - This is the second in a series of blog posts on transformation (changes that make a difference). In the first post, I described the power and benefit of focusing on the current state at the expense of the future state. The main idea is to define where you are and choose a direction of travel,
- [Ground Your Team In The Current State](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/05/13/ground-your-team-in-the-current-state/) - This is the first in a series of blog posts on changes that make a difference. And the first change I will discuss is elevating the importance of the current state and deprioritizing the future state, especially the idealized future state. Future State To Current State I bet you are asking to see an idealized
- [Double-Barreled Profitability](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/05/06/double-barreled-profitability/) - The need to grow revenue and profit is ever-present. And as the pace of change accelerates and competitors elevate their game, it’s getting more difficult. Growth must be built on top of your best work. To grow, you must develop new products and services that make your customers swap out the old offering they just
- [How I Develop Engineering Leaders](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/05/14/how-i-develop-engineering-leaders/) - For the past twenty-five years, I’ve actively developed engineering leaders. Here is the curriculum in the form of How Tos: How to build trust. This is the first thing. Always. Done right, the trust-based informal networks are stronger than the formal organization chart. Done right, the informal networks can protect the company from bad decisions.
- [AI makes it more difficult to be an Engineering Leader.](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/04/29/ai-makes-it-more-difficult-to-be-an-engineering-leader/) - AI may be wonderful in some contexts, but AI makes it more difficult to be an effective engineering leader. Using AI in engineering elevates the training, development, and mentorship requirements that companies must address to make their engineering leaders successful. When asked questions, AI gives answers. The answers may be correct or not. In day-to-day
- [Developing Engineering Leaders Is Done Differently](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/04/22/developing-engineering-leaders-is-done-differently/) - Go faster. Do it better. Do more with less. Meet the growth objective. All good ideas, but how? In two words: Engineering Leadership. Going forward, competition will be fiercer. Engineering organizations will be asked to do better engineering work, even though they did that on the previous project. And to do that, engineering leaders will
- [A dearth of engineering leadership is hurting your bottom line.](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/04/15/a-dearth-of-engineering-leadership-is-hurting-your-bottom-line/) - There is a dearth of engineering leadership capability, and it negatively impacts the company’s bottom line every day. And it’s prevalent in all levels of the engineering organization. Entry-level engineers feel the lack of engineering leadership capability as soon as they arrive. They want to know how to get things done, how to address a
- [Ways To Improve Your Team's Communication Skills](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/04/08/ways-to-improve-your-teams-communication-skills/) - To help your team members communicate more effectively, teach them to put their argument on one page. Teach them what to leave off the page and explain why those things should be omitted. Teach them what’s at the top of the page and explain why. Help them identify the central element and show them how
- [Coach? Mentor? Consultant?  It's not the name that matters.](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/04/01/coach-mentor-consultant-its-not-the-name-that-matters/) - Coach? Mentor? Consultant? What’s the right word? Subject matter expertise. However they categorize themselves, they must have subject matter expertise. If you work in the hardware space, they should have experience in hardware. If you work in the software space, they must have software experience. Ask if they have solved a similar problem in a
- [No Time To Lose](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/03/25/no-time-to-lose/) - There is no such thing as losing time. Time doesn’t reverse itself, at least outside the theoretical physics textbooks. We can spend time on things that will never go anywhere, but that’s wasted time, not lost time. The trick with this type of project is to learn that there’s a fundamental constraint BEFORE running the
- [Some Thoughts On Trust](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/03/18/some-thoughts-on-trust/) - Things move at the speed of trust. And when they don't move, it's because there's no trust. Talking about trust won't make a difference. Making trust makes the difference. In fact, if you have to talk about trust, you probably don't have it. Building trust must happen before it's needed. And since you don't know
- [Some Things I've Learned](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/03/11/some-things-ive-learned/) - Slow down to go fast. Progress over activity. Effectiveness before efficiency. Finish at the expense of starting. Location is more important than destination. See the system as it could be, not how it should be. Brown field designs are real; green field designs are not. What could go right is more important than what could
- [How To Believe In Yourself](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/03/04/how-to-believe-in-yourself/) - Sometimes it’s difficult to believe in yourself. Here is a three-step process to elevate your self-belief. Find someone who believes in you. Ask them why they believe in you. Whatever they say, believe them. What they tell you will be different than what you think of yourself. They see you differently than you see
- [How To Create Clarity](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/02/25/how-to-create-clarity/) - Take a position. People will have to reconcile their thinking with yours and, together, the crew will deepen the collective understanding. Take an opposite position. Announce you are running a thought experiment and take a position that is opposite of the prevailing theory. Make it good. Make it deep. Do it for real. The prevailing
- [What race are you running?](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/02/18/what-race-are-you-running/) - The marathon is a two-to-three-hour race. The training plan is specialized and designed to get the athletes ready to run twenty-six miles. And the marathon runners are lean and light because the physics of their event demands it. The 100-meter sprint is a sub-ten-second race. The training plan develops explosive power to accelerate quickly and
- [Would you rather have too many projects or too many resources?](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/02/11/would-you-rather-have-too-many-projects-or-too-many-resources/) - When you have more projects than people, you have far more activity but far less progress. Pro Tip: Activity doesn’t pay the bills. Progress does. Would you rather make lightning progress on two projects or tortoise progress on four? I prefer lightning. But isn't four projects better than two? It is, if you get compensated
- [How To Create The Conditions For Good Things To Happen](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/02/04/how-to-create-the-conditions-for-good-things-to-happen/) - Reduce the energy cost of virtue so it’s less than the energy cost of sin. (Dave Snowden) Said another way - make it easy to do the right thing. Don’t push through. Move obstacles out of the way. Don’t tell people about their problem. Ask people about their problem. Try small experiments and do more
- [It's All About Your Questions](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/01/28/its-all-about-your-questions/) - When you know the answer, do you ask the question to test others? When you know the answer, do you ask the question to help others think differently? When you know the answer, do you keep quiet because it’s not the right time for a question? When you know the answer, do you ask the
- [Small Improvements Are Beautiful](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/01/21/small-improvements-are-beautiful/) - When the cost of the experiment is small, the downside of its potential failure is also small. Small improvements cost little and can be implemented quickly. Small improvements make a difference. If the transformational improvement never sees the light of day because it costs too much to implement, its realized value is less than the
- [Do you have what it takes?](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/01/14/do-you-have-what-it-takes/) - When there’s no light, no one can see. When no one can see, what do you do? Can you be a source of light? Do you care enough to do that? When there’s too much input, focus is difficult. When there’s a shortfall of focus, what do you do? Can you dampen things and bring
- [Projects generate progress.](https://www.shipulski.com/2026/01/07/projects-generate-progress/) - Companies make progress through projects. Projects have objectives that are defined by the company’s growth or improvement objectives. Projects have quantifiable goals that are, hopefully, time-bound. Projects require resources, and those resources limit the number of projects that are completed. Projects are run with the resources allocated, not with the resources we want to allocate.
- [Things aren't good or bad.  We make them that way.](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/12/31/things-arent-good-or-bad-we-make-them-that-way/) - More isn’t better, it’s just more. What makes it better is how it compares to the expectations we set. Less isn’t worse, it’s just less. What makes it work is how we compare it to what we want. Enough isn’t enough until we decide it is. We forget what we have until we don’t have
- [Elevate the Holiday Season by Understanding WHY](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/12/24/elevate-the-holiday-season-by-understanding-why/) - What is this all about? What is the reason you do what you do? What’s your WHY behind the WHAT? When you don’t do what you said you’d do, what’s the reason? And what does that say about you? If the reason is right, I think it can be okay NOT to do something you
- [How To Battle Emotional Stress](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/12/17/how-to-battle-emotional-stress/) - Emotional stress is similar to physical stress. Both are exhausting, depleting, distracting, and physically limiting. But with physical stress, the cause is clear; the cause of emotional stress can be invisible. When you go to the gym and lift weights, the physical stress is clear. You can see the dumbbells move up and down; you
- [We are more than our knowledge, skills, and abilities.](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/12/11/we-are-more-than-our-knowledge-skills-and-abilities/) - Personal energy. Mojo. Vigorous interest. Gravitational field. Life force. When the project is stalled, someone adds their personal energy to reestablish momentum. No one asks them. They step up. And without their personal energy, the floundering would flounder on. When there’s a risky decision to make that everyone is unwilling to make, someone proactively injects
- [Overcoming Your Success](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/12/03/overcoming-your-success/) - Success locks in current practice. May you have the blessing of declining revenues to see what must change. Year-on-year growth hides inefficiencies. May you have one bad year to help you see those inefficiencies. Past success blinds us to the onset of decline. May you have brave heretics to sound the alarm early in the
- [Thankfulness Is A Choice](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/11/26/thankfulness-is-a-choice/) - Some have more than you, some have less. Can you be thankful? Things will go well, and things will go poorly. Will you be thankful? Some will support you, and others will diminish. Can you be thankful? Truth will be told, and so will lies. Will you be thankful? You can prevent some problems, but
- [Staying Too Long vs. Leaving Too Soon](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/11/19/staying-too-long-vs-leaving-too-early/) - When you start something, by definition, you will end it. All good things come to an end. So do all bad things. That’s how it goes with things. All new things start with the end of old things. That’s how things are. What does it say when a phase of your life comes to an
- [When is a rule not a rule?](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/11/12/when-is-a-rule-not-a-rule/) - What’s the rule? Are you sure? Where did the rule come from? And how do you know? When the rule was created, was there also a rule that it could not be changed? Show me the rule book! Is the rule always applicable, even after hours? If the rule is limited to a certain location,
- [If you're not misunderstood, maybe you should try harder.](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/11/05/if-youre-not-misunderstood-maybe-you-should-try-harder/) - Don’t tell me what I can do; tell me what I cannot do, so everything else is available to me. It’s faster if you give me smart, hardworking people with little experience. I won’t have to re-teach them, and we can get started right away. Tell me what you want done, but not how to
- [Sixteen Years of Wednesdays](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/10/29/sixteen-years-of-wednesdays/) - I've written a blog post every Wednesday for the last sixteen years. The first years were difficult because I was unsure if my writing was worth reading. Writing became easier when I realized it wasn't about what others thought of my writing. For the next ten years, I let go and wrote about things I
- [Skillful Awareness](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/10/22/skillful-awareness/) - When do you bring your whole self to the endeavor? You can’t do this every time, and that’s okay. What are the conditions that cause you to engage fully? Full engagement is expensive. Spend wisely. What about the situation causes you to run toward the problem? Solve the right ones, but leave some for the
- [Decisions, Decisions, Decisions](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/10/15/decisions-decisions-decisions/) - If a decision can be unmade, it’s okay to make it quickly. Delaying a decision is a decision. When a decision remains unmade, there’s a reason. However, that reason is often unspoken. The effort to make the right decision is proportional to the consequences of getting it wrong. Decisions are sometimes made without the non-deciders
- [Resting Is Natural](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/10/08/resting-is-natural/) - When the ocean gets tired from holding its water up to make high tide, it lets go and relaxes into low tide. The ocean takes direction from the moon who knows it can't always be high tide. This is The Way. When the earth gets tired from heating up the northern hemisphere it wobbles on
- [996 or Bust](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/10/01/996-or-bust/) - 996 is all the rage. You work 9 am to 9 pm, 6 days a week. Startups are doing it. Might non-startups start doing it? Productivity is important and competition is severe. And I'm all for working hard, but I don't think the 996 schedule is the most effective way to achieve productivity goals, at
- [When Your Plans Must Change....](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/09/24/when-your-plans-must-change/) - To do new things, you’ve got to stop old things. If you don’t stop old things, you can’t start new things. Resources limit the work that can be done. If you have more work than resources, you won’t be able to complete everything. Spread your resources across fewer projects, and you’ll accomplish more. If you
- [How It Goes With "No"](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/09/17/how-it-goes-with-no/) - No gets attention. No creates a constraint that all can see. No is a forcing function. No preserves bandwidth. No drives a workaround. No forces a tack or jibe. “No, and here’s why” is a good way to deliver a no. No can secure a future yes. No shifts strategy. No requires courage. No keeps
- [Getting To Know Your Projects](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/09/10/getting-to-know-your-projects/) - Good new product development projects deliver value to customers. Bad ones create value for your company, not for customers. Can you discern between custom value and company value? What do you do when there’s an abundance of company value and a shortfall of customer value? Do you run the project anyway or pull the emergency
- [Some Questions For You](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/09/03/some-questions-for-you/) - Are you working on important problems? Or are you seeking out important problems? Or are you connecting with people who work on important problems? I ask because I think working on important problems is important. Are you working with people who build you up? Do you separate from those who do the opposite? Are
- [Solving The Wrong Problem](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/08/27/solving-the-wrong-problem/) - The CEO doesn’t decide if it’s good enough. The VP of Marketing doesn’t decide if it’s good enough. The VP of Engineering doesn’t decide if it’s good enough. The customer decides if it’s good enough. If the product isn’t selling, the price may be okay, but the performance may not be good. In this case,
- [Degrees of Not Knowing](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/08/20/degrees-of-not-knowing/) - You know you know, but you don’t. You think you know, but you don’t. You’re pretty sure you don’t know. You know you don’t know, you think it’s not a problem that you don’t, but it is a problem. You know you don’t know, you think it’s a problem that you don’t, but it isn’t
- [What To Do When You Don't Know What To Do](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/08/13/what-to-do-when-you-dont-know-what-to-do/) - Create something that isn’t. Build something that turns 'didn't' into 'does'. Work on your cants. Help people. Make a prototype. Use all the pieces, but use them in different ways. Make it worse and then do the opposite. (H/T to VF) Finish one before starting another. Turn a 'must not' into a 'hey, watch this!'
- [Seeing Growth A Different Way](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/08/06/seeing-growth-a-different-way/) - Growing a company is challenging. Here are some common difficulties and associated approaches to improve effectiveness. No - The way we work is artisanal. Yes - We know how to do the work innately. It’s perfectly fine if the knowledge lives in the people. Would you rather the knowledge resides in the people, or
- [How To Help Greatness Emerge](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/07/30/how-to-help-greatness-emerge/) - Give me fewer people than I need. That will force me to come up with a better way. Tell me what to do, but not how to do it. If you know how to do it, I’m not your person. Give me far less time than I need - months not years, weeks not months,
- [Write to think or think to write?](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/07/23/write-to-think-or-think-to-write/) - I started writing because I had no mentor to help me. I thought I could help myself grow. I thought I could write to better understand my ideas. I thought I could use writing to mentor myself. I tried it. It was difficult. It was scary. But I started. You will see the title, but
- [Do More Than Keep The Score](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/07/16/do-more-than-keep-the-score/) - Sometimes when I have a good idea, my body recognizes it before my mind does. I believe my body has been doing this since I was young, but only over the last five years have I developed sufficient body awareness to recognize the sensation my body generates. And now that I know the sensation is
- [How To Put The Business Universe On One Page](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/07/09/how-to-put-the-business-universe-on-one-page/) - When I want to understand a large system, I make a map. If the system is an ecosystem, I combine Wardley Maps by Simon Wardley with Wide Lens / Winning The Right Game by Ron Adner. On Wardley maps, activities and actors are placed on the map, and related elements are connected. On the left
- [Finding My Way](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/07/02/finding-my-way/) - I find my way. I sometimes get caught in other people’s expectations. Aren’t their wants important too? I can judge myself negatively even when good things happen. Wasn’t greatness possible? I get angry when my expectations don’t control what the Universe does. Am I alone in this? But I find my way. I sometimes prioritize
- [How To Grow Talent](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/05/10/how-to-grow-talent/) - Show them how the work is done. Ask them what they saw. Praise them for what they recognized and describe what they didn’t. Repeat Explain how the work is done. You do work, and they watch. Then switch places. Ask them what they felt and what questions they have. Praise them for their openness and
- [Good Teachers Are Better Than Good](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/06/25/good-teaches-are-better-than-good/) - Good teachers change your life. They know what you know and bring you along at a pace that’s right for you, not too slowly that you’re bored and not too quickly that your head spins. And everything they do is about you and your learning. Good teachers prioritize your learning above all else. Chris Brown
- [What makes a strategic plan strategic?](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/06/18/what-makes-a-strategic-plan-strategic/) - X: We need a strategic plan. Me: Why do you need one of those? X: Everybody needs a strategic plan. Me: Okay. That didn’t work. Let me try it another way. What makes a plan strategic? X: You start with a strategy and you create a plan to make it happen over the next three
- [Change the plan or stay the course?](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/06/11/change-the-plan-or-stay-the-course/) - Plans are good, until they’re not. The key is knowing when to stay the course and when to adjust the plan. The time horizons for strategic plans or corporate initiatives can range from two to five years. To ensure we create the best plans, we assign the work to our best people, we provide them
- [Fight Dilution!](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/06/04/fight-dilution-2/) - With new product development projects, there is no partial credit. If you’re less than 100% done, there are zero sales. 90% done, zero sales. 95% done, zero sales. We all understand the concept, but our behavior often contradicts our understanding. You have too many projects, and our focus on efficiency is to blame. Under the
- [Design is more than the shapes, the colors, and what it looks like.](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/05/28/design-is-more-than-the-shapes-the-colors-and-what-it-looks-like/) - Design takes responsibility for what it does – the functional or emotional goodness, the data that demonstrates the new one is better than the old one, and for the progress made by customers. Design takes responsibility for what it’s made of – the materials, their condition, their pre-processing, and their post-processing. Design takes responsibility for
- [Two Tricks to Improve Understanding of New Ideas](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/05/21/two-tricks-to-improve-understanding-of-new-ideas/) - When you want someone to understand your new idea, draw a picture for yourself. Set the constraint that you cannot use words on the page. Shapes, arrows, cartoons – yes. Words – no. Once you’re convinced your one-pager captures your idea, set another constraint. When you show your picture to someone, you cannot speak. Your
- [Improve Focus To Improve Effectiveness](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/05/07/improve-focus-to-improve-effectiveness/) - Business is about the effective allocation of resources. Companies win when they do that better than their competitors. Full stop. If you believe that, the question is how to allocate resources effectively. To me, everything starts with a map of the territory – a single-page map of today’s projects, the people you have, and the
- [What's not on the agenda?](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/04/30/whats-not-on-the-agenda/) - To be more effective at a meeting, take the time to dissect the meeting agenda and details. Who called the meeting? If the CEO calls the meeting, you know your role. And you know your role if a team member calls the meeting. Knowledge of the organizer helps you understand your role in the meeting.
- [How It Goes With New Ideas](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/04/23/how-it-goes-with-new-ideas/) - When your idea is new, it (and you) will be misunderstood. I urge you to see the misunderstanding as a vote of confidence. Keep going. When your position contradicts the mainstream, say it anyway. They'll appreciate your honesty and courage if you work at a good company. If you work at a bad company, they’ll
- [Partners can be more important than product when selling into new applications.](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/04/16/when-selling-into-new-applications-partners-can-be-more-important-than-product/) - We all want to increase top-line revenue by selling more. But we’ve been selling our existing products into the same old applications for a long time now, and we’ve reached a hard limit – when we add more effort, we get little in return. Developing an entirely new product will take a long time, so
- [How To Reduce the Tariff Signature of Your Supply Chain](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/04/09/how-to-reduce-the-tariff-signature-of-your-supply-chain/) - Supply chains have taken it on the chin, first from COVID-19 and now from tariffs (or the threat of them). For the second time in several years, we have objective evidence there is more to a supply chain than implementing the lowest-cost way to meet predictable demand. Tariffs have highlighted the cost of an inflexible
- [Ways To Improve Communication](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/04/02/ways-to-improve-communication/) - Clarity. People will know why they dislike (or like) your position, have good ideas on improving it, and appreciate your clarity. Well, at least they’ll recognize you're communicating differently. Brevity. Make it short. Visual. When you draw a picture of the situation, people will understand the main system elements and how they interact. Use arrows
- [Making a difference starts with recognizing the opportunity to make one.](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/03/26/making-a-difference-starts-with-recognizing-the-opportunity-to-make-one/) - It doesn’t take much to make a difference, but if you don’t recognize the need to make one, you won’t make one. When you’re in a meeting, watch and listen. If someone is quiet, ask them a question. My favorite is “What do you think?” Your question says you value them and their thinking, and
- [The Power of the Reverse Schedule](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/03/19/the-power-of-the-reverse-schedule/) - When planning a project, we usually start with a traditional left-to-right schedule. On the left is the project’s start date, where tasks are added sequentially rightward toward completion. When all the tasks are added and the precedence relationships shift tasks rightward, the completion date becomes known. No one likes the completion date, but it is
- [It's time for the art of the possible.](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/03/12/its-time-for-the-art-of-the-possible/) - Tariffs. Economic uncertainty. Geopolitical turmoil. There’s no time for elegance. It’s time for the art of the possible. Give your sales team a reason to talk to customers. Create something that your salespeople can talk about with customers. A mildly modified product offering, a new bundling of existing products, a brochure for an upcoming new
- [What Is and Is Not](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/03/05/what-is-and-is-not/) - Building trust takes time. Tearing it apart does not. Seeing what is there is easy. Seeing what is missing is not. Concentrating is easy for some. For others, daydreaming is not. Bringing your whole self to work takes courage. Pretending does not. Hearing is easy. Listening is not. Trying is subjective. Doing is not. Telling
- [Level 5 Courage](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/06/16/level-5-courage/) - Level 5 Courage is hard to describe and even harder to recognize. What is it? Who has it? What is it good for? To understand it, look to the rodeo clown. You’ve seen the rodeo clown. A strange looking thing – funny clothes that don’t fit, a silly hat that doesn’t stay on, and bright red
- [Can you put it on one page?](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/02/26/can-you-put-it-on-one-page/) - Anyone can create a presentation with thirty slides, but it takes a rare bird to present for thirty minutes with a single slide. With thirty slides you can fully describe the system. With one slide you must know what’s important and leave the rest. With thirty slides you can hide your lack of knowledge. With
- [Bringing Your Whole Self To The Party](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/02/19/bringing-your-whole-self-to-the-party/) - If it’s taken from you, you’ll have a problem if you think it was yours. When it’s taken from you, it doesn’t matter if it was never yours. No one can take anything from you unless you think it is yours. There can be no loss if it was never yours to have. You can
- [Meeting Time vs. Thinking Time](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/02/12/meeting-time-vs-thinking-time/) - How many hours of meetings do you sit through each week? Check your calendar over the previous month and write down that number. If you had control over your calendar, would you rather sit through more meetings or fewer? If you don't meet enough and need more meetings, I want to work at your company.
- [Improvement In Reverse Sequence](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/02/05/improvement-in-reverse-sequence/) - Before you can make improvements, you must identify improvement opportunities. Before you can identify improvement opportunities, you must look for them. Before you can look for improvement opportunities, you must believe improvement is possible. Before believing improvement is possible, you must admit there’s a need for improvement. Before you can admit the need for improvement,
- [How To Make Progress](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/01/29/how-to-make-progress/) - Improvement is progress. Improvement is always measured against a baseline, so the first thing to do is to establish the baseline, the thing you make today, the thing you want to improve. Create an environment to test what you make today, create the test fixtures, define the inputs, create the measurement systems, and write a
- [It’s not about failing fast; it’s about learning fast.](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/01/22/its-not-about-failing-fast-its-about-learning-fast/) - No one has ever been promoted by failing fast. They may have been promoted because they learned something important from an experiment that delivered unexpected results, but that’s fundamentally different than failure. That's learning. Failure, as a word, has the strongest negative connotations. Close your eyes and imagine a failure. Can you imagine a scenario
- [Happy, Lonely, Sad, Angry](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/01/15/happy-lonely-sad-angry/) - Happy – when you can bring your whole self to everything you do. Lonely – when you're with people all day but can’t be truthful with them. Sad – when you see what could be but never will. Angry – when someone is less than truthful. Happy – when people you care about are treated
- [Time Travel Back to the Present](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/01/08/time-travel-back-to-the-present/) - If you don’t like what happened, now is the time to let it go. If it already happened, it cannot be undone. Time travel is not yet possible. Let it go. If you spend your energy complaining about the past, you won’t have enough for right now. If you had no control over the outcome,
- [Top Blog Posts of 2024](https://www.shipulski.com/2025/01/01/top-blog-posts-of-2024/) - Here are the top four blog posts from 2024 with a little summary of each. It’s not the work, it’s the people. By far the most popular post. Here are some important words from the post: hard work, share, struggle, elbow-to-elbow, fear, crew, extra load, friend, through the wringer, smile, sad, care, easier. And I
- [Holidays are special because family is special.](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/12/25/holidays-are-special-because-family-is-special/) - Holidays aren’t about shopping, gifts, special dinners, or travel. Holidays are about family. On holidays, people travel. They don’t travel to tourist sites, national parks, or big cities for big cities’ stake. People travel to see their families. On holidays, people eat special foods prepared in special ways and served on special plates. But that’s
- [What do you choose to be?](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/12/18/what-do-you-choose-to-be/) - Be bold - the alternative is boring. Be the first to forgive – it’s like forgiving twice. Be yourself – you’re the best at that. Be afraid - and do it anyway. Be effective – and to hell with efficiency. Be happy – if that’s what’s inside. Be authentic - it's invigorating. Be energetic –
- [What It Means To Stand Tall](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/12/11/what-it-means-to-stand-tall/) - People try to diminish when they’re threatened. People are threatened when they think you’re more capable than they are. When they think less of themselves, they see you as more capable. There you have it. When someone doesn’t do what they say and you bring it up to them, there are two general responses. If
- [Wanting What You Have](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/12/04/wanting-what-you-have/) - If you got what you wanted, what would you do? Would you be happy or would you want something else? Wanting doesn’t have a half-life. Regardless of how much we have, wanting is always right there with us lurking in the background. Getting what you want has a half-life. After you get what you want,
- [I'm Thankful!](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/11/27/im-thankful/) - How often do you stop what you’re doing, calm yourself, quiet your mind, and think about what you’re thankful for? To me, thankfulness is about what I have. I have a family I love and they love me, and for that I am thankful. First and foremost, front and center, family is the first thing
- [When The Same Old Tricks Don't Work](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/11/20/when-the-same-old-tricks-dont-work/) - Here's what it looks like when the same old tricks no longer carry the day. Efficiency of effort For the same energy, you get more in return. For the same energy, you get the same in return. For more energy, you get the same in return. For more energy, you get less in return. Out
- [How To Put Yourself Out There](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/11/13/how-to-put-yourself-out-there/) - When in doubt, put it out there. Easy to say, difficult to do. Why not give it a go? What's in the way? A better question: Who is in the way? I bet that who is you. I've heard the fear of failure blocks people from running full tilt into new territory. Maybe. But I
- [There's no such thing as 100% disagreement.](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/11/06/theres-no-such-thing-as-100-disagreement/) - Even when there is significant disagreement, there is not 100% disagreement. Can both sides agree breathing is good for our health? I think so. And if so, there is less than 100% disagreement. Now that we know agreement is possible, might we stand together on this small agreement platform and build on it? Can both
- [It's not the work, it's the people.](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/10/30/its-not-the-work-its-the-people/) - I used to think the work was most important. Now I think it’s the people you work with. Hard work is hard, but not when you share it with people you care about. Struggle is tolerable when you’re elbow-to-elbow with people you trust. Fear is manageable when you have faith in your crew. You’re happy
- [When I'm Asked To Take On New Work](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/10/23/when-im-asked-to-take-on-new-work/) - Here are the questions I ask myself when I’m asked to take on new work…. Do I know what the work is all about? Is it well-defined? Would it make a big difference if the work is completed successfully? Would it make a big difference if it’s not? Is it clear how to judge
- [Swimming In New Soup](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/10/16/swimming-in-new-soup/) - You know the space is new when you don’t have the right words to describe the phenomenon. When there are two opposite sequences of events and you think both are right, you know the space is new. You know you’re thinking about new things when the harder you try to figure it out the less
- [If you want to make a difference, change the design.](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/10/09/if-you-want-to-make-a-difference-change-the-design/) - Why do factories have 50-ton cranes? Because the parts are heavy and the fully assembled product is heavier. Why is the Boeing assembly facility so large? Because 747s are large. Why does a refrigerator plant have a huge room to accumulate a massive number of refrigerators that fail final test? Because refrigerators are big, because
- [Resurrecting Manufacturing Through Product Simplification](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/10/02/resurrecting-manufacturing-through-product-simplification/) - Product simplification can radically improve profits and radically improve product robustness. Here's a graph of profit per square foot ($/ft^2) which improved by a factor of seven and warranty cost per unit ($/unit), a measure of product robustness), which improved by a factor of four. The improvements are measured against the baseline data of the
- [Effectiveness Before Efficiency](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/09/25/effectiveness-before-efficiency/) - Efficient – How do we do more projects with fewer people? Effective – Let’s choose the right project. Would you rather do more projects that miss the mark or fewer that excite the customer? Efficient – How do we finish the project faster? Effective – Let’s fully staff the project. Would you rather burn out
- [When in doubt, start.](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/09/18/when-in-doubt-start/) - At the start, it’s impossible to know the right thing to do, other than the right thing is to start. If you think you should have started, but have not, the only thing in the way is you. If you want to start, get out of your own way, and start. And even if you’re
- [How To Elevate The Work](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/09/11/how-to-elevate-the-work/) - If you want people to work together, give them a reason. Tell them why it’s important to the company and their careers. If you want people to change things, change how they interact. Eliminate leaders from some, or all, of the meetings. Demand they set the approach. Give them control over their destiny. Make them
- [Universal Truths](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/09/04/universal-truths/) - When things don’t go as planned, recognize the Universe doesn’t care about your plan. When the going gets tough, the Universe is telling you something. You just don’t know what it’s telling you. When in doubt, do the next right thing. That’s how the Universe rolls. If you don’t like how it’s going, change your
- [What do you do when you've done it before?](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/08/28/what-do-you-do-when-youve-done-it-before/) - If you’ve done it before, let someone else do it. If you’ve done it before, teach someone else to do it. If you’ve done it before, do it in a tenth of the time. Do it differently just because you can. Do it backward. That will make you smile. Do it with your eyes closed.
- [Measureable or magical?](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/08/21/measureable-or-magical/) - We all have to-do lists. We add things and we check them off. This list grows and shrinks. We judge ourselves negatively when we check off fewer than expected and positively when we check off more than that. But what’s the right number of completed tasks for us to feel good? How many completed tasks
- [Can you let go?](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/08/14/can-you-let-go/) - Can you go on holiday and not think about work? How long does it take your brain to join your body on vacation? If your boss calls on vacation, what do you do? And what does that say about you? If your boss calls on vacation, what does that say about your boss? Doing something
- [It's time to turn something that isn't into something that is.](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/08/07/its-time-to-turn-something-that-isnt-into-something-that-is/) - It’s not possible until you demonstrate it. It can’t be done until you show it being done. It won’t work until you make it work. It must be done using the standard process until you do it a much better way. It’s required until you violate the requirement and everything is fine. It’s needed until
- [The Frustration Equation](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/07/31/the-frustration-equation/) - For right frustration to emerge, you need an accurate understanding of how things are, a desire for them to be different, and a recognition you can’t remedy the situation. The emergence of your desire for things to be different starts with knowing how things are. And to see things as they are, you’ve got to
- [How To Be More Effective](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/07/24/how-to-be-more-effective/) - Put it out there. You don’t have time to do otherwise. Be true to yourself. No one deserves that more than you do. Tell the truth, even when it’s difficult for people to hear. They’ll appreciate your honesty. Believe the actions and not the words. Enough said. Learn to listen to what is not said.
- [Yes is easy.  No is difficult.](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/07/17/yes-is-easy-no-is-difficult/) - What do you say when someone in power over you asks you to do something that violates your ethics? Do you say yes because you know it’s that’s what they want and avoid conflict? Or do you say no because it’s unethical from your perspective? Seems like a no-brainer, right? A hard no, 100%. And
- [The Importance of Moving From Telling to Asking](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/07/10/the-importance-of-moving-from-telling-to-asking/) - Tell me what you want done, but don’t tell me how. You’ve got to leave something for me. Better yet, ask me to help you with a problem and let me solve it. I prefer asking over telling. Better still, explain the situation and ask me what I think. We can then discuss why I
- [How It Goes With Demos](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/07/03/how-it-goes-with-demos/) - Demoing something for the first time is difficult, but doing it for the second time is easy. And when you demo a new solution the first time, it (and you) will be misunderstood. What is the value of this new thing? This is a good question because it makes clear they don’t understand it. After
- [When in doubt, do great work.](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/06/26/when-in-doubt-do-great-work/) - It’s fine if you’re asked to do too much occasionally. Things come up and must be addressed. Sometimes it’s your turn and sometimes it’s others’ turn. No one can argue with that. And sometimes the work demands your special skills and you go the extra because the work is important and urgent. You know how
- [How Startups Can Move Prototypes Out Of The Lab And Onto The Factory Floor](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/06/19/how-startups-can-move-prototypes-out-of-the-lab-and-onto-the-factory-floor/) - Startups are good at making something work in the lab for the first time. However, startups are not good at moving their one-in-a-row prototypes to the manufacturing floor. But if startups are to scale, that’s exactly what they must do. For startups to be successful, they must continually change the design to enable the next
- [Why not be yourself?](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/06/12/why-not-be-yourself/) - Be successful, but be yourself. Accept people for who they are and everything else gets better. Tell the truth, even if it causes stress. In the short term, it is emotionally challenging but in the long term, it builds trust. Disagree, yes. Disappoint, yes. Disavow, no. Be effective, but be yourself. If your actions cause
- [If you don't believe in the project, what do you do?](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/06/05/if-you-dont-believe-in-the-project-what-do-you-do/) - If you don’t believe in the project, the team will sense it; energy will drain from the project; and no one will want to work the project. If you don’t believe in the project, you can’t make yourself believe in the project. If you don’t believe in the project, you can’t fool people and make
- [Why We Wait](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/05/29/why-we-wait/) - We wait because we don’t have enough information to make a decision. We wait until the decision makes itself because no one wants to be wrong. We wait for permission because of the negative consequences of being wrong. We wait to use our judgment until we have evidence our judgment is right. We wait for
- [Why Hardware Is Hard For Startups And What to Do About It](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/05/22/why-hardware-is-hard-for-startups-and-what-to-do-about-it/) - Software may be eating the world, but the hardware elements of a startup’s work define when lunch is served. Hardware takes longer than software. With hardware, after the product and its parts are designed, companies are vetted/selected to make the parts; contracts are signed to make the parts; the parts are made; the parts are
- [Pro Tips for New Product Development Projects](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/05/15/pro-tips-for-npd/) - Do the project right or do the right project – which would you choose? If you improve time to market, the only thing that improves is time to market. How do you feel about that? Customers pay for things that make their lives easier. Time to market doesn’t do that. There’s no partial credit with
- [Respect what cannot be changed.](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/05/08/respect-what-cannot-be-changed/) - If you try to change what you cannot, your trying will not bring about change. But it will bring about 100% frustration, 100% dissatisfaction, 100% missed expectations, 0% progress, and, maybe, 0% employment. Here’s a rule: If success demands you must change what you cannot, you will be unsuccessful. If you try to change something
- [What's a dinosaur to do?](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/05/01/whats-a-dinosaur-to-do/) - When you do something for a long time, the physical and mental muscles you exercise get stronger and you get better at that activity. But where the muscles you use get stronger, the ones you don’t use atrophy and you get worse at all the other things. When you do something for a long time,
- [The Power of Praise](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/04/24/the-power-of-praise-2/) - When you catch someone doing good work, do you praise them? If not, why not? Praise is best when it’s specific – “I think it was great when you [insert specific action here].” If praise isn’t authentic, it’s not praise. When you praise specific behavior, you get more of that great behavior. Is there a
- [Going Against The Grain](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/04/17/going-against-the-grain/) - If you have nothing to say, be the person that doesn’t say it. If you’re not the right person to do it, you’re also the right person not to do it. Why is it so difficult for to stop doing what no longer makes sense? If it made sense to do it last time, it’s
- [The Less-Than-Ideal Idealized Future State](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/04/10/the-less-than-ideal-idealized-future-state/) - The Idealized Future State (IFS) is all the rage these days. The idea behind it is the team defines the IFS so it can then define the steps needed to achieve it. The IFS is just what it says it is – a description of the perfect state of our future affairs. It defines what
- [Most Popular Blog Posts from the Last Twelve Months](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/04/03/most-popular-blog-posts-from-the-last-twelve-months/) - Here are the top blog posts (in descending order) from the previous twelve months. The short descriptions give some context for the posts and my intentions for writing them. Thanks for reading. Mike When You Have Enough… The post describes behaviors that demonstrate you have enough and the benefits of having enough. And it
- [Credibility and Trust - a Powerful One-Two Punch - If You Build Them](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/03/27/credibility-and-trust-a-powerful-one-two-punch/) - Credibility built – when the situation is not good, you say “the situation is not good.” And when things went poorly you say “things went poorly.” Trust built – when things go well you give away the credit. Credibility built – when you provide a controversial perspective and three years later it turns out you
- [Are you a striver or a thriver?](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/03/20/are-you-a-striver-or-a-thriver/) - Strivers do what’s best for them. Thrivers do what’s right. Strivers want more. Thrivers want what they have. Strivers can’t push back on people that are higher on the org chart or disagree with them. Thrivers push back and disagree regardless of the org chart. Strivers trade promotions for family. Thrivers put family first –
- [Resource Allocation IS Strategy](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/03/13/resource-allocation-is-strategy/) - In business, we have vision statements, mission statements, strategic plans, strategic initiatives, and operating plans. And every day there are there are countless decisions to make. But, in the end, it all comes down to one thing - how we allocate our resources. Whether it’s hiring people, training them, buying capital, or funding projects, all
- [Some Ifs and Thens To Get You Through Your Day](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/03/06/some-ifs-and-thens-to-get-you-through-your-day/) - If you didn’t get what you wanted, why not try wanting what you got? If the timing isn’t right, what can you change so it is right? If it could get you in trouble, might you be on to something? If it’s impossible, don’t bother. If it’s easy, let someone else do it. If there’s
- [Did you do anything different today?](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/02/28/did-you-do-anything-different-today/) - In that familiar situation, how did you respond in an unfamiliar way? Instead of your usual yes, did you say no? With your regular chair available in the conference room, why not sit in a different one? Instead of using your right hand to brush your teeth, why not try your left? How would it
- [How flexible are your processes and how do you know?](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/02/21/how-flexible-are-your-processes-and-how-do-you-know/) - What would happen if the factory had to support demand that increased one percent per week? Without incremental investment, how many weeks could they meet the ever-increasing demand? That number is a measure of the system’s flexibility. More weeks, more flexibility. And the element of the manufacturing system that gives out first is the constraint.
- [Two Sides of the Same Coin](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/02/14/two-sides-of-the-same-coin/) - Praise is powerful, but not when you don’t give it. People learn from mistakes, but not when they don’t make them. Wonderful solutions are wonderful, but not if there are no problems. Novelty is good, but not if you do what you did last time. Disagreement creates deeper understanding, but not if there’s 100% agreement.
- [Projects, Products, People, and Problems](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/02/07/projects-products-people-and-problems/) - With projects, there is no partial credit. They’re done or they’re not. Solve the toughest problems first. When do you want to learn the problem is not solvable? Sometimes slower is faster. Problems aren’t problems until you realize you have them. Before that, they’re problematic. If you can’t put it on one page, you don’t
- [When in doubt, look inside.](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/01/31/when-in-doubt-look-inside/) - When we quiet our minds, we can hear our bodies’ old stories in the form of our thoughts. Pay attention to our bodies and we understand our minds. Our bodies give answers before our minds know the questions. If we don’t understand our actions, it’s because our bodies called the ball. The physical sensations in
- [Why is it so difficult to get ready?](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/01/24/why-is-it-so-difficult-to-get-ready/) - The time to start getting ready is before we need to be. We don’t get ready because the problem hasn’t yet kicked us in the head. It has only started getting ready to do so. We don’t get ready because we don’t see the early warning signs. Like the meteorologist who doesn’t make time to
- [Actions That Help People Grow](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/01/17/actions-that-help-people-grow/) - As leaders of people, we have a responsibility to help people grow. One of the best ways to help them grow is to put them in a position to do so. But what does that look like? Here’s a process and some questions to help you quantify your efforts to help people grow. Choose one
- [What do you believe about yourself?](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/01/10/what-do-you-believe-about-yourself/) - If you believe you can’t do something, you can’t. If you try something and it doesn’t work, you might be able to pull it off next time. If you believe you’re not good enough, you’re not. If you try something and it doesn’t work, you’re still good enough. If you believe someone’s opinion of you
- [Getting Out of the Way](https://www.shipulski.com/2024/01/03/getting-out-of-the-way/) - If something’s in the way, call it by name and move it out of the way. If that something is a technical problem, figure out what’s blocking the solution and move it out of the way. If that something is a person, try to understand what’s motivating their blocking action. Don’t call their behavior a
- [Seeing Things as They Are - The Key to Improvement](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/12/27/seeing-things-as-they-are-the-key-to-improvement/) - There are many tools to improve processes. The difficult part is not understanding the tools. The difficult part is choosing which tool to use. And to do that, you’ve got to understand the process as it is and let that inform which tool to use first. You’d think it an easy thing to understand an
- [Time is not coming back.](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/12/20/time-is-not-coming-back/) - How do you spend your time? How much time do you spend on things you want to do? How much time do you spend on things you don’t want to do? How much time do you have left to change that? If you’re spending time on things you don’t like, maybe it’s because you don’t
- [Bringing your whole self to work takes courage.](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/12/13/bringing-your-whole-self-to-work-takes-courage/) - What happens when you bring your whole self to work? Are you embraced, rejected, or ignored? If you’re not invited to meetings because you ask difficult questions, what does that say? When you call someone on their behavior, does that get you closer to a promotion? When you’ve done the work before but no one
- [The Friendship Framework](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/12/06/the-friendship-framework/) - When your friend is having a bad time of it, you don’t criticize, you empathize. When you think of your friend, you check in. When your friend is happy, you are happy with them. When your friend is lonely, you don’t ignore, you are right there with them. When your friend is struggling, you check
- [Working In Domains of High Uncertainty](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/11/29/working-in-domains-of-high-uncertainty/) - X: When will you be done with the project? Me: This work has never been done before, so I don’t know. X: But the Leadership Team just asked me when the project will be done. So, what should I say? Me: Since nothing has changed since the last time you asked me, I still
- [Happier and More Thankful](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/11/22/happier-and-more-thankful/) - What could we change to become happier? Happiness comes when our reality (how things really are) compares favorably with our expectations. If happiness comes from the comparison between how things are and our expectations, wouldn’t we be happier with any outcome if we change our expectations of the outcome? But how are expectations defined? What makes an expectation an expectation? Where do
- [What does it mean to have enough?](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/11/15/what-does-it-mean-to-have-enough/) - What does it mean to have enough? If you don’t want more, doesn’t that mean you have enough? And if you want what you have, doesn’t that mean you don’t want more? If you had more, would that make things better? If you had more, what would stop you from wanting more? What would it
- [How People Grow](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/11/08/how-people-grow/) - I was invited to an important meeting. Here’s how it went. I was invited to an important meeting. I want you to attend with me. I was invited to an important meeting with my boss. Will you join me? I was invited to an important meeting but I cannot attend. Will you go in my
- [There is nothing wrong with having problems.](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/11/01/there-is-nothing-wrong-with-having-problems/) - When you are stuck, often the problems you can describe are not the problems that are in the way. The problems you solved last time make it more difficult to see new problems this time. The problems you know of are not the problem. When you have no problems, you have big problems. When you
- [What's in the way of the newly possible?](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/10/25/whats-in-the-way-of-the-newly-possible/) - When “it’s impossible” it means it “cannot be done.” But maybe “impossible” means “We don’t yet know how to do it.” Or “We don’t yet know if others have done it before.” What does it take to transition from impossible to newly possible? What must change to move from the impossible to the newly possible?
- [There is always something to build on.](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/10/18/there-is-always-something-to-build-on/) - To have something is better than to have nothing, and to focus on everything dilutes progress and leads to nothing. In that way, something can be better than everything. What do you have and how might you put it to good use right now? Everything has a history. What worked last time? What did not?
- [Too Much of a Good Thing](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/10/11/too-much-of-a-good-thing/) - Product cost reduction is a good thing. Too much focus on product cost reduction prevents product enhancements, blocks new customer value propositions, and stifles top-line growth. Voice of the Customer (VOC) activities are good. Because customers don’t know what’s possible, too much focus on VOC silences the Voice of the Technology (VOT), blocks new technologies,
- [The People Part of the Business](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/10/04/the-people-part-of-the-business/) - Whatever business you’re in, you’re in the people business. Scan your organization for single-point failure modes, where if one person leaves the wheels would fall off. For the single-point failure mode, move a new person into the role and have the replaced person teach their replacement how to do the job. Transfer the knowledge before
- [What To Do When It Matters](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/09/27/what-to-do-when-it-matters/) - If you see something that matters, say something. If you say something and nothing happens, you have a choice – bring it up again, do something, or let it go. Bring it up again when you think your idea was not understood. And if it’s still not understood after the second try, bring it up
- [If you want to make progress, make a map.](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/09/20/if-you-want-to-make-progress-make-a-map/) - Fascination with the idealized future state isn’t ideal. Before moving forward, define the current state of things. Improvement opportunities mean nothing unless they come from a deep understanding of the state of things as they are. Define things as they are before settling on improvement opportunities. If you want to converge on a common understanding
- [Appreciating What We Have](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/09/13/appreciating-what-we-have/) - We have growth targets, stretch goals, corporate initiatives, and improvement plans. If we achieve all this but it comes at the expense of our health, what do we really have? When we have our health, we can forget we have it and take it for granted. We forget we can easily get into our car
- [Function first, no exceptions.](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/09/06/function-first-no-exceptions/) - Before a design can be accused of having too much material and labor costs, it must be able to meet its functional specifications. Before that is accomplished, it’s likely there’s not enough material and labor in the design and more must be added to meet the functional specifications. In that way, it likely doesn’t cost
- [When You Want To Make A Difference](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/08/30/when-you-want-to-make-a-difference/) - When you want to make a difference, put your whole self out there. When you want to make a difference, tell your truth. When you want to make a difference, invest in people. When you want to make a difference, play the long game. When you want to make a difference, do your homework. When
- [How To Finish Projects](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/08/23/how-to-finish-projects/) - Finishing a project is usually associated with completing all the deliverables. But in the real world there are other flavors of finishing that come when there is no reason or ability to complete all the deliverables or completing them will take too long. Everyone’s favorite flavor of finishing is when all the deliverables are delivered
- [The Three Ts of Empowerment](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/08/16/the-three-ts-of-empowerment/) - If you give a person the tools, time, and training, you’ve empowered them. They know what to do, they have supporting materials, and they have the permission to spend the time they need to get it done. If you give a person the tools and the time but not the training, they will struggle to
- [Do you create the conditions for decisions to be made without you?](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/08/09/do-you-create-the-conditions-for-decisions-to-be-made-without-you/) - What does your team do when you’re not there? Do they make decisions or wait for you to come back so you can make them? If your team makes an important decision while you’re out of the office, do you support or criticize them? Which response helps them stand taller? Which is most beneficial to
- [Playing Tetris With Your Project Portfolio](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/08/02/playing-tetris-with-your-project-portfolio/) - When planning the projects for next year, how do you decide which projects are a go and which are a no? One straightforward way is to say yes to projects when there are resources lined up to get them done and no to all others. Sure, the projects must have a good return on investment
- [When there are teaching moments, what do you teach?](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/07/26/when-there-are-teaching-moments-what-do-you-teach/) - When you have something special but don’t know it, the Universe is there to take it away from you so you can appreciate what you no longer have. Seems backward, but the Universe knows how to be a good teacher. When someone asks you to help them, but you know they are asking for the
- [The Next Evolution of Your Success](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/07/19/the-next-evolution-of-your-success/) - New ways to work are new because they have not been done before. How many new ways to work have you demonstrated over the last year? New customer value is new when it has not been shown before. What new customer value have you demonstrated over the last year? New ways to deliver customer value
- [When you say yes to one thing, you say no to another.](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/07/12/when-you-say-yes-to-one-thing-you-say-no-to-another/) - Life can get busy and complicated, with too many demands on our time and too little time to get everything done. But why do we accept all the “demands” and why do we think we have to get everything done? If it’s not the most important thing, isn’t a “demand for our time” something less
- [Is the timing right?](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/07/05/is-the-timing-right/) - If there is no problem, it is too soon for a solution. But when there is consensus on a problem, it may be too late to solve it. If a powerful protector of the Status Quo is to retire in a year, it may be too early to start work on the most important sacrilege.
- [When You Have Enough...](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/06/28/when-you-have-enough/) - When you have enough, you have plenty to give to others. And when you give to others, they remember. When you have enough, you can be happy with things as they are. And when you are happy with things as they are, people like to be around you. When you have enough, there’s no need
- [If you want to change things, do a demo.](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/06/21/if-you-want-to-change-things-do-a-demo/) - When you demo something new, you make the technology real. No longer can they say – that’s not possible. When you demo something new, you help people see what it is and what it isn’t. And that brings clarity. When you demo something new, people take sides. And that says a lot about them. When
- [Overcoming Not Invented Here (NIH), The Most Powerful Blocker of Innovation](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/06/14/overcoming-not-invented-here-nih-the-most-powerful-blocker-of-innovation/) - When new ideas come from the outside, they are dismissed out of hand. The technical term for this behavior is Not Invented Here (NIH). Because it was not invented by the party with official responsibility, that party stomps it into dust. But NIH doesn’t stomp in public; it stomps in mysterious ways. Wow! That’s a
- [Bucking The Best Practice](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/06/07/bucking-the-best-practice/) - Doing what you did last works well, right up until it doesn’t. When you put 100% effort into doing what you did last time and get 80% of the output of last time, it’s time to do something different next time. If it worked last time, but the environment or competition has changed, chances are
- [Show Them What's Possible](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/05/31/show-them-whats-possible/) - When you want to figure out what’s next, show customers what’s possible. This is much different than asking them what they want. So, don’t do that. Instead, show them a physical prototype or a one-page sales tool that explains the value they would realize. When they see what’s possible, the world changes for them. They
- [When the territory is new, what do you do?](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/05/24/when-the-territory-is-new-what-do-you-do/) - When you remove an obstacle, the path forward becomes easier. But if there are multiple paths, which obstacle should be removed and which should remain in place? If you can’t easily remove an obstacle that blocks the path, don’t. Look for other paths. If all the paths point away from your intended direction, obstacles or
- [Start, Stop, Continue Gone Bad](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/05/17/start-stop-continue-gone-bad/) - Stop, Start, Continue is a powerful, straightforward way to manage things. If it’s not working, Stop. If it’s working well, Continue. If there’s a big opportunity to grow, Start. Sounds pretty simple, but it’s often executed poorly. The most dangerous variant of Stop, Start, Continue is Start, Start, Continue. Regardless of how well projects are
- [The Best Way To Make Projects Go Faster](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/05/03/the-best-way-to-make-projects-go-faster/) - When there are too many projects, all the projects move too slowly. When there are too many projects, adding resources doesn’t help much and may make things worse. To speed up the important projects, stop the less important projects. There’s no better way. When there are too many projects, stopping comes before starting. All projects
- [The Power of the Present Moment](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/04/26/the-power-of-the-present-moment/) - You can’t see if you don’t look. You can’t look if you’re distracted. You can’t be distracted if you’re living in the present moment. You can’t live in the present moment if you’re sad about the past or afraid of the future. You can’t be sad about the past unless you want it to be
- [Projects, Problems and People](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/04/19/projects-problems-and-people/) - The projects you choose define the problems you solve. The problems you choose to solve define the novel value delivered to the customer. The people you choose to run the projects set the character of the projects. The choice of the projects’ character defines how the people feel about working on the projects. How people
- [You are defined by the problems you solve.](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/04/12/you-are-defined-by-the-problems-you-solve/) - You can solve problems that reduce the material costs of your products. You can solve problems that reduce the number of people that work at your company. You can solve problems that save your company money. You can solve problems that help your customers make progress. You can solve problems that make it easier for
- [Some Questions to Ask Yourself](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/04/05/some-questions-to-ask-yourself/) - If you can’t imagine it, it’s impossible. But if you can imagine it, at worst it can only be almost impossible. Who controls your imagination? What you think about something affects you like it’s true, even when it isn’t. And what you think is true often isn’t. Are you responsible for what you think? If
- [When it comes to mismatches, seeing is believing.](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/03/29/when-it-comes-to-mismatches-seeing-is-believing/) - When there’s a disagreement between the stated strategy and the active projects, believe the active projects. When there’s a formal objective to reduce the number of meetings and the number of meetings doesn’t decrease, the desired outcome isn’t really desired. When there’s a desire to reduce costs and there’s no hiring freeze, there’s no real
- [The Power of Checking In](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/03/22/the-power-of-checking-in/) - When you notice someone having a difficult time, take the time to check in with them. An in-person “Are you okay?” is probably the best way, but a phone call, text, or video chat will also do nicely. When you’re having a difficult time, when someone notices and checks in you feel a little better.
- [What do you want?](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/03/15/what-do-you-want-2/) - If you always want to be right, it's time to ask new questions. If you want to listen well, don’t talk. If you want to start something new, stop something old. If you want to do it again for the third time. give someone else a chance. If you want it to be perfect, you
- [The Curse of Too Many Active Projects](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/03/08/the-curse-of-too-many-active-projects/) - If you want your new product development projects to go faster, reduce the number of active projects. Full stop. A rule to live by: If the new product development project is 90% complete, the company gets 0% of the value. When it comes to new product development projects, there’s no partial credit. Improving the capabilities
- [The Ins and Outs of Problems](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/03/01/the-ins-and-outs-of-problems/) - When there’s a disagreement, listen before you talk. And if that doesn’t work, listen more. With this approach, disagreement cannot blossom into a problem. When there’s a decision to be made, make it. There are problems with any decision you make, and you might as well learn them as soon as you can. When there’s
- [The Difficulty of Goal Setting in Domains of High Uncertainty](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/02/22/the-diffiulty-of-goal-setting-in-domains-of-high-uncertainty/) - When you work in domains of high uncertainty, creating goals for the next year is exceptionally difficult. When you try to do something that hasn’t been done before, things may blow up instantly, things may work out after two years of hard work, or things may never work. So, how do you create the goal
- [The Difficulty of Starting New Projects](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/02/15/the-difficulty-of-starting-new-projects/) - Companies that are good at planning their projects create roadmaps spanning about three years, where individual projects are sequenced to create a coordinated set of projects that fit with each other. The roadmap helps everyone know what’s important and helps the resources flow to those most important projects. Through the planning process, the collection of
- [The Mighty Capacity Model](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/02/08/the-mighty-capacity-moel/) - There are natural limits to the amount of work that any one person or group can do. And once that limit is reached, saying yes to more work does not increase the amount of work that gets done. Sure, you kick the can down the road when you say yes to work that you know
- [Defend, Extend, Transcend - A Good Way to Assess Company Priorities](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/02/01/defend-extend-transcend-a-good-way-to-assess-company-priorities/) - Defend – Protect your success in its current state. In short, do what you did last time and do no harm. Extend – Modify and adapt your success. In short, sell similar offerings to similar customers. Transcend – Obsolete your best work before someone else does. All three elements can be important to a company’s
- [Becoming More Innovative](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/01/25/becoming-more-innovative/) - It's difficult to describe what an innovative company looks like, and there's no singular recipe or direction that is right for all companies. Here are some From: To: pairings that I hope will help you in your migration toward innovation. You're heading in the right direction as your company generates Tos and fewer Froms.
- [Say no so you can say yes to the customer.](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/01/18/say-no-so-you-can-say-yes-to-the-customer/) - It’s easy to say yes to a project, and it’s difficult to say no. When I say no to a great project, it preserves the opportunity to say yes to a magical one. When in doubt, I say no to a project. When I say no to a project, people notice. When I say no
- [Three Rules for Personal Development Plans](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/01/11/three-rules-for-personal-development-plans/) - If you want to help someone grow, use the work. Put them on mission-critical work that gives them the opportunity to demonstrate next-level skills. And the work must fit the person - it can’t be too difficult or too easy. It must be just right. And don’t create new work. Instead, for the company’s most
- [Are you making progress?](https://www.shipulski.com/2023/01/04/are-you-making-progress/) - Just before it’s possible, it’s impossible. An instant before you know how to do it, you don’t. After searching for the answer for a year, you may find it in the next instant. If you stop searching, that’s the only way to guarantee you won’t find it. When people say it won’t work, their opinion
- [Four Things That Matter](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/12/28/four-things-that-matter/) - Health matters. What did you do this year to take care of your physical health? What did you do this year to take care of your mental health? Next year what can you stop doing to make it easier to take care of your physical and mental health? Without your health, what do you have?
- [Reducing Time To Market vs. Improving Profits](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/12/21/reducing-time-to-market-vs-improving-profits/) - X: We need to decrease the time to market for our new products. Me: So, you want to decrease the time it takes to go from an idea to a commercialized product? X: Yes. Me: Okay. That’s pretty easy. Here’s my idea. Put some new stickers on the old product and relaunch it. If we
- [Which new product development project should we do first?](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/12/14/which-new-product-development-project-should-we-do-first/) - X: Of the pool of candidate new product development projects, which project should we do first? Me: Let’s do the one that makes us the most money. X: Which project will make the most money? Me: The one where the most customers buy the new product, pay a reasonable price, and feel good doing
- [It's not so easy to move manufacturing work back to the US.](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/12/07/its-not-so-easy-to-move-manufacturing-work-back-to-the-us/) - I hear it's a good idea to move manufacturing work back to the US. Before getting into what it would take to move manufacturing work back to the US, I think it’s important to understand why manufacturing companies moved their work out of the US. Simply put, companies moved their work out of the US
- [Short Lessons](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/11/30/short-lessons/) - Show customers what’s possible. Then listen. The best projects are small until they’re not. Today’s location before tomorrow’s destination. The best idea requires the least effort. Ready, fire, aim is better than ready, aim, aim, aim. Be certain about the uncertainty. Do so you can discuss. Put it on one page. Fail often, but call
- [Three Important Choices for New Product Development Projects](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/11/23/three-important-choices-for-new-product-development-projects/) - Choose the right project. When you say yes to a new project, all the focus is on the incremental revenue the project will generate and none of the focus is on unrealized incremental revenue from the projects you said no to. Next time there’s a proposal to start a new project, ask the team to
- [What would you do differently if you believed in yourself more?](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/11/16/what-would-you-do-differently-if-you-believed-in-yourself-more/) - Do you believe in yourself? Belief in yourself manifests in your actions. What do your actions say about your belief in yourself? Belief in yourself doesn’t mean everything will work out perfectly. It means that you'll be okay regardless of how things turn out. When you see someone that doesn’t believe in themselves, how do
- [Speaking your truth is objective evidence you care.](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/11/09/speaking-your-truth-is-objective-evidence-you-care/) - When you see something, do you care enough to say something? If you disagree, do you care enough to say it out loud? When the emperor has no clothes, do you care enough to hand them a cover-up? Cynicism is grounded in caring. Do you care enough to be cynical? Agreement without truth is not
- [The Power of Leaving a Problem Unsolved](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/11/02/the-power-of-leaving-a-problem-unsolved/) - Nothing changes unless there’s a problem. In fact, without a problem, there can be no solution. One of the devious ways to solve your problem is to create conditions for others to think it’s their problem. Shame on you if you try to get me to solve your problem. And shame on me if I
- [Radical Cost Reduction and Reinvented Supply Chains](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/10/26/radical-cost-reduction-and-reinvented-supply-chains/) - As geopolitical pressures rise, some countries that supply the parts that make up your products may become nonviable. What if there was a way to reinvent the supply chain and move it to more stable regions? And what if there was a way to guard against the use of child labor in the parts that
- [What does work look like?](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/10/19/what-does-work-look-like/) - What does work look like when you prioritize your happiness? When it’s announced that open positions will not be backfilled to meet the practical realities of a recession, you reduce the scope of your projects and push out their completion dates to match the reduction in resources. And the impact on your career? I don’t
- [Three Scenarios for Scaling Up the Work](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/10/12/three-scenarios-for-scaling-up-the-work/) - Breaking up work into small chunks can be a good way to get things started. Because the scope of each chunk is small, the cost of each chunk is small making it easier to get approval to do the work. The chunk approach also reduces anxiety around the work because if nothing comes from the
- [Rediscovering The Power of Getting Together In-Person](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/10/05/rediscovering-the-power-of-getting-together-in-person/) - When you spend time with a group in person, you get to know them in ways that can’t be known if you spend time with them using electronic means. When meeting in person, you can tell when someone says something that’s difficult for them. And you can also tell when that difficulty is fake. When
- [What's missing?](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/09/28/whats-missing/) - If there’s no problem, there can be no solution. If there’s no dissatisfaction, there can be no change. If there’s no caring, there can be no disagreement, though there can be arguments. If there is a wanting for things to be different, there can be no happiness, though there will be suffering. If there’s no
- [How To Complete More Projects](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/09/21/how-to-complete-more-projects/) - Before you decide which project to start, decide which project you’ll stop. The best way to stop a project is to finish it. The next best way is to move the resources to a more important project. If you find yourself starting before finishing, stop starting and start finishing. People’s output is finite. Adding a
- [It's good to have experience, until the fundamentals change.](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/09/14/its-good-to-have-experience-until-the-fundamentals-change/) - We use our previous experiences as context for decisions we make in the present. When we have a bad experience, the experience-context pair gets stored away in our memory so that we can avoid a similar bad outcome when a similar context arises. And when we have a good experience, or we’re successful, that memory-context
- [Students, Teachers, and Learning](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/09/07/students-teachers-and-learning/) - If the student has no interest, they are not yet a student and it’s not yet time for learning. Learning comes hard, especially when it's not wanted. The teacher that tries to teach a student that’s not yet a student is not yet a teacher. There can be no teacher without a student. If there’s
- [The first step is to admit you have a problem.](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/08/31/the-first-step-is-to-admit-you-have-a-problem/) - Nothing happens until the pain caused by a problem is greater than the pain of keeping things as they are. Problems aren’t bad for business. What’s bad for business is failing to acknowledge them. The consternation that comes from the newly-acknowledged problem is the seed from which the solution grows. There can be no solution
- [Helping helps.](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/08/24/helping-helps/) - If you think asking for help is a sign of weakness, you won’t get the help you deserve. If the people around you think asking for help is a sign of weakness, find new people. As a leader, asking others for help makes it easier for others to ask for help. When someone asks you
- [The Ins and Outs of Things](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/08/17/the-ins-and-outs-of-things/) - When things are overwhelming to you but not to others, it’s okay to feel overwhelmed for a while. When the seas are rough, you may think you are alone, but others may see it differently. What’s worthy of your attention is defined by you, though some make it easy for you to think otherwise. When
- [The first step is to understand the system as it is.](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/08/10/the-first-step-is-to-understand-the-system-as-it-is/) - If there’s a recurring problem, take the time to make sure the system hasn’t changed since last time and make sure the context and environment are still the same. If everything is the same, and there are no people involved in the system, it’s a problem that resides in the clear domain. Here’s a link
- [Is your project too big, too small, or both?](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/08/03/is-your-project-too-big-too-small-or-both/) - When choosing projects there are two competing questions: Is it big enough? And, is it small enough? The project must be big enough to generate the profits required by the company’s growth objectives. Larger growth objectives require larger projects. Yet the project has to be small enough to be completed within the time constraints defined
- [Problems, Learning, Business Models, and People](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/07/20/problems-learning-business-models-and-people/) - If you know the right answer, you’re working on an old problem or you’re misapplying your experience. If you are 100% sure how things will turn out, let someone else do it. If there’s no uncertainty, there can be no learning. If there’s no learning, your upstart competitors are gaining on you. If you don’t
- [It's time to charge your battery.](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/07/27/its-time-to-charge-your-battery/) - When a car’s battery is low and doesn’t have enough energy to start the car, you change your expectations about travel plans, hook up the battery to a charger and give it the time it needs to charge. You don’t keep trying to start the car because the already tired battery gets more tired. You
- [The best time to design cost out of our products is now.](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/07/13/time-to-design-cost-out-of-our-products/) - With inflation on the rise and sales on the decline, the time to reduce costs is now. But before you can design out the cost you’ve got to know where it is. And the best way to do that is to create a Pareto chart that defines product cost for each subassembly, with the highest
- [The Power of Stopping](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/07/06/the-power-of-stopping/) - If when you write your monthly report no one responds with a question of clarification or constructive comment, this may be a sign your organization places little value on your report and the work it stands for. If someone sends a thank you email and do not mention something specific in your report, this masked
- [Free Resources](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/06/29/free-resources/) - Since resources are expensive, it can be helpful to see the environment around your product as a source of inexpensive resources that can be modified to perform useful functions. Here are some examples. Gravity is a force you can use to do your bidding. Since gravity is always oriented toward the center of the earth,
- [The Keepers of the Process](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/06/22/the-keepers-of-the-process/) - If you want to improve the work, ask the people who do the work. They know the tools and templates. They know the ins and outs of the process. They know when and how to circumvent the process. And they know what will break if you try to change the process. And what breaks is
- [Is it time to break the logjam?](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/06/15/logjams/) - Clearing a logjam is not about increasing the force of the water. It’s about moving one log out of the way, watching what happens, and choosing the next log to move. Crossing a raging river is not about pushing against the current. It’s about seeing what’s missing and using logs to build a raft.
- [How To Solve Transparent Problems](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/06/08/how-to-solve-transparent-problems/) - One of the best problems to solve for your customers is the problem they don’t know they have. If you can pull it off, you will create an entirely new value proposition for them and enable them to do things they cannot do today. But the problem is they can’t ask you to solve it
- [What you do next is up to you.](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/06/01/what-you-do-next-is-up-to-you/) - If you don’t know why you’re doing what you’re doing, you can try to remember why you started the whole thing or you can do something else. Either can remedy things, but how do you choose between them? If you’ve forgotten your “why”, maybe it’s worth forgetting or maybe something else temporarily came up that
- [Believe it or not, people's capacity to do work is finite.](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/05/25/believe-it-or-not-peoples-capacity-to-do-work-is-finite/) - When cars run out of gas, they can no longer get the job done until their tanks are filled up. And it’s the same with people, except people are asked to keep on truckin’ even though their tanks are empty. When machines are used for a certain number of hours, they are supposed to be
- [An open letter to company leaders: We're still out of gas.](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/04/13/an-open-letter-to-company-leaders-were-out-of-gas/) - To: Leaders of the Company, We’re still out of gas. Corporate initiatives and reinvention are important, but so are the fundamentals of meeting customer orders and keeping the production lines running. And so is our emotional well-being. We cannot do it all. Our youngest children must go to daycare and elementary school, and that scares
- [Triangulation of Leadership](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/05/18/triangulation-of-leadership/) - Put together things that contradict yet make a wonderfully mismatched pair. Say things that contradict common misunderstandings. See the dark and dirty underside of things. Be more patient with people. Stomp on success. Dissent. Tell the truth even when it’s bad for your career. See what wasn't but should have been. Violate first principles. Protect
- [Do you build trust or break it?](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/05/11/do-you-build-trust-or-break-it/) - When someone tells you their truth, what do you do? Do you ask them to defend? Do you tell them what you think? Do you dismiss them? Do you listen? Do you believe them? When someone has the courage to tell you their truth, they demonstrate they trust you. If you want to destroy their
- [The Power of Praise](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/05/04/the-power-of-praise/) - Praise happens when you tell someone they did something wonderful. Praise is virtually free and almost the most powerful force in the universe. When you tell someone what they did was amazing, they stand three inches taller. Right in front of you, they get taller. They grow. They expand. Don’t believe me? Try it. And
- [Tell the truth, especially when it's difficult.](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/04/27/tell-the-truth-especially-when-its-difficult/) - Our behavior is a result of causes and conditions. One thing paves the way for the next. Elements of the first thing create a preferential path for the next thing. If someone gets praised for doing A, more people will do A, even when A is the wrong behavior. If someone gets chastised for doing
- [Instead of rebranding, why not keep the brand and improve your offering?](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/04/20/instead-of-rebranding-why-not-keep-the-brand-and-improve-your-offering/) - Cigarette companies rebranded themselves because their products caused cancer and they wanted to separate themselves from how their customers experienced their products. Their name and logo (which stand for their brand) were mapped to bad things (cancer) so they changed their name and logo. The bad things still happened, but the company was one step
- [Did you make a difference today?](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/04/06/did-you-make-a-difference-today/) - Did you engage today with someone that needed your time and attention, though they didn’t ask? You had a choice to float above it all or recognize that your time and attention were needed. And then you had a follow-on choice: to keep on truckin’ or engage. If you recognized they needed your help, what
- [Work Like You Matter](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/03/30/work-like-you-matter/) - When you were wrong, the outcome was different than you thought. When the outcome was different than you thought, there was uncertainty as the work was new. When there was uncertainty, you knew there would be learning. When you were afraid of learning, you were afraid to be wrong. And when you were afraid to
- [When You Don't Know What To Do...](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/03/23/when-you-dont-know-what-to-do/) - When you don’t know what to do, what do you do? This is a difficult question. Here are some thoughts that may help you figure out what to do when you really don’t know. Don’t confuse activity with progress. Gather your two best friends, go off-site, and define the system as it is. Don’t ask
- [Same-But-Different, A Superpower That Can Save The Day](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/03/16/same-but-different-a-superpower-that-can-save-the-day/) - If there’s one superpower to develop, it’s to learn how to assess a project and get a good feel for when it will launch. When you want to know how long a project will take, ask this simple question: ‘What must the project team learn before the project can launch?” By starting with this single
- [Small Teams are Mighty](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/03/09/small-teams-are-mighty/) - When you want new thinking or rapid progress, create a small team. When you have a small team, they manage the handoffs on their own and help each other. Small teams hold themselves accountable. With small teams, one member’s problem becomes everyone’s problem in record time. Small teams can’t work on more than one project
- [Things I Sometimes Forget](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/03/02/things-i-sometimes-forget/) - Clean-sheet designs are fun, right up until they don’t launch. When you feel the urge to do a clean-sheet design, go home early. When you don’t know how to make it better, make it worse and do the opposite. Without trying, there is no way to know if it will work. Trying sometimes feels like
- [If you can be one thing, be effective.](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/02/23/if-you-can-be-one-thing-be-effective/) - If you’re asked to be faster, choose to be more effective. There’s nothing slower than being fast at something that doesn’t matter. If you’re given a goal to be more productive, instead, improve effectiveness. There’s nothing less productive than making the wrong thing. If you’re measured on efficiency, focus on effectiveness. Customers don’t care about
- [When You Have No Slack Time...](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/02/16/when-you-have-no-slack-time/) - When you have no slack time, you can’t start new projects. When you have no slack time, you can’t run toward the projects that need your help. When you have no slack time, you have no time to think. When you have no slack time, you have no time to learn. When you have no
- [Testing is an important part of designing.](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/02/09/testing-is-an-important-part-of-designing/) - When you design something, you create a solution to a collection of problems. But it goes far beyond creating the solution. You also must create objective evidence that demonstrates that the solution does, in fact, solve the problems. And the reason to generate this evidence is to help the organization believe that the solution solves
- [Problems, Solutions, and Complaints](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/02/02/problems-solutions-and-complaints/) - If you see a problem, tell someone. But, also, tell them how you’d like to improve things. Once you see a problem, you have an obligation to seek a solution. Complaining is telling someone they have a problem but stopping short of offering solutions. To stop someone from complaining, ask them how they might make
- [Why are people leaving your company?](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/01/26/why-are-people-leaving-your-company/) - People don’t leave a company because they feel appreciated. People don’t leave a company because they feel part of something bigger than themselves. People don’t leave a company because they see a huge financial upside if they stay. People don’t leave a company because they are treated with kindness and respect. People don’t leave a
- [Stop reusing old ideas and start solving new problems.](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/01/19/stop-reusing-old-ideas-and-start-solving-new-problems/) - Creating new ideas is easy. Sit down, quiet your mind, and create a list of five new ideas. There. You’ve done it. Five new ideas. It didn’t take you a long time to create them. But ideas are cheap. Converting ideas into sellable products and selling them is difficult and expensive. A customer wants to
- [Supply chains don't have to break.](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/01/12/supply-chains-dont-have-to-break/) - We’ve heard a lot about long supply chains that have broken down, parts shortages, and long lead times. Granted, supply chains have been stressed, but we’ve designed out any sort of resiliency. Our supply chains are inflexible, our products are intolerant to variation and multiple sources for parts, and our organizations have lost the ability
- [What do you like to do?](https://www.shipulski.com/2022/01/05/what-do-you-like-to-do/) - I like to help people turn complex situations into several important learning objectives. I like to help people turn important learning objectives into tight project plans. I like to help people distill project plans into a single-page spreadsheet of who does what and when. I like to help people start with problem definition. I like
- [Three Things for the New Year](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/12/29/three-things-for-the-new-year/) - Next year will be different, but we don’t know how it will be different. All we know is that it will be different. Some things will be the same and some will be different. The trouble is that we won’t know which is which until we do. We can speculate on how it will be
- [Effective Interactions During Difficult Times](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/12/22/effective-interactions-during-difficult-times/) - When times are stressful, it’s more difficult to be effective and skillful in our interactions with others. Here are some thoughts that could help. Decide how you want to respond, and then respond accordingly. Before you respond, take a breath. Your response will be better. If you find yourself responding before giving yourself permission, stop
- [Elevating the Importance of Manufacturing and Construction](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/12/15/elevating-the-importance-of-manufacturing-and-construction/) - Restaurants aren’t open as much as they used to be because they cannot hire enough people to do the work. Simply put, there are too few people who want to take the orders; cook the food; deliver food to the tables; clear the tables; and wash the dishes. Sure, it’s an inconvenience that we can’t
- [The Two Sides of the Story](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/12/08/the-two-sides-to-every-story/) - When you tell the truth and someone reacts negatively, their negativity is a surrogate for significance. When you withhold the truth because someone will react negatively, you do everyone a disservice. When you know what to do, let someone else do it. When you’re absolutely sure what to do, maybe you’ve been doing it too
- [How To Be Novel](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/12/01/how-to-be-novel/) - By definition, the approach that made you successful will become less successful over time and, eventually, will run out of gas. This fundamental is not about you or your approach, rather it’s about the nature of competition and evolution. There’s an energy that causes everything to change, grow and improve and your success attracts that
- [Making Time To Give Thanks](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/11/24/making-time-to-give-thanks/) - The pandemic has taken much from us, but we’re still here. We have each other, and that's something we can be thankful for. But going forward, what will you do? Will you worry about making the right choice, or will you be thankful you have a choice? Or maybe both? When things don’t go according
- [When you decide you have enough, the right work WILL happen.](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/11/17/when-you-decide-you-have-enough-the-right-work-will-happen/) - If you are happy with what you have, others have no power over you. If you don’t want more, you call the shots. If you have nothing to prove, no one can manipulate you. If you have enough, the lure of more cannot pull you off the path of what you think is right. If
- [If you want to understand innovation, understand novelty.](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/11/10/if-you-want-to-understand-innovation-understand-novelty/) - If you want to get innovation right, focus on novelty. Novelty is the difference between how things are today and how they might be tomorrow. And that comparison calibrates tomorrow’s idea within the context of how things are today. And that makes all the difference. When you can define how something is novel, you have
- [What's in the way of taking care of yourself?](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/11/03/whats-in-the-way-of-taking-care-of-yourself/) - When there’s nothing left in your tank, what do you do? When it’s difficult for you to keep your head above water, what do you do? When you see people who need help, do you spend your energy to help them or do you preserve your energy for yourself? If no one at your company
- [Your core business is your greatest strength and your greatest weakness.](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/10/27/your-core-business-is-your-greatest-strength-and-your-greatest-weakness/) - Your core business, the long-standing business that has made you what you are, is both your greatest strength and your greatest weakness. The Core generates the revenue, but it also starves fledgling businesses so they never make it off the ground. There’s a certainty with the Core because it builds on success, but its success
- [Everyone is doing their best, even though it might not look that way.](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/10/20/everyone-is-doing-their-best-even-though-it-might-not-look-that-way/) - In these trying times when stress is high, supply chains are empty, and the pandemic is still alive and well, here’s a mantra to hold onto: Everyone is doing their best, even though it might not look that way. When restaurants are only open four days a week because they have no one to take
- [The Power of the Trust Network](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/10/13/the-power-of-the-trust-network/) - The members of the Trust Network have worked together for a long time. And over that time together they've developed trust-based relationships that are more powerful than almost anything in the universe. The Trust Network knows the work intimately and can do it in their sleep. They intuitively know the work should be started, the
- [A Recipe to Grow Revenue Now](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/10/06/a-recipe-to-grow-revenue/) - If you want to grow the top line right now, create a hard constraint - the product cannot change - and force the team to look for growth outside the product. Since all the easy changes to the product have been made, without a breakthrough the small improvements bring diminishing returns. There’s nothing left here.
- [Good Questions](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/09/29/good-questions/) - This seems like a repeat of the last time we set a project launch date without regard for the work content. Do you see it that way? This person certainly looks the part and went to the right school, but they have not done this work before. Why do you think we should hire them
- [How to Decide if Your Problem is Worth Solving](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/09/22/how-to-decide-if-your-problem-is-worth-solving/) - How to decide if a problem is worth solving? If it’s a new problem, try to solve it. If it’s a problem that’s already been solved, it can’t be a new problem. Let someone else re-solve it. If a new problem is big, solve it in a small way. If that doesn’t work, try to
- [If nine out of ten projects projects fail, you're doing it wrong.](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/09/15/if-nine-out-of-ten-projects-projects-fail-youre-doing-it-wrong/) - For work that has not been done before, there’s no right answer. The only wrong answer is to say “no” to trying something new. Sure, it might not work. But, the only way to guarantee it won’t work is to say no to trying. If innovation projects fail nine out of ten times, you can
- [Run toward the action!](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/09/08/run-toward-the-action/) - Companies have control over one thing: how to allocate their resources. Companies allocate resources by deciding which projects to start, accelerate, and stop; whom to allocate to the projects; how to go about the projects; and whom to hire, invest in, and fire. That’s it. Taking a broad view of project selection to include starting,
- [A Leading Indicator of Personal Growth -- Fear](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/09/01/a-leading-indicator-of-personal-growth-fear/) - When was the last time you did something that scared you? And a more important follow-on question: How did you push through your fear and turn it into action? Fear is real. Our bodies make it, but it’s real. And the feelings we create around fear are real, and so are the inhibitions we wrap
- [What It Takes](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/08/25/what-it-takes/) - Speak up. Your ideas can’t see daylight unless others know about them. Be wrong. When you’re wrong, you sharpen the rightness. Be right. When you’re right in the face of wrongness, everyone wins, except for you. Stand tall. Stand behind your decisions, but you can’t be responsible for their outcome. Be truthful, but not hurtful.
- [If you "don't know," you're doing it right.](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/08/18/if-you-dont-know-youre-doing-it-right/) - If you know how to do it, it’s because you’ve done it before. You may feel comfortable with your knowledge, but you shouldn’t. You should feel deeply uncomfortable with your comfort. You’re not trying hard enough, and your learning rate is zero. Seek out “don’t know.” If you don’t know how to do it, acknowledge
- [Innovation In Reverse](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/08/11/innovation-in-reverse/) - Innovation is a result of accumulated knowledge acquired over decades that is made manifest with mundane means. It can be helpful to understand the required mindset by working things backward. If you want innovation, solve new problems. If you want to solve new problems, wall off design space responsible for success. Block the team from
- [Success Strangles](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/08/04/success-strangles/) - Success demands people do what they did last time. Success blocks fun. Success walls off all things new. Success has a half-life that is shortened by doubling down. Success eats novelty for breakfast. Success wants to scale, even when it’s time to obsolete itself. Success doesn’t get caught from behind, it gets disrupted from the
- [Taking vacations and holidays are the most productive things you can do.](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/07/28/taking-vacations-and-holidays-are-the-most-productive-things-you-can-do/) - It’s not a vacation unless you forget about work. It’s not a holiday unless you leave your phone at home. If you must check-in at work, you’re not on vacation. If you feel guilty that you did not check-in at work, you’re not on holiday. If you long for work while you’re on vacation, do
- [Your truth will set you free, but only if you tell it.](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/07/21/your-truth-will-set-you-free-but-only-if-you-tell-it/) - Every day, tell your truth. Even if unpopular, tell your truth. Especially if unpopular, tell your truth. It’s not your obligation to convince others of your truth, but it is your obligation to share it. Your truth is yours, and that’s enough. Tell it. If someone doesn’t share your truth, you’ve done your part. Your
- [Work is 95% Noise](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/07/14/work-is-95-noise/) - There’s a lot of noise at work. I’m not talking about the audible noise you hear in your office or the chatter of your coworkers. I’m talking about the noise purposefully created to slather a layer of importance to things that aren’t all that important. Corporate priorities are created at the company level to move
- [Some Problems With Problems](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/07/07/some-problems-with-problems/) - If you don’t know what the problem is, that’s your first problem. A problem can’t be a problem unless there’s a solution. If there’s no possible solution, don’t try to solve it, because it’s not a problem. If there’s no problem, you have a big problem. If you’re trying to solve a problem, but the
- [Why not now?](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/06/30/why-not-now/) - If you are anxious, you’re worried about what might happen. You’re living in the future. If you are sad or angry, you’re reacting to what happened. You’re living in the past. Nothing can be accomplished when living in the past because the die is cast. And nothing can be accomplished when living in the future
- [Can you spot a good leader?](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/06/23/can-you-spot-a-good-leader/) - When the team can get things done without the leader, that’s the sign of a good leader. If the organization bypasses the leader and goes directly to the subject matter experts, that’s because the leader trusts the subject matter experts. When subject matter experts are trusted, they do amazing work. Good leaders know that. When
- [When you don't know the answer, what do you say?](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/06/09/when-you-dont-know-the-answer-what-do-you-say/) - When you are asked a question and you don’t know the answer, what do you say? What does that say about you? What happens to people in your organization who say “I don’t know.”? Are they lauded or laughed at? Are they promoted, overlooked, or demoted? How many people do you know that have said:
- [Trust-Based Disagreement](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/06/02/trust-based-disagreement/) - When there’s disagreement between words and behavior, believe the behavior. This is especially true when the words deny the behavior. When there’s disagreement between the data and the decision, the data is innocent. When there’s agreement that there’s insufficient data but a decision must be made, there should be no disagreement that the decision is
- [Letting Yourself Be Inspired by Others](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/05/26/letting-yourself-be-inspired-by-others/) - When you try something new, check to see who has done something similar. Decompose their design approach. What were they trying to achieve? What outcome were they looking for? Who were their target customers? Do this for at least three existing designs – three real examples that are for sale today. Here’s a rule to
- [The One Thing That's Always in the Way](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/05/19/the-one-thing-thats-always-in-the-way/) - If you could get another good job at the drop of a hat, how would you work differently? Would you speak your mind or bite your tongue? If you didn’t care about getting a promotion, would you succumb to groupthink or dissent? If your ego didn’t get in the way, would you stop following the
- [What Good Coaches Do](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/05/12/what-good-coaches-do/) - Good coaches listen to you. They don’t judge, they just listen. Good coaches continually study the game. They do it in private, but they study. Good coaches tell you that you can do better, and that, too, they do in private. Good coaches pick you up off the floor. They know that getting knocked over
- [How do you measure your people?](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/05/05/how-do-you-measure-your-people/) - We get what we measure and, generally, we measure what’s easy to measure and not what will build a bridge to the right behavior. Timeframe. If we measure people on a daily pitch, we get behavior that is maximized over eight hours. If a job will take nine hours, it won’t get done because the
- [How To See What's Missing](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/04/28/how-to-see-whats-missing/) - With one eye open and the other closed, you have no depth perception. With two eyes open, you see in three dimensions. This ability to see in three dimensions is possible because each eye sees from a unique perspective. The brain knits together the two unique perspectives so you can see the world as it
- [Regardless of the problem, the solution lives inside you.](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/04/21/regardless-of-the-problem-the-solution-lives-inside-you/) - If you want things to be different than they are, you have a problem. And if you want things to stay the same, you also have a problem. Either way, you have a problem. You can complain, you can do something about it, or you can accept things as they are. Complaining can be fun
- [Certainty or novelty - it's your choice.](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/04/14/certainty-or-novelty-its-your-choice/) - When you follow the best practice, by definition your work is not new. New work is never done the same way twice. That’s why it’s called new. Best practices are for old work. Usually, it's work that was successful last time. But just as you can never step into the same stream twice, when you
- [When your company looks in the mirror, what does it see?](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/04/07/when-your-company-looks-in-the-mirror-what-does-it-see/) - There are many types of companies, and it can be difficult to categorize them. And even within the company itself, there is disagreement about the company’s character. And one of the main sources of disagreement is born from our desire to classify our company as the type we want it to be rather than as
- [Continuous Improvement Is Dead](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/03/31/continuous-improvement-is-dead/) - Continuous Improvement – Do what you did last time, just three percent better, so none of your people can try new things. Discontinuous Improvement – Make a radical step-change in performance at the expense of continuously improving it. Continuous Improvement – Do what you did last time so you can say “no” to projects
- [When is too much too much?](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/03/24/when-is-too-much-too-much/) - When you’re out of gas, you’re out of gas. And there are no two ways about it, the last year has emptied our tanks. And when your tank is empty, it’s empty. When there’s nothing left, there’s nothing left. But what if you’re asked for more? What is the mechanism to communicate that the workload
- [The Discomfort Around Diversity of Perspective](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/03/17/the-discomfort-around-diversity-of-perspective/) - When your organization doesn’t want to hear your truth because it contradicts a decision they’ve already made, that’s a sign of trouble. It’s a sign they’re going to do what they’re going to and they don’t care all that much about you. But, what if they’re wrong? And what if your perspective could snatch victory
- [How To Grow Leaders](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/03/10/how-to-grow-leaders/) - If you want to grow leaders, meet with them daily. If you want to grow leaders, demand that they disagree with you. If you want to grow leaders, help them with all facets of their lives. If you want to grow leaders, there is no failure, there is only learning. If you want to grow
- [The Illusion of Control](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/03/03/the-illusion-of-control-2/) - Unhappy: When you want things to be different than they are. Happy: When you accept things as they are. Sad: When you fixate on times when things turned out differently than you wanted. Neutral: When you know you have little control over how things will turn out. Anxious: When you fixate on times when
- [When You Have Disagreement](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/02/24/when-you-have-disagreement/) - When you have nothing to say, don’t say it. But, when you have something to say, you must say it. When you think your response might be taken the wrong way, it will. When you take care to respond effectively, your response might be taken the wrong way. When you have disagreement, there’s objective evidence
- [What do you want?](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/02/17/what-do-you-want/) - If you want a promotion, do the right thing. If you do the right thing, be prepared to be misunderstood. If you want the credit, you don’t want the best outcome for all. If you want to have focus, spend time outside. If you want to have more control, give it away. If you want
- [Musings on Skillfulness](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/02/10/musings-on-skillfulness/) - Best practices are good, but dragging projects over the finish line is better. Alignment is good, but not when it’s time for misalignment. Short-term thinking is good, as long as it’s not the only type of thinking. Reuse of what worked last time is good, as long as it’s bolstered by the sizzle of novelty.
- [What will they see?](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/02/03/what-will-they-see/) - When people look back on your life, what will they see? When you’re dead and gone, what stories will your kids tell about you? What stories will your coworkers tell? How about your bosses? Will they see your disagreement as mischievous or skillful? Will they see your frustration as disruptive or caring? Will they see
- [Will you be remembered?](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/01/27/will-you-be-remembered/) - 100% agreement means there’s less than 100% truth. If, as a senior leader, you know there are differing opinions left unsaid, what would you do? Would you chastise the untruthful who are afraid to speak their minds? Would you simply ignore what you know to be true and play Angry Birds on your phone? Would
- [What should we do next?](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/01/20/what-should-we-do-next/) - Anonymous: What do you think we should do next? Me: It depends. How did you get here? Anonymous: Well, we’ve had great success improving on what we did last time. Me: Well, then you’ll likely do that again. Anonymous: Do you think we’ll be successful this time? Me: It depends. If the performance/goodness has been
- [Just start.](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/01/13/just-start-2/) - You’re not missing anything. It’s time to start. Afraid to fail? Start anyway. Don’t have the experience? Well, you won’t be able to say that once you start. Just start. It’s time. Don’t have the money? Start small. And if that won’t work, start smaller. Start small, but start. Worried about what people might say?
- [Our behavior is our choice.](https://www.shipulski.com/2021/01/06/our-behavior-is-our-choice/) - Disagreement is fine as long as it’s founded on mutual respect. There’s no place for violence Both sides don’t have to like each other to work together, but nonviolence must carry the day. Our differences may be significant, but never large enough to justify violence. We have more in common than we realize. When we
- [How will you allocate your time differently?](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/12/30/how-will-you-allocate-your-time-differently/) - I don’t like resolutions, but I do like looking back to assess how spent my time differently over the previous year. Below is a short exercise that could help you get ready for 2021. Below are some questions intended to help you assess how you spent your time differently in 2020. Take fifteen seconds, or
- [The Foundation of Leadership Development -- Work Products](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/12/23/the-foundation-of-leadership-development-work-products/) - Leadership development is a good idea in principle, but not in practice. Assessing a person against a list of seven standard competencies does not a leadership development plan make. Nor does a Meyers-Briggs assessment or a strengths assessment. The best way I know to describe the essence of leadership development is through a series of
- [The Dark Underbelly of Success](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/12/16/the-dark-underbelly-of-success/) - Best practice – a tired recipe you recycle because you think the world is static. Emergent practice – a new way to work created from whole cloth because the context is new. Worst practice – a best practice applied to a world that has changed around you. Novel practice– work that recognizes the world is
- [The Innovation Mantra](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/12/09/the-innovation-mantra/) - We have an immense distaste for uncertainty. And, as a result, we create for ourselves a radical and unskillful overestimation of our ability to control things. Our distaste of uncertainty is really a manifestation of our fear of death. When we experience and acknowledge uncertainty, it’s an oblique reminder that we will die. And that’s
- [When is it innovation theater?](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/12/02/when-is-it-innovation-theater/) - When you go to the cinema or the playhouse you go you see a show. The show may be funny, it may be sad, it may be thought-provoking, it may be beautiful, and it may take your mind off your problems for a couple of hours; but it’s not real. Sure, the storyline is good,
- [The Giving Continuum](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/11/25/the-giving-continuum/) - I don’t give – regardless of the situation, there is no giving. I won’t give – in this situation, there is no giving. I cannot give – there’s a reason for the non-giving. I might give – there’s something about this situation that could result in giving. I almost gave – there was strong consideration
- [Regardless of the question, trust is the answer.](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/11/18/regardless-of-the-question-trust-is-the-answer/) - If you want to make a difference, build trust. If you want to build trust, do a project together. If you want to build more trust, help the team do work they think is impossible. If you want to build more trust, contribute to the project in the background. If you want to build
- [Goals, goals, goals.](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/11/11/goals-goals-goals/) - All goals are arbitrary, but some are more arbitrary than others. When your company treats goals like they’re not arbitrary, welcome to the US industrial complex. What happens if you meet your year-end goals in June? Can you take off the rest of the year? What happens if at year-end you meet only your mid-year
- [The Power of Purple](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/11/04/the-power-of-purple/) - Blue isn’t better than red, and red isn’t better than blue. What’s better is wearing a red shirt with blue pants or a blue shirt with red pants. What’s better is wearing one blue sock and one red sock. What’s better is swapping one of your red socks for a friend’s blue one. Two matching
- [Do you have a problem?](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/10/28/do-you-have-a-problem/) - If it’s your problem, fix it. If it’s not your problem, let someone else fix it. If you fix someone else’s problem, you prevent the organization from fixing the root cause. If you see a problem, say something. If you see a problem, you have an obligation to do something, but not an obligation to
- [How to Know if Your Idea is Novel](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/10/21/how-to-know-if-your-idea-is-novel/) - When your idea is novel, no one will steal it. No NDA required. If your idea is truly novel, no one will value it. And that’s how you’ll know it’s novel. When your idea is novel, no one will adopt it. This isn’t much of a stretch as, due to not-invented-here (NIH), no one will
- [How To Know If You Are Trusted](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/10/14/how-to-know-if-you-are-trusted/) - When you have trust, people tell you the truth. When you don’t have trust, people tell you what you want to hear. When you have trust, people tell you when others tell you what you want to hear. When you don’t have trust, people watch others tell you what you want to hear.
- [The Trust Network](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/04/03/the-trust-network/) - Trust is the most important element in business. It’s not organizational authority, it’s not alignment, it’s not execution, it’s not best practices, it’s not competitive advantage and it’s not intellectual property. It’s trust. Trust is more powerful than the organizational chart. Don’t believe me? Draw the org chart and pretend the person at the top
- [The truth can set you free, but only if you tell it.](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/10/07/the-truth-can-set-you-free-but-only-if-you-tell-it/) - Your truth is what you see. Your truth is what you think. Your truth is what feel. Your truth is what you say. Your truth is what you do. If you see something, say something. If no one wants to hear it, that’s on them. If your truth differs from common believe,
- [Technical Risk, Market Risk, and Emotional Risk](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/09/30/technical-risk-market-risk-and-emotional-risk/) - Technical risk – Will it work? Market risk – Will they buy it? Emotional risk – Will people laugh at your crazy idea? Technical risk – Test it in the lab. Market risk – Test it with the customer. Emotional risk – Try it with a friend. Technical risk – Define the right
- [Sometimes too much is just that - too much.](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/09/23/sometimes-too-much-is-just-that-too-much/) - When your best isn’t good enough, how do you feel? When your best isn’t good enough, what do you do? But more importantly, when your best isn’t good enough, what does that say about you? If your best used to be good enough and now it isn’t, there are four possible explanations. 1.) Expectations increased
- [If you're not creating derision, why bother?](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/09/16/if-youre-not-creating-derision-why-bother/) - When you see good work, say so. When you see exceptional work, say so in public. When you’ve had good teachers, be thankful. When you’ve had exceptional teachers, send them a text because texts are personal. When you do great work and no one acknowledges it, take some time to feel the pain and get
- [Say no to say yes.](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/09/09/say-no-to-say-yes/) - If the project could obsolete your best work, do it. Otherwise, do something else. But first, makes sure there’s solid execution on the turn-the-crank projects that pay the bills. If you always say yes to projects, you never have the bandwidth to do the magical work no one is asking for. When was the last
- [It's time to start starting.](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/09/02/its-time-to-start-starting/) - What do we do next? I don’t know What has been done before? What does it do now? What does it want to do next? If it does that, who cares? Why should we do it? I don’t know. Will it increase the top line? If not, do something else. Will it increase the
- [Without a problem there can be no progress.](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/08/26/without-a-problem-there-can-be-no-progress/) - Without a problem, there can be no progress. And only after there’s too much no progress is a problem is created. And once the problem is created, there can be progress. When you know there's a problem just over the horizon, you have a problem. Your problem is that no one else sees the
- [Bad Behavior or Unskillful Behavior?](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/08/19/bad-behavior-or-unskillful-behavior/) - What if you could see everyone as doing their best? When they are ineffective, what if you think they are using all the skills to the best of their abilities? What changes when you see people as having a surplus of good intentions and a shortfall of skills? If someone cannot recognize social cues and
- [What You Don't Have](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/08/12/what-you-dont-have/) - If you have more features, I will beat you with fewer. If you have a broad product line, I will beat you with my singular product. If your solution is big, mine will beat you with small. If you sell across the globe, I will sell only in the most important market and beat you.
- [The Next Prime Directive - Software-Based Recurring Revenue](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/08/05/the-next-prime-directive-software-based-recurring-revenue/) - If you know how what the system wants to be when it grows up, you can work in this line of evolution with 100% impunity. In that way, the key to success is learning how to see what the system wants to be when it grows up; learning to see where it wants to go;
- [Feel It All](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/07/29/feel-it-all/) - In these trying times, when 30% of Americans cannot pay their rent or mortgage, is it okay to put hard limits on the amount of work we do or to take good care of ourselves or to feel good about taking a vacation? With remote work, we commute less, which should give us more time
- [Are you doing what you did last time?](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/07/22/are-you-doing-what-you-did-last-time/) - If there’s no discomfort, there’s no novelty. When there’s no novelty, it means you did what you did last time. When you do what you did last time, you don’t grow. When you do what you did last time, there’s no learning. When you do what you did last time, opportunity cost eats you. If
- [Great companies are great because of the people that work there.](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/07/15/great-companies-are-great-because-of-the-people-that-work-there/) - You can look at people’s salaries as a cost that must be reduced. Or, you can look at their salaries as a way for them to provide for their families. With one, you cut, cut, cut. With the other, you pay the fairest wage possible and are thankful your people are happy. You can look
- [Why do you go to work?](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/07/08/why-do-you-go-to-work/) - Why did you go to work today? Did your work bring you meaning? How do you feel about that? Your days are limited. What would it take to slather your work with meaning? Last week, did you make a difference? Did you make a ruckus? Would you rather strive for the next job, or would
- [Wrong Questions to Ask When Doing Technology Development](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/07/01/wrong-questions-to-ask-when-doing-technology-development/) - I know you’re trying to do something that has never been done before, but when will you be done? I don’t know. We'll run the next experiment then decide what to do next. If it works, we’ll do more of that. And if it doesn’t, we’ll do less of that. That’s all we know right
- [Two Sides of the Equation](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/06/24/two-sides-of-the-equation/) - If you want new behavior, you must embrace conflict. If you can’t tolerate the conflict, you’ll do what you did last time. If your point of view angers half and empowers everyone else, you made a difference. If your point of view meets with 100% agreement, you wasted everyone’s time. If your role is to
- [Mutual Trust, Intuitive Skill, and Center of Emphasis](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/06/17/mutual-trust-intuitive-skill-and-center-of-emphasis/) - Mutual Trust. Who do you trust implicitly? And of that shortlist, who trusts you implicitly? You know how they’ll respond. You know what decision they’ll make. And you don’t have to keep tabs on them and you don’t have to manage them. You do your thing and they do theirs and, without coordinating, everything meshes.
- [It's not a race to complete the most tasks.](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/06/10/its-not-a-race-to-complete-the-most-tasks/) - If you have too much to do, that means you have more tasks than time. And because time is limited, the only way out is to change how you think about your task list. If you have too many tasks, you haven’t yet decided which tasks are important and which are less important. Until you
- [No Time for the Truth](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/06/03/no-time-for-the-truth/) - Company leaders deserve to know the truth, but they can no longer take the time to learn it. Company leaders are pushed too hard to grow the business and can no longer take the time to listen to all perspectives, no longer take the time to process those perspectives, and no longer take the time
- [Effectiveness at the Expense of Efficiency](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/05/27/effectiveness-at-the-expense-of-efficiency/) - Efficiency is a simple measurement - output divided by resources needed to achieve it. How much did you get done and how many people did you need to do it? What was the return on the investment? How much money did you make relative to how much you had to invest? We have efficiency measurements
- [Bringing Your Whole Self to Work](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/05/20/bringing-your-whole-self-to-work/) - Do you bring your whole self to work? If not, how do you feel about that? When you demonstrate your unique goodness and it’s met with “You don’t fit in.” they may say they want you to fit in, but, really, that’s objective evidence that they need your unique goodness. Witches were burned at the
- [Battling Judgment](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/05/13/battling-judgment/) - Judging results when things are different than our expectations. If you don’t like being judged, stop judging yourself. No one can judge you without your consent, even you. If someone judges you, that’s about them. People’s judgment of you is none of your business. When you see a friend judging themselves, give them a hug.
- [The Power of Prototypes](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/05/06/the-power-of-prototypes/) - A prototype moves us from “That’s not possible.” to “Hey, watch this!” A prototype moves us from “We don’t do it that way.” to “Well, we do now.” A prototype moves us from “That’s impossible.” to “As it turns out, it was only almost impossible.” A prototype turns naysayers into enemies and profits. A prototype
- [Words To Live By](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/04/29/words-to-live-by/) - What people think about you is none of your business. If you’re afraid to be wrong, you shouldn’t be setting direction. Think the better of people, as they’ll be better for it. When you find yourself striving, pull the emergency brake and figure out how to start thriving. If you want the credit, you don’t
- [Want to succeed? Learn how to deliver customer value.](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/04/15/want-to-succeed-learn-how-to-deliver-customer-value/) - Whatever your initiative, start with customer value. Whatever your project, base it on customer value. And whatever your new technology, you guessed it, customer value should be front and center. Whenever the discussion turns to customer value, expect confusion, disagreement, and, likely, anger. To help things move forward, here’s an operational definition I’ve found helpful:
- [When it's Time to Make a Difference](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/04/22/when-its-time-to-make-a-difference/) - When it’s time to make meaningful change, there’s no time for consensus. When the worn path of success must be violated, use a small team. When it’s time for new thinking, create an unreasonable deadline, and get out of the way. The best people don’t want the credit, they want to be stretched just
- [The Most Important People in Your Company](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/04/08/the-most-important-people-in-your-company/) - When the fate of your company rests on a single project, who are the three people you’d tap to drag that pivotal project over the finish line? And to sharpen it further, ask yourself “Who do I want to lead the project that will save the company?” You now have a list of the three
- [When It's Time to Defy Gravity](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/04/01/when-its-time-to-defy-gravity/) - If you pull hard on your team, what will they do? Will they rebel? Will they push back? Will they disagree? Will they debate? And after all that, will they pull with you? Will the pull for three weeks straight? Will they pull with their whole selves? How do you feel about that? If you
- [The Giving Cycle](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/03/25/the-giving-cycle/) - The best gifts are the ones that demonstrate to the recipients that you understand them. You understand what they want; you understand their size (I’m and men’s large); you understand their favorite color; you know what they already have; you know what they’re missing, and you know what they need. On birthdays and holidays, everyone
- [Love Everyone and Tell the Truth](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/03/18/love-everyone-and-tell-the-truth/) - If you see someone doing something that’s not quite right, you have a choice – call them on their behavior or let it go. In general, I have found it’s more effective to ignore behavior you deem unskillful if you can. If no one will get hurt, say nothing. If it won’t start a trend,
- [Learn to Recognize Waiting](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/03/11/learn-to-recognize-waiting/) - If you want to do a task, but you don’t have what you need, that’s waiting for a support resource. If you need a tool, but you don’t have it, you wait for a tool. If you need someone to do the task, but you don’t have anyone, you wait for people. If you need
- [Stop, Start, Continue the Hard Way](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/03/04/stop-start-continue-the-hard-way/) - The stop, start, continue method (SSC) is a simple, yet powerful, way to plan your day, week and year. And though it’s simple, it’s not simplistic. And though it looks straightforward, it’s onion-like in its layers. Stop, start, continue (SSC) is interesting in that it’s forward-looking, present-looking, and rearward-looking at the same time. And its
- [A Recipe to Grow Talent](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/02/26/a-recipe-to-grow-talent/) - Do it for them, then explain. When the work is new for them, they don’t know how to do it. You’ve got to show them how to do it and explain everything. Tell them about your top-level approach; tell them why you focus on the new elements; show them how to make the chart that
- [Strategy, Tactics, and Action](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/02/19/strategy-tactics-and-action/) - When it comes to strategy and tactics, there are a lot of definitions, a lot of disagreement, and a whole lot of confusion. When is it strategy? When is it tactics? Which is more important? How do they inform each other? Instead of definitions and disagreement, I want to start with agreement. Everyone agrees that
- [What it Takes to Do New Work](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/02/12/what-it-takes-to-do-new-work/) - What it takes to do new work. Confidence to get it wrong and confidence to do it early and often. Purposeful misuse of worst practices in a way that makes them the right practices. Tolerance for not knowing what to do next and tolerance for those uncomfortable with that. Certainty that they’ll ask
- [The Toughest Word to Say](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/02/05/the-toughest-word-to-say/) - As the world becomes more connected, it becomes smaller. And as it becomes smaller, competition becomes more severe. And as competition increases, work becomes more stressful. We live in a world where workloads increase, timelines get pulled in, metrics multiply and “accountability” is always the word of the day. And in these trying times, the
- [28 Things I Learned the Hard Way](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/01/29/things-i-learned-the-hard-way/) - If you want to have an IoT (Internet of Things) program, you’ve got to connect your products. If you want to build trust, give without getting. If you need someone with experience in manufacturing automation, hire a pro. If the engineering team wants to spend a year playing with a new technology, before the bell
- [When The Wheels Fall Off](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/01/22/when-the-wheels-fall-off/) - When your most important product development project is a year behind schedule (and the schedule has been revved three times), who would you call to get the project back on track? When the project’s unrealistic cost constraints wall of the design space where the solution resides, who would you call to open up the higher-cost
- [Two Questions to Grow Your Business](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/01/15/two-questions-to-grow-your-business/) - Two important questions to help you grow your business: Is the problem worth solving? When do you want to learn it’s not worth solving? No one in your company can tell you if the problem is worth solving, not even the CEO. Only the customer can tell you if the problem is worth solving. If
- [Use less, make more.](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/01/08/use-less-make-more/) - If you use fewer natural resources, your product costs less. If you use recycled materials, your product costs less. If you use less electricity, your product costs less. If you use less water to make your product, your product costs less. If you use less fuel to ship your product, your product costs less. If
- [The Five Hardships of Success](https://www.shipulski.com/2020/01/01/the-five-hardships-of-success/) - Everything has a half-life, but we don’t behave that way. Especially when it comes to success. The thinking goes - if it was successful last time, it will be successful next time. So, do it again. And again. It’s an efficient strategy - the heavy resources to bring it to life have already been spent.
- [Where is petroleum consumed?](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/12/25/where-is-petroleum-consumed/) - In last week's post, I provided a chart that describes the sources of electricity for the United States. Coal is the largest source of electricity (38%) and natural gas is the next largest (25%). The largest non-carbon source is nuclear (22%) and the largest renewable sources are wind (6%) and solar (5%). The data from
- [How is your electricity made?](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/12/18/how-is-your-electricity-made/) - How is your electricity made? Which source produces the most electricity? How much is made from zero-carbon sources? How much is made from renewable sources? In 2017, Otherlab was contracted by the Advanced Research Project Agency of the Department of Energy (ARPA-e) to review all available energy data sources and create an ultra-high resolution picture of
- [Thinking Dynamically](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/12/11/thinking-dynamically/) - If you’re asked to do cost reduction, before doing that work, ask for objective evidence that the work to grow the top line is adequately staffed. You can’t secure your company’s future through cost reduction, so before you spend time and effort to grow the bottom line, make sure the work to grow the top
- [To increase profits, make the planet smile.](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/12/04/to-increase-profits-make-the-planet-smile/) - What if the most profitable thing you could do was work that reduced the rise in the earth’s temperature? What if it was most profitable to reduce CO2 emissions, improve water quality or generate renewable energy? Or what if it was most profitable to do work that indirectly made the planet smile? What if while
- [Whatever your situation, be thankful for it.](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/11/27/whatever-your-situation-be-thankful-for-it/) - If you’re thankful for the success you’ve had, you’re in for a letdown because your success will be short-lived. And don’t take it personally – the Universe knows regression to the mean is real and it will bring you to your knees whether you believe it or not. Like with all things, success is impermanent.
- [Time Affluence](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/11/20/time-affluence/) - When you have more than enough money, you have money affluence. With it, you can buy what you want, eat what you want, drive what you want, and travel where you want. But to have this unallocated money, or discretionary money, you probably need to spend a heck of a lot of time working. Climbing
- [All-or-Nothing vs. One-in-a-Row](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/11/13/all-or-nothing-vs-one-in-a-row/) - All-or-nothing thinking is exciting – we’ll launch a whole new product family all at once and take the market by storm! But it’s also dangerous – if we have one small hiccup, “all” turns into “nothing” in a heartbeat. When you take an all-or-nothing approach, it’s likely you’ll have far too little “all” and far
- [Uncertainty Isn't All Bad](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/11/06/uncertainty-isnt-all-bad/) - If you think you understand what your customers want, you don’t. If you’re developing a new product for new customers, you know less. If you’re developing a new technology for a new product for new customers, you know even less. If you think you know how much growth a new product will deliver, you don’t.
- [Companies, Acquisitions, Startups, and Hurricanes](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/10/30/companies-acquisitions-startups-and-hurricanes/) - If you run a company, the most important thing you can control is how you allocate your resources. You can’t control how the people in your company will respond to input, but you can choose the projects they work on. You can’t control which features and functions your customers will like, but you can choose
- [When Problems Are Bigger Than They Seem](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/10/23/when-problems-are-bigger-than-they-seem/) - If words and actions are different, believe the actions. If the words change over time, don’t put stock in the person delivering them. If a good friend doesn’t trust someone, neither should you. If the people above you don’t hold themselves accountable, yet they try to hold you accountable, shame on them. If people are
- [Without trust, there is nothing.](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/10/16/without-trust-there-is-nothing/) - If someone treats you badly, that’s on them. You did nothing wrong. When you do your best and your boss tells you otherwise, your boss is unskillful. If you make a mistake, own it. And if someone gives you crap about it, disown them. If someone is untruthful, hold them accountable. If they’re still untruthful,
- [When Best Practice Withers Into Old Practice](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/10/09/when-best-practice-withers-into-old-practice/) - When best practices get old, they turn into ruts of old practice. No, it doesn’t make sense to keep doing it this way, but we’ve done it this way in the past, we’ve been successful, and we’re going to do it like we did last time. You can misuse old practices long after they’ve withered
- [Now that you know your product is bad for the environment, what will you do?](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/10/02/if-your-products-were-bad-for-the-environment-what-would-you-do/) - If your products were bad for the environment, what would you do? If your best products were the worst for the environment, what would you do? If you knew your products hurt the people that use them, what would you do? If you knew your sales would be reduced if you told your customers that
- [You might be a leader if...](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/09/25/you-might-be-a-leader-if/) - If you have to tell people what to do, you didn’t teach them to think for themselves. If you know one of your team members has something to say but they don’t say it, it’s because you didn’t create an environment where they feel safe. If your new hire doesn’t lead an important part of
- [How To Know if You're Moving in a New Direction](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/09/18/how-to-know-if-youre-moving-in-a-new-direction/) - If you want to move in a new direction, you can call it disruption, innovation, or transformation. Or, if you need to rally around an initiative, call it Industrial Internet of Things or Digital Strategy. The naming can help the company rally around a new common goal, so take some time to argue about and
- [520 Wednesdays in a Row](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/09/11/520-wednesdays-in-a-row/) - This is a special post for me. It’s a huge milestone. With this post, I have written a new blog post every Wednesday evening for the last ten years. That’s 520 Wednesdays in a row. I haven’t missed a single one and none have been repeats. As I write this, the significance is starting to
- [Will your work make the world a better place?](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/09/04/will-your-work-make-the-world-a-better-place/) - As parents, our lives are centered around our children and their needs. In the shortest-term, it’s all about their foundational needs like food, water, and shelter. In the medium-term, it’s all about education and person-to-person interactions. And in the longest-term, it’s all about creating the causes and conditions to help them grow into kind, caring
- [Dare To Feel Stuck](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/08/28/dare-to-feel-stuck/) - When you’re stuck, it’s not because you don’t have good ideas. And it’s not because you’re not smart. You’re stuck because you’re trying to do something difficult. You’re stuck because you’re trying to triangulate on something that’s not quite fully formed. Simply put, you’re stuck because it’s not yet time to be unstuck. Anyone can
- [When it rains, don't blame the clouds.](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/06/05/when-it-rains-dont-blame-the-clouds/) - When it rains, you get wet. It doesn't matter if you get mad at the clouds, you still get wet. And if you curse the sky, you still get wet. So, why the anger and cursing? Do you really think the clouds see you're outside and choose to rain on you? Do you think the
- [Wanting things to be different](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/05/29/wanting-things-to-be-different/) - Wanting things to be different is a good start, but it's not enough. To create conditions for things to move in a new direction, you've got to change your behavior. But with systems that involve people, this is not a straightforward process. To create conditions for the system to change, you must understand the system''s
- [Trust is better than control.](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/12/07/trust-is-better-than-control/) - Although it's more important than ever, trust is in short supply. With everyone doing three jobs, there's really no time for anything but a trust-based approach. Yet we're blocked by the fear that trust means loss of control. But that's backward. Trust is a funny thing. If you have it, you don't need it. If
- [Engineering's Contribution to the Profit Equation](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/08/22/engineerings-contribution-to-the-profit-equation/) - We all want to increase profits, but sometimes we get caught in the details and miss the big picture: Profit = (Price – Cost) x Volume. It’s a simple formula, but it provides a framework to focus on fundamentals. While all parts of the organization contribute to profit in their own way, engineering’s work has
- [Speed Through Better Decision Making](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/07/31/speed-through-better-decision-making/) - If you want to go faster there are three things to focus on: decisions, decisions, and decisions. First things first - define the decision criteria before the work starts. That's right - before. This is unnatural and difficult because decision criteria are typically poorly defined, if not undefined, even when the work is almost complete. Don't believe me?
- [Disruption - the work that makes the best things obsolete.](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/08/21/disruption-the-work-that-makes-the-best-things-obsolete/) - I think the word "disruption" doesn't help us do the right work. Instead, I use "innovation." But that word has also lost much of its usefulness. There are different flavors of innovation and the flavor that maps to disruption is the flavor that makes things obsolete. This flavor of new work doesn't improve things, it
- [Transcending a Culture of Continuous Improvement](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/07/03/transcending-a-culture-of-continuous-improvement/) - We've been too successful with continuous improvement. Year-on-year, we've improved productivity and costs. We've improved on our existing products, making them slightly better and adding features. Our recipe for success is the same as last year plus three percent. And because the customers liked the old one, they'll like the new one just a bit
- [If you're not sure...](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/08/14/if-youre-not-sure/) - If you’re not sure, it likely hasn’t been done before. If you’re sure it’s been done before, teach someone how to do it. If you’re not sure, you may not know how people will respond. If you’re sure how they’ll respond, why bother? If you’re not sure, you may be onto something. If you’re sure,
- [People, Money and Time](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/08/07/people-money-and-time/) - If you want the next job, figure out why. There’s nothing wrong with wanting the job you have. When you don’t care about the next job it’s because you fit the one you have. A larger salary is good, but time with family is better. Less time with family is a downward spiral into sadness.
- [What Good Ideas Feel Like](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/07/24/what-good-ideas-feel-like/) - If you have a reasonably good idea, someone will steal it, make it their own and take credit. No worries, this is what happens with reasonably good ideas. If you have a really good idea, you’ll have to explain it several times before anyone understands it. Then, once they understand, you’ll have to help them
- [The Difficulty of Commercializing New Concepts](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/07/17/the-difficulty-of-commercializing-new-concepts/) - If you have the data that says the market for the new concept is big enough, you waited too long. If you require the data that verifies the market is big enough before pursuing new concepts, you’ll never pursue them. If you’re afraid to trust the judgement of your best technologists, you’ll never build the
- [As a leader, be truthful and forthcoming.](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/07/10/as-a-leader-be-truthful-and-forthcoming/) - Have you ever felt like you weren’t getting the truth from your leader? You know – when they say something and you know that’s not what they really think. Or, when they share their truth but you can sense that they’re sharing only part of the truth and withholding the real nugget of the truth?
- [Innovation Truths](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/06/26/innovation-truths/) - If it’s not different, it can’t be innovation. With innovation, ideas are the easy part. The hard part is creating the engine that delivers novel value to customers. The first goal of an innovation project is to earn the right to do the second hardest thing. Do the hardest thing first. Innovation is 50% customer,
- [Seeing Things as They Can't Be](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/06/19/seeing-things-as-they-cant-be/) - When there’s a big problem, the first step is to define what’s causing it. To do that, based on an understanding of the physics, a sequence of events is proposed and then tested to see if it replicates the problem. In that way, the team must understand the system as it is before the problem
- [Don't change culture. Change behavior.](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/06/12/dont-change-culture-change-behavior/) - There’s always lots of talk about culture and how to change it. There is culture dial to turn or culture level to pull. Culture isn’t a thing in itself, it’s a sentiment that’s generated by behavioral themes. Culture is what we use to describe our worn paths of behavior. If you want to change culture,
- [Purposeful Procrastination](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/05/22/purposeful-procrastination/) - There's a useful trick when you want to do new work. It has some of the characteristics of procrastination, but it's different. With procrastination, the problem solver waits to start the solving until it's almost impossible to meet the deadline. The the solver uses the unreasonable deadline to create internal pressure so they can let
- [What if you were gone for a month?](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/05/15/what-if-you-were-gone-for-a-month/) - If you were out of the office for a month and did not check email or check in, how would things go? Your Team – Would your team curl up into a ball under the pressure, or would they use their judgement when things don’t go as planned? I think the answer depends on how
- [You don't need more ideas.](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/05/08/you-dont-need-more-ideas/) - Innovation isn’t achieved by creating more ideas. Innovation is realized when ideas are transformed into commercialized products and services. Innovation is realized when ideas are transformed into new business models that deliver novel usefulness to customers and deliver increased revenues to the company. In a way, creating ideas that languish in their own shadow is
- [Whether it goes well or poorly, what matters is how you respond.](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/05/01/whether-it-goes-well-or-poorly-what-matters-is-how-you-respond/) - When was the last time you taught someone a new method or technique? What was their reaction? How did it make you feel? Will you do it again? When was the last time you learned something new from a colleague? What was your reaction? What did you do so it would happen again? When was
- [Before solving, learn more about the problem.](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/04/24/before-solving-learn-about-the-problem/) - Ideas are cheap, but converting them into a saleable product and building the engine to make it all happen is expensive. Before spending the big money, spend more time than you think reasonable to answer these three questions. Is the problem big enough? There’s no sense spending the time and money to solve a problem
- [Innovation isn't uncertain, it's unknowable.](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/04/17/innovation-is-unknowable/) - Where’s the Marketing Brief? In product development, the Marketing team creates a document that defines who will buy the new product (the customer), what needs are satisfied by the new product and how the customer will use the new product. And Marketing team also uses their crystal ball to estimate the number of units the
- [The Trust Network II](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/04/10/the-trust-network-ii/) - I stand by my statement that trust is the most important element in business (see The Trust Network.) The Trust Network are the group of people who get the work done. They don’t do the work to get promoted, they just do the work because they like doing the work. They don’t take others’ credit
- [The Most Powerful Question](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/03/27/the-most-powerful-question/) - Artificial intelligence, 3D printing, robotics, autonomous cars – what do they have in common? In a word – learning. Creativity, innovation and continuous improvement – what do they have in common? In a word – learning. And what about lifelong personal development? Yup – learning. Learning results when a system behaves differently than your mental
- [What's in the way?](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/03/20/whats-in-the-way/) - If you want things to change, you have two options. You can incentivize change or you can move things out of the way that block change. The first way doesn’t work and the second one does. For more details, click this link at it will take you to a post that describes Danny Kahneman’s thoughts
- [You're probably not doing transformational work.](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/03/13/youre-probably-not-doing-transformational-work/) - Continuous improvement is not transformation. With continuous improvement, products, processes and services are improved three percent year-on-year. With transformation, products are a mechanism to generate data, processes are eliminated altogether and services move from fixing what’s broken to proactive updates that deliver the surprising customer value. A strategic initiative is not transformation. A strategic initiative
- [Business is about feelings and emotions.](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/03/06/business-is-about-feelings-and-emotions/) - If you use your sane-and-rational lenses and the situation doesn’t make sense, that’s because the situation is not governed by sanity and rationality. Yet, even though there’s a mismatch between the system’s behavior and sane-and-rational, we still try to understand the system through the cloudy lenses of sanity and rationality. Computer programs are sane and
- [As a leader, your response is your responsibility.](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/02/27/your-response-is-your-responsibility-2/) - When you're asked to do more work that you and your team can handle, don't pass it onto your team. Instead, take the heat from above but limit the team's work to a reasonable level. When the number of projects is larger than the budget needed to get them done, limit the projects based on
- [Subtle Leadership](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/02/20/subtle-leadership/) - You could be a subtle leader if… You create the causes and conditions for others to shine. And when they shine, you give them the credit they’re due. You don’t have the title, but when the high-profile project hits a rough patch, you get called in to create the go-forward plan. One of your best
- [If the goal isn't believable, it's not achievable.](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/02/13/how-to-create-stretch-goals/) - I’m all for stretch goals to help people grow. “Hey, you did this last year but I think you can do ten percent more this year. And here’s why – [list three reasons here.]” This works. This helps people grow. This is effective. This is grounded in what happened last year. This is grounded in
- [Productivity Through Prioritization](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/02/06/productivity-through-prioritization/) - If you haven’t noticed, the pace and complexity of our work is ever-increasing. There’s more to do and there are more interactions among the players and the tasks. And though there’s more need for thinking and planning, there’s less time to do it. And the answer from company leadership – more productivity. With the traditional
- [Seeing What Isn't There](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/01/30/seeing-what-isnt-there/) - It’s relatively straightforward to tell the difference between activities that are done well and those that are done poorly. Usually sub-par activities generate visual signals to warn us of their misbehavior. A bill isn’t paid, a legal document isn’t signed or the wrong parts are put in the box. Though the specifics vary with context,
- [Growth Isn't The Answer](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/01/23/growth-isnt-the-answer/) - Most companies have growth objectives - make more, sell more and generate more profits. Increase profit margin, sell into new markets and twist our products into new revenue. Good news for the stock price, good news for annual raises and plenty of money to buy the things that will help us grow next year. But
- [How to Prevent Depletion](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/01/16/how-to-prevent-depletion/) - On every operating plan there are more projects than there are people to do them and at every meeting there more new deliverables than people to take them on. At every turn, our demand for increased profits pushes our people for more. And, to me, I think this is the reason every day feel fuller
- [On Gumption](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/01/09/on-gumption/) - Doing new work takes gumption. But there are two problems with gumption. One, you’ve got to create it from within. Two, it takes a lot of energy to generate the gumption and to do that you’ve got to be physically fit and mentally grounded. Here are some words that may help. Move from self-judging to
- [Advice To Young Design Engineers](https://www.shipulski.com/2019/01/02/advice-to-young-design-engineers/) - If your solution isn’t sold to a customer, you didn’t do your job. Find a friend in Marketing. If your solution can’t be made by Manufacturing, you didn’t do your job. Find a friend in Manufacturing. Reuse all you can, then be bold about trying one or two new things. Broaden your horizons. Before solving
- [An Environmental Call-To-Arms for Industry](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/12/26/an-environmental-call-to-arms-for-industry/) - What is your obligation to improve the health of our planet? For the CEO – Look around. Look at Europe. Look at China’s plans. Look at the startups. I know you want to achieve your growth objectives, but if you don’t take seriously the race toward cleaner products and services, you’ll go out of business.
- [Organizational Learning](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/12/19/organizational-learning/) - The people within companies have development plans so they can learn new things and become more effective. There are two types of development plans – one that builds on strengths and another that shore up shortcomings. And for both types, the most important step is to acknowledge it’s important to improve. Before a plan can
- [Why not choose the right words?](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/12/12/why-not-choose-the-right-words/) - We all want to make progress. We all want to to do the right thing. And we all have the best intentions. But often we don't pay enough attention to the words we use. There are pure words that convey a message in a kind soothing way and there are snarl words that convey a
- [Four Questions to Choose Innovation Projects](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/12/05/four-questions-to-choose-innovation-projects/) - It’s a challenge to prioritize and choose innovation projects. There are open questions on the technology, the product/service, the customer, the price and sales volume. Other than that, things are pretty well defined. But with all that, you’ve still go to choose. Here are some questions that may help in your selection process Is it
- [Four Pillars of Innovation - People, Learning, Judgment and Trust](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/11/28/four-pillars-of-innovation-people-learning-judgment-and-trust/) - Innovation is a hot topic. Everyone wants to do it. And everyone wants a simple process that works step-wise - first this, then that, then success. But Innovation isn't like that. I think it's more effective to think of innovation as a result. Innovation as something that emerges from a group of people who are
- [The only thing predictable about innovation is its unpredictability.](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/11/21/the-only-thing-predictable-about-innovation-is-its-unpredictability/) - A culture that demands predictable results cannot innovate. No one will have the courage to do work with the requisite level of uncertainty and all the projects will build on what worked last time. The only predictable result - the recipe will be wildly successful right up until the wheels fall off. You can’t do
- [Healthy Dissatisfaction](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/11/14/healthy-dissatisfaction/) - If you’re dissatisfied, there’s a reason. If you’re dissatisfied, there’s hope for us all. If you’re not dissatisfied, there’s no forcing function for change. If you’re not dissatisfied, the status quo will carry the day. If you’re not dissatisfied, innovation work is not for you. If you’re dissatisfied, you know it could be better next
- [How To Innovate Within a Successful Company](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/11/07/how-to-innovate-within-a-successful-company/) - If you’re trying to innovate within a successful company, I have one word for you: Don’t. You can’t compete with the successful business teams that pay the bills because paying the bills is too important. No one in their right mind should get in the way of paying them. And if you do put yourself
- [Defy success and choose innovation.](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/10/31/defy-success-and-choose-innovation/) - Innovation is difficult because it requires novelty. And novelty is difficult because it’s different than last time. And different than last time is difficult because you’ve got to put yourself out there. And putting yourself out there is difficult because no one wants to be judged negatively. Success, no matter how small, reinforces what was
- [Important Questions for Innovation](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/10/24/important-questions-for-innovation/) - Here are some important questions for innovation. What’s the Distinctive Value Proposition? The new offering must help the customer make progress. How does the customer benefit? How is their life made easier? How does this compare to the existing offerings? Summarize the difference on one page. If the innovation doesn’t help the customer make progress,
- [The Courage To Speak Up](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/10/17/the-courage-to-speak-up/) - If you see things differently than others, congratulations. You’re thinking for yourself. If you find yourself pressured into thinking like everyone else, that’s a sign your opinion threatens. It’s too powerful to be dismissed out-of-hand, and that’s why they want to shut you up. If the status quo is angered by your theory, you’re likely
- [Cubicles - just say no.](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/10/10/cubicles-just-say-no/) - Whether it's placing machine tools on the factory floor or designing work spaces for people that work at the company, the number one guiding metric is resources per square foot. If you're placing machine tools, this metric causes the machines to be stacked closely together, where the space between them is minimized, access to the
- [For innovation to flow, drive out fear.](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/10/03/for-innovation-to-flow-drive-out-fear/) - The primary impediment to innovation is fear, and the prime directive of any innovation system should be to drive out fear. A culture of accountability, implemented poorly, can inject fear and deter innovation. When the team is accountable to deliver on a project but are constrained to a fixed scope, a fixed launch date and
- [You can't innovate when...](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/09/26/you-cant-innovate-when/) - Your company believes everything should always go as planned. You still have to do your regular job. The project’s completion date is disrespectful of the work content. Your company doesn’t recognize the difference between complex and complicated. The team is not given the tools, training, time and a teacher. You’re asked to generate 500 ideas
- [Three Rules for Better Decisions](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/09/19/three-rules-for-better-decisions/) - The primary responsibility of management is to allocate resources in the way that best achieves business objectives. If there are three or four options to allocate resources, which is the best choice? What is the time horizon for the decision? Is it best to hire more people? Why not partner with a contract resource company?
- [Ask for the right work product and the rest will take care of itself.](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/09/12/ask-for-the-right-work-product-and-the-rest-will-take-care-of-itself/) - We think we have more control than we really have. We imagine an idealized future state and try desperately to push the organization in the direction of our imagination. Add emotional energy, define a rational approach, provide the supporting rationale and everyone will see the light. Pure hubris. What if we took a different approach?
- [The Four Ways to Run Projects](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/09/05/the-four-ways-to-run-projects/) - There are four ways to run projects. One - 80% Right, 100% Done, 100% On Time, 100% On Budget Fix time Fix resources Flex scope and certainty Set a tight timeline and use the people and budget you have. You’ll be done on time, but you must accept a reduced scope (fewer bells and whistles)
- [How To Design](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/08/29/how-to-design/) - What do they want? Some get there with jobs-to-be-done, some use Customer Needs, some swear by ethnographic research and some like to understand why before what. But in all cases, it starts with the customer. Whichever mechanism you use, the objective is clear – to understand what they need. Because if you don’t know what
- [To figure out what's next, define the system as it is.](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/08/22/to-figure-out-whats-next-define-the-system-as-it-is/) - Every day starts and ends in the present. Sure, you can put yourself in the future and image what it could be or put yourself in the past and remember what was. But, neither domain is actionable. You can’t change the past, nor can you control the future. The only thing that’s actionable is the
- [The Importance of Helping Others](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/08/15/the-importance-of-helping-others/) - When someone you care about needs help, help them. Even when you have other things to do, help them anyway. When people ask you for help, it’s a sign they trust you. And they trust you because you’ve demonstrated over time that your words and behaviors match. You said you’d do A and you did
- [The right time horizon for technology development](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/08/08/the-right-time-horizon-for-technology-development/) - Patents are the currency of technology and profits are the currency of business. And as it turns out, if you focus on creating technology you’ll get technology (and patents) and if you focus on profits you’ll get profits. But if no one buys your technology (in the form of the products or services that use
- [How mature is your technology?](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/08/01/how-mature-is-your-technology/) - As a technologist it's important to know the maturity of a technology. Like people, technologies are born, they become children, then adolescents, then adults and then they die. And like with people, the character and behavior of technologies change as they grown and age. A fledgling technology may have a lot of potential, but it
- [Is your work meaningful?](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/07/18/is-your-work-meaningful/) - Life’s too short to work on things that don’t make a difference. Sure, you’ve got to earn a living, but what kind of living is it if all you’re doing is paying for food and a mortgage? How do others benefit from your work? How does the planet benefit from your work? How is the
- [Is your tank empty?](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/07/25/is-your-tank-empty/) - Sometimes your energy level runs low. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just how things go. Just like a car’s gas tank runs low, our gas tanks, both physical and emotional, also need filling. Again, not a bad thing. That’s what gas tanks are for – they hold the fuel. We’re pretty good at remembering
- [Your response is your responsibility.](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/07/11/your-response-is-your-responsibility/) - If you don’t want to go to work in the morning, there’s a reason. If’ you/re angry with how things go, there’s a reason. And if you you’re sad because of the way that people treat you, there’s a reason. But the reason has nothing to do with your work, how things are going or
- [Situational Awareness (Winter is Coming)](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/07/04/situational-awareness-winter-is-coming/) - Business and life are all about choosing how you want to allocate your time and money. In life, it’s your personal time and money and in business it’s the company’s. If you’ve ever done any winter hiking, you know that it’s important to know the terrain. If there’s a mountain in the way, you either
- [Choosing What To Do](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/06/27/choosing-what-to-do/) - In business you’ve got to do two things: choose what to do and choose how to do it well. I’m not sure which is more important, but I am sure there’s far more written on how to do things well and far less clarity around how to choose what to do. Choosing what to do
- [Validate the Business Model Before Building It.](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/06/20/validate-the-business-model-before-building-it/) - One of the best ways to learn is to make a prototype. Prototypes come in many shapes and sizes, but their defining element is the learning objective behind them. When you start with what you want to learn, the prototype is sure to satisfy the learning objective. But start with the prototype, and no one
- [Even entrepreneurial work must fit with the brand.](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/06/13/even-entrepreneurial-work-must-fit-with-the-brand/) - To meet ever-increasing growth objectives, established companies want to be more entrepreneurial. And the thinking goes like this - launch new products and services to create new markets, do it quickly and do it on a shoestring. Do that Lean Startup thing. Build minimum viable prototypes (MVPs), show them to customers, incorporate their feedback, make
- [The people part is the hardest part.](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/06/06/the-people-part-is-the-hardest-part/) - The toughest part of all things is the people part. Hold on to being right and all you’ll be is right. Transcend rightness and get ready for greatness. Embrace hubris and there’s no room for truth. Embrace humbleness and everyone can get real. Judge yourself and others will pile on. Praise others and they will
- [A Little Uninterrupted Work Goes a Long Way](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/05/30/a-little-uninterrupted-work-goes-a-long-way/) - If your day doesn’t start with a list of things you want to get done, there’s little chance you’ll get them done. What if you spent thirty minutes to define what you want to get done and then spent an hour getting them done? In ninety minutes you’ll have made a significant dent in the
- [Testing the Business Model](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/05/23/testing-the-business-model/) - Sometimes we get caught up in the details when we should be working on the foundation. Here’s a rule: If the underlying foundation is not secure, don’t bother working on anything else. If you’re working on a couple new technologies, but the overall business model won’t be profitable, don’t work on the new technologies. Instead,
- [Make life easy for your customers.](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/05/16/make-it-easy-for-your-customers/) - Companies that have products want to improve them year-on-year. This year’s must be better than last year’s. For selfish reasons, we like to improve cost, speed and quality. Cost reduction drops profit directly to the bottom line. Increased speed reduces overhead (less labor per unit) and increases floor space productivity (more through the factory). Improved
- [The Slow No](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/05/09/the-slow-no/) - When there’s too much to do and too few to do it, the natural state of the system is fuller than full. And in today’s world we run all our systems this way, including our people systems. A funny thing happens when people’s plates are full – when a new task is added an existing
- [Being Right in the Right Way](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/05/02/being-right-in-the-right-way/) - When something doesn’t feel right, respect your intuition. Even when you don’t know why it doesn’t feel right, respect your gut. When something doesn’t make sense, don’t judge yourself negatively. Rather, make the commitment to dig deeply until you hit the fundamentals. When a proposed approach violates something inside, don’t be afraid to say what
- [How to Choose the Best Idea](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/04/25/how-to-choose-the-best-idea/) - We have too many ideas, but too few great ones. We don’t need more ideas, we need a way to choose the best one or two ideas and run them to ground. Before creating more ideas, make a list of the ones you already have. Put them in two boxes. In Box 1, list the
- [Everyday Leadership](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/04/18/everyday-leadership/) - What if your primary role every day was to put other people in a position to succeed? What would you start doing? What would you stop doing? Could you be happy if they got the credit and you didn’t? Could you feel good about their success or would you feel angry because they were acknowledged
- [For top line growth, think no-to-yes.](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/04/11/for-top-line-growth-think-no-to-yes/) - Bottom line growth is good, but top line growth is better. But if you want to grow the bottom line, ignore labor costs and reduce material costs. Labor cost is only 5-10% of product cost. Stop chasing it, and, instead, teach your design community to simplify the product so it uses fewer parts and design
- [How to Avoid a Cliff](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/04/03/how-to-avoid-a-cliff/) - Much like living organisms continually evolve to secure their place in the future, technological systems can be thought to display similar evolutionary behavior. Viruses mutate so some of them can defeat the countermeasures of their host and live to fight another day. Technological systems, as an expression of a company’s desire to survive, evolve to
- [Creating the Causes and Conditions for New Behavior to Grow](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/03/28/creating-the-causes-and-conditions-for-new-behavior-to-grow/) - When you see emergent behavior that could grow into a powerful new theme, it’s important to acknowledge the behavior quickly and most publicly. If you see it in person, praise the behavior in front of everyone. Explain why you like it, explain why it’s important, explain what it could become. And as soon as you
- [With novelty, less can be more.](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/03/21/with-novelty-less-can-be-more/) - When it’s time to create something new, most people try to imagine the future and then put a plan together to make it happen. There’s lots of talk about the idealize future state, cries for a clean slate design or an edict for a greenfield solution. Truth is, that’s a recipe for disaster. Truth is,
- [Thoughts on Selling](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/03/14/thoughts-on-selling/) - Like most things, selling is about people. The hard sell has nothing to do with selling. Just when you think you’re having the least influence, you’re having the most. When - ready, sell, listen - has run its course, try - ready, listen, sell. Regardless of how politely it's asked, “How many do you want?”
- [A Healthy Dose of Heresy](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/03/07/a-healthy-dose-of-heresy/) - Anything worth its salt will meet with resistance. More strongly, if you get no resistance, don’t bother. There’s huge momentum around doing what worked last time. Same as last time but better; build on success; leverage last year’s investment; we know how to do it. Why are these arguments so appealing? Two words: comfort and
- [What's your problem?](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/02/28/whats-your-problem/) - If you don’t have a problem, you’ve got a big problem. It’s important to know where a problem happens, but also when it happens. Solutions are 90% defining and the other half is solving. To solve a problem, you’ve got to understand things as they are. Before you start solving a new problem, solve the
- [The Leader's Journey](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/02/21/the-leaders-journey/) - If you know what to do, do it. Don’t ask, just do. If you’re pretty sure what to do, do it. Don’t ask, just do. If you think you may know what to do, do it. Don’t ask, just do. If you don’t know what to do, try something small. Then, do more of what
- [Mapping the Future with Wardley Maps](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/02/14/mapping-the-future/) - How do you know when it’s time to reinvent your product, service or business model? If you add ten units of energy and you get less in return than last time, it’s time to work in new design space. If improvement in customer goodness (e.g., miles per gallon in a car) has slowed or stopped,
- [Innovation - Words vs. Actions](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/02/07/innovation-words-vs-actions/) - Innovation isn’t a thing in itself. Companies need to meet their growth objectives and innovation is the word experts use to describe the practices and behaviors they think will maximize the likelihood of meeting those growth objectives. Innovation is a catchword phrase that has little to no meaning. Don’t ask about innovation, ask how to
- [Too Many Balls in the Air](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/01/31/too-many-balls-in-the-air/) - In today’s world of continuous improvement, everything is seen as an opportunity for improvement. The good news is things are improving. But the bad news is without governance and good judgement, things can flip from “lots of opportunity for improvement” to “nothing is good enough.” And when that happens people would rather hang their heads
- [If you want to learn, define a learning objective.](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/01/24/if-you-want-to-learn-define-a-learning-objective/) - Innovation is all about learning. And if the objective of innovation is learning, why not start with learning objectives? Here’s a recipe for learning: define what you want to learn, figure how you want to learn, define what you’ll measure, work the learning plan, define what you learned and repeat. With innovation, the learning is
- [Technology, Technologists and Customers](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/01/17/technology-technologists-and-customers/) - Henry Ford famously said if he asked people what they wanted, they would have asked for faster horses. And there’s a lot of truth to his statement. If you ask potential customers what they want next, they’ll give you an answer. And when you show them the prototype, they won’t like it. Their intentions are
- [The one good way to change behavior.](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/11/01/the-one-good-way-to-change-behavior/) - There’s one good way to change behavior. But don’t take my word for it, take Daniel Kahneman’s, psychologist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. In Freakonomics Radio's podcast How to Launch a Behavioral Change Revolution, Kahneman explains how to achieve change in behavior. His explanation is short [30:35 – 35:21] and good. Kahneman
- [Don't trust your gut, run the test.](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/01/10/dont-trust-your-gut-run-the-test/) - At first glance, it seems easy to run a good test, but nothing can be further from the truth. The first step is to define the idea/concept you want to validate or invalidate. The best way is to complete one of these two sentences: I want to learn that [type your idea here] is true.
- [It's time to stretch yourself.](https://www.shipulski.com/2018/01/03/its-time-to-stretch-yourself/) - If the work doesn’t stretch you, choose new work. Don’t go overboard and make all your work stretch you and don’t choose work that will break you. There’s a balance point somewhere between 0% and 100% stretch and that balance point is different for everyone and it changes over time. Point is, seek your balance
- [The Evolution of New Ideas](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/12/27/the-evolution-of-new-ideas/) - Before there is something new to see, there is just a good idea worthy of a prototype. And before there can be good ideas there are a whole flock of bad ones. And until you have enough self confidence to have bad ideas, there is only the status quo. Creating something from nothing is difficult. New things are
- [Starting 101](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/12/20/starting-101/) - Doing challenging work isn’t difficult. Starting challenging work is difficult. The downside of making a mistake is far less than the downside of not starting. If you know how it will turn out, you waited too long to start. Stopping is fine, as long as it’s followed closely by starting. The scope of the project
- [A Barometer for Uncertainty](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/12/13/a-barometer-for-uncertainty/) - Novelty, or newness, can be a great way to assess the status of things. The level of novelty is a barometer for the level of uncertainty and unpredictability. If you haven’t done it before, it’s novel and you should expect the work to be uncertain and unpredictable. If you’ve done it before, it’s not novel
- [Allocating resources as if people and planet mattered.](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/12/06/allocating-resources-for-short-medium-and-long/) - Business is about allocating resources to achieve business objectives. And for that, the best place to start is to define the business objectives. First – what is the timeframe of the business objectives? Well, there are three – short, medium and long. Short is about making payroll, shipping this month’s orders and meeting this year’s
- [A three-pronged approach for making progress](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/11/29/a-three-pronged-approach-for-making-progress/) - When you’re looking to make progress, the single most important skill is to see waiting as waiting. The first place to look for waiting is the queue in front of a shared resource. Like taking a number at the deli, you queue up behind the work that got there first and your work waits its
- [Additive Manufacturing's Holy Grail](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/11/22/additive-manufacturings-holy-grail/) - The holy grail of Additive Manufacturing (AM) is high volume manufacturing. And the reason is profit. Here’s the governing equation: (Price – Cost) x Volume = Profit The idea is to sell products for more than the cost to make them and sell a lot of them. It’s an intoxicatingly simple proposition. And as long
- [Make It Easy](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/11/15/make-it-easy/) - When you push, you make it easy for people resist. When you break trail, you make it easy for them to follow. Efficiency is overrated, especially when it interferes with effectiveness. Make it easy for effectiveness to carry the day. You can push people off a cliff or build them a bridge to the other
- [The Power of Surprise](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/11/08/the-power-of-surprise/) - There’s disagreement on what is creative, innovative and disruptive. And there is no set of hard criteria to sort concepts into the three categories. Stepping back a bit, a lesser but still important sorting is an in-or-out categorization. Though not as good as discerning among the three, it is useful to decide if a new concept
- [How to wallow in the mud of uncertainty.](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/10/25/how-to-wallow-in-the-mud-of-uncertainty/) - Creativity and innovation are dominated by uncertainty. And in the domain of uncertainty, not only are the solutions unknown, the problems are unknown. And yet, we still try to use the tried-and-true toolbox of certainty even after it’s abundantly clear those wrenches don’t fit. When wallowing in the mud of uncertainty and company leaders ask,
- [To improve productivity, it's time to set limits.](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/10/18/to-improve-productivity-its-time-to-set-limits/) - The race for productivity is on. And to take productivity to the next level, set limits. To reduce the time wasted by email, limit the number of emails a person can send to ten emails per day. Also, eliminate the cc function. If you send a single email to ten people, you’re done for the
- [Innovation in three words - Solve Different Problems](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/10/11/innovation-in-three-words-solve-different-problems/) - With innovation, novel solutions pay the bills - a new solution provides new value for the customer and the customer buys it from you. The trick, however, is to come up with novel solutions. To improve the rate and quality of novel solutions, there’s usually a focus on new tools, new problem-solving methods and training
- [The Additive Manufacturing Maturity Model](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/10/04/a-maturity-model-for-additive-manufacturing/) - Additive Manufacturing (AM) is technology/product space with ever-increasing performance and an ever-increasing collection of products. There are many different physical principles used to add material and there are a range of part sizes that can be made ranging from micrometers to tens of meters. And there is an ever-increasing collection of materials that can be
- [Creating the Causes and Conditions for Self Growth - once a week for the last eight years.](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/09/27/creating-the-causes-and-conditions-for-self-growth-once-a-week-for-the-last-eight-years/) - With this blog post, I’ve written a blog post every Wednesday night for eight years, with no misses and no repeats. It started while on vacation at a friend’s house where he suggested I write a blog. I had no idea what a blog was or how to write one. I didn’t know that a
- [Leadership isn't binary, and that's why judgement is important.](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/09/20/leadership-isnt-binary-and-thats-why-judgement-is-important/) - 100% of the people won’t like your new idea, even if it’s a really good one like the airplane, mayonnaise or air conditioning. I don’t know the right amount of conflict, but I know it’s not 0% or 100%. If 100% is good, 110% isn’t better. Percentages don’t work that way. 100% alignment is not
- [If you're not learning, what are you doing?](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/09/13/if-youre-not-learning-what-are-you-doing/) - You can’t learn until you acknowledge you don’t understand. No one knows everything. No sense pretending, especially if you want to learn. If you don’t know what you want to learn, any learning will do. If you’re not surprised, the learning could have been deeper. When you learn it won’t work it’s not failure, it’s
- [Wisdom Within Dichotomy](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/09/06/wisdom-within-dichotomy/) - To create future success, you’ve got to outlaw the very thing responsible for your past success. Sometimes slower is faster and sometimes slower is slower. But it’s always a judgement call. We bite the bullet and run expensive experiments because they’re valuable, but we neglect to run the least expensive thought experiments because they’re too
- [The Three Rs of Innovation - Risk, Reward, and Resources](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/08/30/the-three-rs-of-innovation-risk-reward-and-resources/) - Is it innovation or continuous improvement or is it innovation? Is it regular innovation or disruptive innovation? Is it new enough or too new? These questions are worse than meaningless as they suck emotional energy from the organization and divert emotional energy from the business objective. With every initiative, there are risks, rewards, and resources.
- [Innovate like a professional with the Discovery Burst Event.](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/08/23/innovate-like-a-professional-with-the-discovery-burst-event/) - Recreational athletes train because they enjoy the activity and they compete so they can tell themselves (and their friends) stories about the race. Their training routines are discretionary and their finish times are all about bragging rights. Professional athletes train because it’s their job. Their training is unpleasant, stressful and ritualistic. And it’s not optional.
- [Complaining isn't a strategy.](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/08/16/complaining-isnt-a-strategy/) - It’s easy to complain about how things are going, especially when they’re not going well. But even with the best intentions, complaining doesn’t move the organization in a new direction. Sometimes people complain to attract attention to an important issue. Sometimes it’s out of frustration, sometimes out of sadness and sometimes out of fear, but
- [Moving from Static to Dynamic](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/08/09/moving-from-static-to-dynamic/) - At some point, what worked last time won’t work this time. It’s not if the business model will go belly-up, it’s when. There are two choices. We can bury our heads in the sands of the status quo, or we can proactively observe the world in a forward-looking way and continually reorient ourselves as we
- [Learn in small batches, rinse and repeat.](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/08/02/learn-in-small-batches-rinse-and-repeat/) - When the work is new, it can’t be defined and managed like work that has been done before. Sometimes there’s a tendency to spend months to define the market, the detailed specification and the project timeline and release the package as a tidal wave that floods the organization with new work. Instead, start with a high-level
- [Preventive Maintenance for People](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/07/26/preventive-maintenance-for-people/) - A car has a warning light to protect its engine from running too hot, and when the light goes off you pull over immediately and shut it down. You made a big investment in your car, and you want to make sure it runs for a long time. You respect the warning light. And if
- [To improve innovation, use fewer words.](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/07/19/to-improve-innovation-use-fewer-words/) - Everyone knows innovation is difficult, but there’s no best way to make it easier. And everyone knows there’s plenty of opportunities to make innovation more effective, but, again, there’s no best way. Clearly, there are ways to improve the process, and new tools can help, but the right process improvements depend on the existing process
- [The Duplicitous Relationship Between Time and Money](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/07/12/the-duplicitous-relationship-between-time-and-money/) - If you had a choice to make an extra year’s salary or live an extra year, which would you choose? If you had a choice to make an extra month’s salary or live an extra month, make the same choice? What about the trade between a week’s pay and a week of life? Does anything
- [The zero-sum game is a choice.](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/07/05/the-zero-sum-game-is-a-choice/) - With a zero-sum game, if you eat a slice of pie, that’s one less for me; and if I eat one, that’s one less for you. A simple economic theory, but life isn’t simple like that. Here’s how life can go. Get with expectation – I expect you to give, and you do. Get without
- [Companies don't innovate, people do.](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/06/28/companies-dont-innovate-people-do/) - Big companies hold tightly to what they have until they feel threatened by upstarts, and not before. They mobilize only when they see their sales figures dip below the threshold of tolerability, and no sooner. And if they’re the market leaders, they delay their mobilization through rationalization. The dip is due to general economic slowdown
- [Working with uncertainty](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/06/21/working-with-uncertainty/) - Try – when you’re not sure what to do. Listen – when you want to learn. Build – when you want to put flesh on the bones of your idea. Think – when you want to make progress. Show a customer – when you want to know what your idea is really worth. Put it
- [Rule 1: Allocate resources for effectiveness.](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/06/14/rule-1-allocate-resources-for-effectiveness/) - We live in a resource constrained world where there’s always more work than time. Resources are always tighter than tight and tough choices must be made. The first choice is to figure out what change you want to make in the world. How do you want put a dent in the universe? What injustice do
- [The WHY and HOW of Innovation](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/06/07/the-why-and-how-of-innovation/) - Innovation is difficult because it demands new work. But, at a more basic level, it’s difficult because it requires an admission that the way you’ve done things is no longer viable. And, without public admission the old way won’t carry the day, innovation cannot move forward. After the admission there’s no innovation, but it’s one
- [Innovation is about good judgement.](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/05/31/innovation-is-about-good-judgement/) - It’s not the tools. Innovation is not hampered by a lack of tools (See The Innovator’s Toolkit for 50 great ones.), it’s hampered because people don’t know how to start. And it’s hampered because people don’t know how to choose the right tool for the job. How to start? It depends. If you have a
- [What's an innovator to do?](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/05/24/whats-an-innovator-to-do/) - Disruption, as a word, doesn’t tell us what to do or how to do it. Disruption, as a word, it’s not helpful and should be struck from the innovation lexicon. But without the word, what's an innovator to do? If you have a superpower, misuse it. Your brand's special capability is well known in your
- [How To Reduce Innovation Risk](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/05/17/how-to-reduce-innovation-risk/) - The trouble with innovation is it’s risky. Sure, the upside is nice (increased sales), but the downside (it doesn’t work) is distasteful. Everyone is looking for the magic pill to change the risk-reward ratio of innovation, but there is no pill. Though there are some things you can do to tip the scale in your
- [Before you can make a million, you've got to make the first one.](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/05/10/before-you-can-make-a-million-youve-got-to-make-the-first-one/) - With process improvement, the existing process is refined over time. With innovation, the work is new. You can’t improve a process that does not yet exist. Process creation, yes. Process improvement, no. Standard work, where the sequence of process steps has proven successful, is a pillar of the manufacturing mindset. In manufacturing, if you’re not
- [See differently to solve differently.](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/05/03/see-differently-to-solve-differently/) - There are many definitions for creativity and innovation, but none add meaningfully to how the work is done. Though it’s clear why the work is important - creativity and innovation underpin corporate prosperity and longevity – it’s especially helpful to know how to do it. At the most basic level, creativity and innovation are about
- [Put Yourself Out There](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/04/26/put-yourself-out-there-2/) - If you put yourself out there and it doesn’t go as you expect, don’t get down. All you are responsible for is your effort and your intentions. You’re not responsible for the outcome. Intentions don’t drive outcomes. In fact, be prepared for your work to bring out the opposite of your intentions. If you put
- [Success - the Enemy of New Work](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/04/19/success-the-enemy-of-new-work/) - Success is the enemy of new work. Past success blocks new work out of fear it will jeopardize future success, and future success blocks new work out of fear future success will actually come to be. Either way you look at it, success gets in the way of doing new work. Success itself has no
- [The Effective Expert](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/04/12/the-effective-expert/) - What if you’re asked to do something you know isn’t right? Not from an ethical perspective, but from a well-read, well-practiced, world-thought-leader perspective? What if you know it’s a waste of time? What if you know it sets a dangerous precedent for doing the wrong work for the right reason? What if the person asking
- [Innovation and the Mythical Idealized Future State](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/04/05/innovation-and-the-mythical-idealized-future-state/) - When it’s time to innovate, the first task is usually to define the Idealized Future State (IFS). The IFS is a word picture that captures what it looks like when the innovation work has succeeded beyond our wildest dreams. The IFS, so it goes, is directional so we can march toward the right mountain and
- [Forecasting The Next Big Technology](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/03/29/forecasting-the-next-big-technology/) - When a hurricane is on the horizon, we are all glued to our TVs. We want to know where it track so we know we’ll be safe. Will it track north and rumble over the top of us or will it track east and head out to sea? This is not trivial. In one scenario we
- [Maximize The Learning Ratio](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/03/22/maximize-the-learning-ratio/) - As creatures of habit, we like to do what we did last time. Outcomes match expectations and things go as planned - no surprises, no delays, no problems. But as creatures swimming in an evolutionary soup, doing what we did last time leads to extinction. Customers’ expectations multiply and competitors mutate into a higher performing
- [If you don't know what to do, you may be on the right track.](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/03/15/what-if-you-didnt-know-what-to-do/) - What would you do if: You had to push through your fear of being judged? You had to break some rules to get an idea off the ground? You had a concept that would displace your most successful product? Your colleague tried to scuttle your best idea? You knew it was time to stop judging
- [Responding With Kindness](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/03/08/responding-with-kindness/) - If some talks to you in an angry way, what do you do? Well, if it’s a family member you take it personally and respond with equal and opposite anger. If it’s someone at work, you take it personally but use a bit more restraint. And in both cases, the root of all the trouble
- [Improving What Is and Creating What Isn't](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/03/01/improving-what-is-and-creating-what-isnt/) - There are two domains – what is and what isn’t. We’re most comfortable in what is and we don’t know much about what isn’t. Neither domain is best and you can’t have one without the other. Sometimes it’s best to swim in what is and other times it’s better to splash around in what isn’t.
- [Dismantle the business model.](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/02/22/dismantle-business-model/) - When companies want to innovate, there are three things they can change – products, services and business models. Products are usually the first, second and third priorities, services, though they have a tighter connection with customer and are more lasting and powerful, sadly, are fourth priority. And business models are the superset and the most
- [Full Circle Innovation](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/02/15/full-circle-innovation/) - It’s not enough to sell things to customers, because selling things is transactional and, over time, transactional selling deteriorates into selling on price. And selling on price is a race to the bottom. Sales must move from transactional to relational, where people in the sales organization become trusted advisers and then something altogether deeper. At
- [Transcending Our Financial Accounting Systems](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/02/08/transcending-the-our-financial-accounting-systems/) - In business and in life, one of the biggest choices is what to do next. Sounds simple, but it’s not. The decision has many facets and drives many questions, for example: Does it fit with core competence? Does it fit with the brand? How many will we sell? What will the market look like after it’s launched?
- [Imagination](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/02/01/imagination/) - If you can’t imagine it, it can’t be done. But if it can’t be done, how can you imagine it? No one is buying a product like the one you imagined. There’s no market. No one can buy an imaginative product that doesn’t yet exist. There may be a market. Imagine things are good, just
- [With innovation you've got to feel worthy of the work.](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/01/25/with-innovation-youve-got-to-feel-worthy-of-the-work/) - When doing work that’s new, sometimes it seems the whole world is working against you. And, most of the time, it is. The outside world is impossible to control, so the only way to deal with external resistance is to pretend you don’t hear it. Shut your ears, put your head down and pull with
- [Diabolically Simple Prototypes](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/01/18/diabolically-simple-prototypes/) - Ideas are all talk and no action. Ideas are untested concepts that have yet to rise to the level of practicality. You can’t sell an idea and you can’t barter with them. Ideas aren’t worth much. A prototype is a physical manifestation of an idea. Where ideas are ethereal, prototypes are practical. Where ideas are
- [With innovation, it depends.](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/01/11/with-innovation-it-depends/) - By definition, when the work is new there is uncertainty. And uncertainty can be stressful. But, instead of getting yourself all bound up, accept it. More than that, relish in it. Wear it as a badge of honor. Not everyone gets the chance to work on something new - only the best do. And, because
- [The Causes and Conditions for Innovation](https://www.shipulski.com/2017/01/04/the-causes-and-conditions-for-innovation/) - Everyone wants to do more innovation. But how? To figure out what’s going on with their innovation programs, companies spend a lot of time to put projects into buckets but this generates nothing but arguments about whether projects are disruptive, radical innovation, discontinuous, or not. Such a waste of energy and such a source of
- [You can't control much with innovation, but you can control how you allocate resources.](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/12/28/you-cant-control-much-with-innovation-but-you-can-control-how-you-allocate-resources/) - In business, the only direct lever to pull is resource allocation. The people are already on the books, just change what they work on. But pulling that off is difficult. No need to wait for new hires, just move resources from one project to another. Stop project A and start project B. Simple, right? Not
- [Understanding the trajectory of the competitive landscape](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/12/21/understanding-the-trajectory-of-the-competitive-landscape/) - If you want to gain ground on your competition you’ve first got to know where things stand. Where are their advantages? Where are your advantages? Where is there parity? To quickly understand the situations there are three tricks: stay at a high level, represent the situation in a clear way and, where possible, use public
- [Learning at the expense of predicting.](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/12/14/learning-at-the-expense-of-predicting/) - When doing new things there is no predictability. There’s speculation, extrapolation and frustration, but no prediction. And the labels don’t matter. Whether it’s called creativity, innovation, discontinuous improvement or disruption there’s no prediction. The trick in the domain complexity is to make progress without prediction. The first step is to try to define the learning
- [Why not start?](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/12/07/why-not-start/) - It doesn’t matter where the journey ends, as long as it starts. After starting, don’t fixate on the destination, focus on how you get there. A long project doesn’t get shorter until you start. Neither does a short one. Start under the radar. When a project is too big to start, tear off a bite-sized
- [Sometimes things need to get worse before they can get better.](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/11/30/sometimes-things-need-to-get-worse-before-they-can-get-better/) - All the scary words are grounded in change. Innovation, by definition, is about change. When something is innovative it’s novel, useful and successful. Novel is another word for different and different means change. That’s why innovation is scary. And that’s why radical innovation is scarier. Continuous improvement, where everything old is buffed and polished into something
- [Connection Before Numbers](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/11/23/connection-before-numbers/) - Compound annual growth, profit margin, Key Business Indicators, capability indices, defects per million opportunity, confidence intervals, statistical significance, regression coefficients, temperature, pressure, force, stress, velocity, volume, inches, meters, decibels. The numbers are supposed to tell the story. But they don’t. There’s never enough data to see the whole picture. But, even when the discussion is
- [Where there's fun there is no fear.](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/11/16/where-theres-fun-there-is-no-fear/) - For those who lead projects and people, failure is always lurking in the background. And gone unchecked, it can hobble. Despite best efforts to put a shine on it, there’s still a strong negative element to failure. No two ways about it, failure is mapped with inadequacy and error. Failure is seen as the natural
- [Good teachers don't always look like teachers.](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/11/09/good-teachers-dont-always-look-like-teachers/) - When you’re laying in your camping tent dead tired and wanting for sleep the last thing you want is a rouge mosquito that dive-bombs you continuously throughout the night. With each sortie, it pushes on your expectations of how things should be. This little creature, so small and so powerless, becomes powerful enough to ruin
- [Business Models Are Finite](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/11/02/business-models-are-finite/) - Like it or not, everything changes. The rock solid brand will erode and the venerable business model will wither and die. Though you will add immense energy to hold on to what you built, natural forces of competitive evolution will come up with something makes your best work extinct. We see it in our everyday
- [Dangerous Expectations](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/10/26/dangerous-expectations/) - Expectations result from mental models and wants. When you have a mental model of a system and you want the system to behave in a way that fits your mental model, that’s an expectation. And when you want the system to behave differently than your mental model, that’s also an expectation. When the system matches
- [Celebrating Seven Years of Blog Posts - what I've learned about writing.](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/10/19/celebrating-seven-years-of-blog-posts-what-ive-learned-about-writing/) - Today marks seven years of weekly blog posts. Here’s what I’ve learned so far: When you can write about anything, what you choose tells everyone what you’re about. Sometimes you’ve got to start writing to figure out what you have to say. Some people think semicolons are okay; others don’t like to show off. When
- [What if it works?](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/10/12/what-if-it-works/) - When money is tight, it’s still important to do new work, but it's doubly important not to waste it. There are a number of models to increase the probability of success of new work. One well known approach is the VC model where multiple projects are run in parallel. The trick is to start projects with
- [Make it work.](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/10/05/make-it-work/) - If you think something can’t be done, it won’t get done. And if you think it may be possible, or is possible, it may get done. Those are the rules. If an expert says it will work, it will work. If they say it won’t work, it might. Experts can tell you will work, but
- [Sort By Importance](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/09/28/sort-by-importance/) - Urgency is important, but it’s not everything. It creates focus, but washes out the radical fringe. It’s easy to measure, but easy to measure doesn’t mean it’s the best thing to work on. In the heat of the moment urgency is king. Frantic project managers take shortcuts to meet a deadline defined fourteen months ago;
- [The Cycle of Success](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/09/21/the-cycle-of-success/) - There’s a huge amount of energy required to help an organization do new work. At every turn the antibodies of the organization reject new ideas. And it’s no surprise. The organization was created to do more of what it did last time. Once there’s success the organization forms structures to make sure it happens again.
- [Be done with the past.](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/09/14/be-done-with-the-past/) - The past has past, never to come again. But if you tell yourself old stories the past is still with you. If you hold onto your past it colors what you see, shapes what you think and silently governs what you do. Not skillful, not helpful. Old stories are old because things have changed. The
- [Moving Away from Best Practices](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/09/07/moving-away-from-best-practices/) - If the work is new, there is no best practice. When you read the best books you’ll understand what worked in situations that are different than yours. When you read the case studies you’ll understand how one company succeeded in a way that won’t work in yours. The best practices in the literature worked in
- [If you believe...](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/08/31/if-you-believe/) - If you believe the work is meaningful, best effort flows from every pore. If you believe in yourself, positivity carries the day. If you believe the work will take twelve weeks, you won’t get it done in a day-and-a-half. If you believe in yourself, when big problems find you, you run them to ground. If
- [Rule 1: Don't start a project until you finish one.](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/08/24/rule-1-dont-start-a-project-until-you-finish-one/) - One of the biggest mistakes I know is to get too little done by trying to do too much. In high school we got too comfortable with partial credit. Start the problem the right way, make a few little mistakes and don’t actually finish the problem – 50% credit. With product development, and other real life
- [Always Tight on Time](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/08/17/always-tight-on-time/) - There always far more tasks than there is time. Same for vacations and laundry. And that’s why it’s important to learn when-and how-to say no. No isn’t a cop-out. No is ownership of the reality we can’t do everything. The opposite of no isn’t maybe; the opposite of no is yes while knowing full well
- [Stopping Before Starting](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/08/10/stopping-before-starting/) - Whether it’s strategic planning or personal planning, work always outstrips capacity. And whether it’s corporate growth or personal improvement, there’s always a desire to do more. But the more-with-less and it’s-never-good-enough paradigms have overfilled everyone’s plates, and there’s no room for more. There is no more time to double-book and there are no more resources
- [Innovation's Mantra - Sell New Products To New Customers](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/07/16/innovations-mantra-sell-new-product-to-new-customers/) - There are three types of innovation: innovation that creates jobs, innovation that’s job neutral, and innovation that reduces jobs. Innovation that reduces jobs is by far the most common. This innovation improves the efficiency of things that already exist – the mantra: do the same, but with less. No increase in sales, just fewer people
- [The Emotional Constraint](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/07/21/the-emotional-constraint/) - "Constraint" is most often an excuse rather than a constraint. In fact, there are very few true constraints, with most of them living in the domain of physics. A constraint is when something cannot be done. It's not when something is difficult, complex, or unknown. And, it's not when the options are costly, big, or
- [Established companies must be startups, and vice versa.](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/08/03/established-companies-must-be-startups-and-vice-versa/) - For established companies, when times are good, it’s not the right time to try something new - the resources are there but the motivation is not; and when times are tough it’s also the wrong time to try something new - the motivation is there but the breathing room is not. There are an infinite
- [When on vacation, be on vacation.](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/07/27/when-on-vacation-be-on-vacation/) - As vacation approaches the work days drag. Sure you’re excited about the future, but when compared to the upcoming pleasantness, the daily grind feels more like a prison. Anticipating a good time in the future rips you from the present moment and puts you in a place you’d rather be. And when you don’t want
- [People Are The Best Investment](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/07/20/people-are-the-best-investment/) - Anything that happens happens because of people, and anything that doesn’t happen doesn’t happen because of people. Technology doesn’t create itself, products don’t launch themselves, companies don’t build themselves and trust doesn’t grow on its own. Any kind of work, any kind of service, any kind of organizing – it’s all done by people. The
- [Hire people that run toward even the toughest problems.](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/07/13/what-to-do-when-you-cant-solve-a-problem/) - If you don’t have a problem, there’s no problem. There are no resources without a problem and certainly no focus or momentum. If you don’t know your problem, stop. Take time to define your problem using a single page. Make a sketch or make a block diagram but make it clear. Make it so the
- [When doing new work, you'll be wrong.](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/07/06/when-doing-new-work-youll-be-wrong/) - When doing something from the first time you’re going to get it wrong. There’s no shame in that because that’s how it goes with new work. But more strongly, if you don’t get it wrong you’re not trying hard enough. And more strongly, embrace the inherent wrongness as a guiding principle. Take Small Bites. With
- [Why not do new work?](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/06/29/why-not-do-new-work/) - Doing new work isn’t difficult, thinking about is difficult. Stop thinking and start starting; there’s no other way. If you’re a scientist, everything has a half-life. If you’re Buddhist, everything is impermanent. If you’re a CEO, your business model is out of gas. It’s scary to admit everything goes away, but it’s far scarier to
- [Innovation Through Preparation](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/12/31/innovation-through-preparation/) - Innovation is about new; innovation is about different; innovation is about “never been done before”; and innovation is about preparation. Though preparation seems to contradict the free-thinking nature of innovation, it doesn't. In fact, where brainstorming diverts attention, the right innovation preparation focuses it; where brainstorming seeks more ideas, preparation seeks fewer and more creative
- [How To Learn Quickly](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/06/22/how-to-learn/) - When the work is new, it all comes down to learning. And with learning it all comes down to three questions: What do you want to learn? What actions will take to learn what you want to learn? How will you decide if you learned what you wanted to learn? There are many definitions of
- [How To Create Eye-Watering Ideas](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/06/15/how-to-create-eye-watering-ideas/) - With creativity, the leading thinking says the most important thing is to create many of ideas. When asked to generate many of ideas, the thinking goes, the team lets go of their inhibitions and good ideas slip through their mental filters. I’ve found that thinking misleading. I’ve found that creating many ideas results in many
- [Innovation as Revolution](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/04/13/innovation-is-revolution/) - Whether you’re a country, company, organization, or team, revolution is your mortal enemy. And that’s why the systems of established organization are designed to prevent impending revolutions and squish those that grow legs. And that's why revolutions are few and far between. (This is bad news for revolutionary innovation and radical change.) With regard to revolutions,
- [Diabolically Simple Questions](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/06/08/diabolically-simple-questions/) - Today’s work is complicated with electronic and mechanical subsystems wrapped in cocoons of software; coordination of matrixed teams; shared resources serving multiple projects; providing world class services in seventeen languages on four continents. And the complexity isn’t limited to high level elements. There is a living layer of complexity growing on all branches of the
- [Progress is powered by people.](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/06/01/progress-is-powered-by-people/) - People ask why. People buy products from people. The right people turn activity into progress. People want to make a difference, and they do. People have biases which bring a richer understanding. People use judgement - that’s why robots don’t run projects. People recognize when the rules don’t apply and act accordingly. Business models are
- [How To Allocate Resources](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/05/25/how-to-allocate-resources/) - How a company allocates its resources defines its strategy. But it’s tricky business to allocate resources in a way that makes the most of the existing products, services and business models yet accomplishes what’s needed to create the future. To strike the right balance, and before any decisions on specific projects, allocate the desired spending
- [Channel your inner sea captain.](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/05/18/channel-your-inner-sea-captain/) - When it’s time for new work, the best and smartest get in a small room to figure out what to do. The process is pretty simple: define a new destination, and, to know when they journey is over, define what it looks like to live there. Define the idealized future state and define the work
- [Quantification of Novel, Useful and Successful](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/05/11/quantification-of-novel-useful-and-successful/) - Is it disruptive? Is it innovative? Two meaningless questions. Two questions to stop asking. More strongly, stop using the words “disruptive” and “innovative” altogether. Strike them from your vocabulary and replace them with novel, useful, and successful. Argument is unskillful but analysis is skillful. And what’s needed for analysis is a framework and some good
- [Stop bad project and start good ones.](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/05/04/stop-bad-projects-and-start-good-ones/) - At the most basic level, business is about allocating resources to the best projects and executing those projects well. Said another way, business is about deciding what to work on and then working effectively. But how to go about deciding what to work on? Here is a cascade of questions to start you on your
- [The Chief Innovation Mascot](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/04/27/the-chief-information-mascot/) - I don't believe the role of Chief Innovation Officer has a place in today's organizations. Today, it should be about doing the right new work to create value. That work, I believe, should be done within the organization as a whole or within dedicated teams within the organization. That work, I believe, cannot be done by
- [Systematic Innovation](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/03/18/systematic-innovation/) - Innovation is a journey, and it starts from where you are. With a systematic approach, the right information systems are in place and are continuously observed, decision makers use the information to continually orient their thinking to make better and faster decisions, actions are well executed, and outcomes of those actions are fed back into the
- [Patents are supposed to improve profitability.](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/02/24/patents-are-supposed-to-improve-profitability/) - Everyone likes patents, but few use them as a business tool. Patents define rights assigned by governments to inventors (really, the companies they work for) where the assignee has the right to exclude others from practicing the concepts described in the patent claims. And patent rights are limited to the countries that grant patents. If
- [Dissent Without Reprisal - a key to company longevity](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/04/20/dissent-without-reprisal-a-key-to-company-longevity/) - In strategic planning there’s a strong forcing function that causes the organization to converge on a singular, company-wide approach. While this convergence can be helpful, when it’s force is absolute it stifles new ideas. The result is an operating plan that incrementally improves on last year’s work at the expense of work that creates new
- [If you don't know the critical path, you don't know very much.](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/03/30/if-you-dont-know-the-critical-path-hire-a-good-project-manager/) - Once you have a project to work on, it’s always a challenge to choose the first task. And once finished with the first task, the next hardest thing is to figure out the next next task. Two words to live by: Critical Path. By definition, the next task to work on is the next task
- [Is the new one better than the old one?](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/04/06/is-the-new-one-better-than-the-old-one/) - Successful commercialization of products and services is fueled by one fundamental – making the new one better than the old one. If the new one is better the customer experience is better, the marketing is better, the sales are better and the profits are better. It’s not enough to know in your heart that the
- [Organized For Uncertainty](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/03/23/organized-for-uncertainty/) - There are many different organizational structures, each with its unique set of strengths and weaknesses. The top-down organization has its strong alignment and limited flexibility while the bottom-up has its empowering consensus and sloth-like pace. Which one’s better? Well, it depends. The function-based organization has strong subject matter expertise and weak cross-function coordination, while the
- [What Innovation Feels Like](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/03/16/what-innovation-feels-like/) - There are countless books and articles on innovation. You can read how others have done it, what worked and what didn’t, how best to organize the company and how to define it. But I have not read much about how it feels to do innovation. Before anything meaningful can happen, there must be discontent or
- [Battling the Dark Arts of Productivity and Accountability](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/03/09/battling-the-dark-arts-of-productivity-and-accountability/) - How did you get to where you are? Was it a series of well-thought-out decisions or a million small, non-decisions that stacked up while you weren’t paying attention? Is this where you thought you’d end up? What do you think about where you are? It takes great discipline to make time to evaluate your life’s
- [The Yin and Yang of Work](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/03/02/the-yin-and-yang-of-work/) - Do good work and people will notice. Do work to get noticed and people will notice that too. Try to do good work and you’ll get ahead. Try to get ahead and you won’t. If the work feels good while you’re doing it, it’s good work. If it doesn’t, it’s not. If you watch the
- [You probably don't have an organizational capability gap.](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/02/17/you-probably-dont-have-an-organizational-capability-gap/) - The organizational capability of a company defines its ability to get things done. If you can’t pull it off, you have an organizational capability problem, or so the traditional thinking goes. If you don’t have enough people to do the work, and the work is not new, that’s not a capability gap, that’s an organizational
- [Your Words Make All The Difference.](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/02/10/your-words-make-all-the-difference/) - Sometimes people are unskillful with their words, and what they say can have multiple interpretations. But, though you don’t have control over their words, you do have control over how you interpret them. And the translation you choose makes all the difference. On the flipside, when you choose your words skillfully they can have a
- [You don't find the next new thing, it finds you.](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/02/03/you-dont-find-the-next-new-thing-it-finds-you/) - Doing something new is harder than it looks. The first step to doing new is to realize you have no interest in doing what was done last time. Profitable or not, the same old recipe just doesn’t do it for you. You don’t have to know why you don’t want to replay the tape, you
- [Creating a brand that lasts.](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/01/27/creating-a-brand-that-lasts/) - One of the best ways to improve your brand is to improve your products. The most common way is to provide more goodness for less cost – think miles per gallon. Usually it’s a straightforward battle between market leaders, where one claims quantifiable benefit over the other - Ours gets 40 mpg and theirs doesn’t.
- [Selling New Products to New Customers in New Markets](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/01/20/selling-new-products-to-new-customers-in-new-markets/) - There’s a special type of confusion that has blocked many good ideas from seeing the light of day. The confusion happens early in the life of a new technology when it is up and running in the lab but not yet incorporated in a product. Since the new technology provides a new flavor of customer
- [Doing New Work](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/01/13/doing-new-work/) - If you know what to do, do it. But if you always know what to do, do something else. There’s no excitement in turning the crank every-day-all-day, and there’s no personal growth. You may be getting glowing reviews now, but when your process is documented and becomes standard work, you’ll become one of the trivial
- [Finding Your Full Potential](https://www.shipulski.com/2016/01/06/finding-your-full-potential/) - If you’re all sad or anxious, you’re not operating at full potential. If you’re sad, you’re thinking about the past. You’re remembering what happened and wishing it went differently. You’re compromising the present by spending emotional energy on something that cannot change. The past is gone, never to return. Can’t unwind it, can’t undo it.
- [Don't mentor. Develop young talent.](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/12/30/dont-mentor-develop-young-talent/) - Your young talent deserves your attention. But it’s not for the sake of the young talent, it’s for the survival of your company. Your young talent understands technology far better than your senior leaders. And they don’t just know how it works, they know why people use it. And it’s not just social media. They
- [Step-Wise Learning](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/12/23/step-wise-learning/) - At every meeting you have a chance to move things forward or hold them back. When a new idea is first introduced it’s bare-naked. In its prenatal state, it’s wobbly and can’t stand on its own and is vulnerable to attack. But since it’s not yet developed, it’s impressionable and willing to evolve into what
- [To make a difference, believe in yourself.](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/12/17/to-make-a-difference-believe-in-yourself/) - When the mainstream products become tired, there’s incentive to replace it, but while sales are good there’s no compelling reason to obsolete your best work. Things that matter start from things that no longer matter. The gestation period for a novel idea to transition to viable technology then to a winning product and the processes
- [There is no failure, there is only learning.](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/12/09/there-is-no-failure-there-is-only-learning/) - You’re never really sure how your new project will turn out, unless you don’t try. Not trying is the only way to guarantee certainty – certainty that nothing good will come of it. There’s been a lot of talk about creating a culture where failure is accepted. But, failure will never be accepted, and nor
- [Growth for growth's sake isn't the answer](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/12/02/growth-for-growths-sake-isnt-the-answer/) - Growth, as a strategy, is flawed. Draw a control volume around the planet and accelerate the growth engines: the natural conclusion – we run out of natural resources. Not if, when. Anything with a finite end condition is finite. That’s a rule. Because the world has finite resources, growth is finite. Economists say growth is
- [Scarcity and Abundance](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/11/25/scarcity-and-abundance/) - Supply and demand have been joined at the hip since the beginning. When demand is high, the deck is shuffled so supply seems low. The fabricated scarcity drives up prices and shareholders are happy. When demand is low, the competition pushes each other on price. The abundance creates a commodity, and it’s a race to
- [Diversity Through Podcasts](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/11/18/diversity-through-podcasts/) - Podcasts are short bursts of learning curated to please your ear. And with training budgets slashed, podcasts can be a wonderful and cost effective (free) way to learn. The only way to battle uncertainty is to increase diversity. Bringing together people with diverse experiences lets us see things from multiple perspectives so we can better
- [Is it novel?](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/11/11/is-it-novel/) - Agree or not, companies think they have to grow to survive. (I don’t believe it.) For companies of all sizes and shapes, growth is the single most important forcing function. Is has tidal wave power, and whether you’re a surfer, sailor or power-boater, it’s important to respect it. More than that, when push comes to
- [You're worth it.](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/11/04/youre-worth-it/) - Why are you holding back? Why aren’t you giving your best? Why are you blocking yourself? An open, honest disagreement can be a positive learning experience for both. If your intensions are good, everything works out well. I’m not sure why, but when your pockets are full of good intensions, the universe is kind to
- [Put your success behind you.](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/10/28/put-your-success-behind-you/) - The biggest blocker of company growth is your successful business model. And the more significant it’s historical success, the more it blocks. Novelty meaningful to the customer is the life force of company growth. The easiest novelty to understand is novelty of product function. In a no-to-yes way, the old product couldn’t do it, but
- [The Special People That Believe in You](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/10/21/the-special-people-that-believe-in-you/) - Companies don’t need more ideas, they need ideas that are more meaningful. Companies have plenty ideas because they measure and track the number of new ideas generated. Enter your idea on the company’s open innovation web portal, and you’re done. Let the record show that a new idea was added to the hopper. Increment the
- [Ideas That Threaten](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/10/14/ideas-that-threaten/) - Every idea that’s worth its salt will be rejected out of hand. That’s just how it is. You can get angry because you didn’t get the support you think you deserve or you can accept the fact that their negative reaction is about them. The first way you shut down and your idea dies on
- [Celebrating Six Years of Blog Posts](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/10/07/celebrating-six-years-of-blog-posts/) - Today marks six years of blog posts published every Wednesday evening. 300 weeks in a row and I haven't skipped, forgot, or repeated. All written without an editor, though you knew that by the typos and grammar stumbles. It's a challenge to write every week, but it's worth it. Writing demands thinking things through, which can
- [The cards don't matter. What matters is how you play them.](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/09/30/the-cards-dont-matter-what-matters-is-how-you-play-them/) - What you think of yourself colors everything you do. When someone challenges your ideas, your response makes it clear how you see yourself. Regardless of your response, you tip your hand. Regardless of your response, everyone can see your cards. When you have a terrible poker hand like, say, a king high, you can respond
- [The Chief Do-the-Right-Thing Officer - a new role to protect your brand.](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/09/23/the-chief-do-the-right-thing-officer/) - Our unhealthy fascination with ever-increasing shareholder value has officially gone too far. In some companies dishonesty is now more culturally acceptable than missing the numbers. (Unless, of course, you get caught. Then, it’s time for apologies.) The sacrosanct mission statement can’t save us. Even the most noble can be stomped dead by the dirty boots
- [Innovation's Double Helix](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/12/24/innovations-double-helix/) - A technology without a market is as valuable as a market without a technology - they're both worthless. At one end of the spectrum you have something interesting running in the lab and at the other you have an interesting insight around a new market. But one won't do, and from either end of the
- [Geometric Success Through Mentorship](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/09/16/geometric-success-through-mentorship/) - Business processes and operating plans don’t get things done. People do. And the true blocker of progress is not bureaucracy; it’s the lack of clarity of people. And that’s why mentorship is so important. My definition of mentorship is: work that provides knowledge, support and advocacy necessary for new people to get things done. New
- [A most powerful practice - Try It.](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/09/09/a-most-powerful-practice-try-it/) - The first question is usually – What’s the best practice? And the second question is – Why aren’t you using it? In the done-it-before domain this makes sense. Best practices are best when inputs are tightly controlled, process steps are narrowly defined, and the desired output is known and can be formally defined. Industry loves
- [Recalibrating Your Fear](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/09/02/recalibrating-your-fear/) - Everyone is looking for that new thing, that differentiator, that edge. The important filtering question is: Has it been done before? If it has been done before it cannot be a new thing (that's a rule), so it's important to limit yourself to things that have not been done. Sounds silly to say, but with today's hectic pace
- [Skillful and Unskillful](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/08/26/skillful-and-unskillful/) - I used to believe others were responsible for my problem, now I believe I am responsible. The turning point came when I was struggling with a stressful situation a friend gave me some simple advice. He said “Look inside.” For some reason, that was enough for me to start my transformation. I used to compare
- [Accountability is not the answer.](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/08/19/accountability-is-not-the-answer/) - People have a natural bias toward doing what was done last time. The behavior is the result of untold generations that evolved to serve a single objective – to survive. Survival is about holding onto what is - protecting the family, providing food and waking up the next morning. In survival mode any energy spent
- [Innovation isn't a thing in itself.](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/08/12/innovation-isnt-a-thing-in-itself/) - Innovation isn’t a thing in itself, and it’s not something to bolster for the sake of bolstering. Innovation creates things (products, services, business models) that are novel, useful and successful. It’s important to know which flavor to go after, but before that it’s imperative to formalize the business objective. Like lean or Six Sigma, innovation
- [There is no control. There is only trust.](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/08/05/there-is-no-control-there-is-only-trust/) - Control strategies don’t work, but trust strategies do. Nothing goes as planned. Trying to control things tightly is wasteful. It takes too much energy to batten down all the hatches and keep them that way every-day-all-day. Maybe no water gets in, but the crew doesn’t get enough oxygen and their brains wither. Trust on the
- [All Your Mental Models are Obsolete](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/07/29/all-your-mental-models-are-obsolete/) - Even after playing lots of tricks to reduce its energy consumption, our brains still consume a large portion of the calories we eat. Like today's smartphones it's computing power is too big for it's battery so its algorithms conserve every chance they get. One of its go-to conservation strategies is to make mental models. The
- [Serious Business](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/07/22/serious-business/) - If you’re serious about your work, you’re too serious. We’re all too bound up in this life-or-death, gotta-meet-the-deadline nonsense that does nothing but get in the way. If you’re into following recipes, I guess it’s okay to be held accountable to measuring the ingredients accurately and mixing the cake batter with 110% effort. When your
- [Solving Intractable Problems](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/07/15/solving-intractable-problems/) - Immediately after there’s an elegant solution to a previously intractable problem, the solution is obvious to others. But, just before the solution those same folks said it was impossible to solve. I don’t know if there’s a name for this phenomenon, but it certainly causes hart burn for those brave enough to take on the
- [Hands-On or Hands-Off?](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/07/08/hands-on-or-hands-off/) - Hands-on versus hands-off – as a leader it’s a fundamental choice. And for me the single most important guiding principle is - do what it takes to maintain or strengthen the team’s personal ownership of the work. If things are going well, keep your hands off. This reinforces the team’s ownership and your trust in
- [The Fear of Being Judged](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/07/01/the-fear-of-being-judged/) - “Here - I made this.” Those are courageous words. When you make something no one has made and you show people you are saying to yourself – “I know my work will be judged, but that’s the price of putting myself out there. I will show my work anyway.” I think the fear of being
- [A Life Boat in the Sea of Uncertainty](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/06/24/a-life-boat-in-the-sea-of-uncertainty/) - Work is never perfect, family life is never perfect and neither is the interaction between them. Regardless of your expectations or control strategies, things go as they go. That's just what they do. We have far less control than we think. In the pure domain of physics the equations govern predictively - perturb the system
- [Out of Context](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/06/17/out-of-context/) - “It’s a fact.” is a powerful statement. It’s far stronger than a simple description of what happened. It doesn’t stop at describing a sequence of events that occurred in the past, rather it tacks on an implication of what to think about those events. When “it’s a fact” there’s objective evidence to justify one way
- [Don't worry about the words, worry about the work.](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/06/10/dont-worry-about-the-words-worry-about-the-work/) - Doing anything for the first time is difficult. It goes with the territory. Instead of seeing the associated anxiety as unwanted and unpleasant, maybe you can use it as an indicator of importance. In that way, if you don’t feel anxious you know you’re doing what you’ve done before. Innovation, as a word, has been
- [It's time to make a difference.](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/06/03/its-time-to-make-a-difference/) - If on the first day on your new job your stomach is all twisted up with anxiety and you’re second guessing yourself because you think you took a job that is too big for you, congratulations. You got it right. The right job is supposed to feel that way. If on your first day you’re
- [Are you striving or thriving?](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/05/27/are-you-striving-or-thriving/) - Thriving is not striving. And they're more than unrealated. They're opposites. Striving is about the now and what's in it for me. Thriving is about the greater good and choosing - choosing to choose your own path and choosing to travel it in your own way. Thriving doesn't thrive because outcomes fit with expectations. Thriving
- [To make a difference, add energy.](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/05/20/to-make-a-difference-add-energy/) - If you want to make a difference, you've got to add energy. And the more you can add the bigger difference you can make. Doing new is difficult and demands (and deserves) all the energy you can muster. Often it feels you’re the only one pushing in the right direction while everyone else is vehemently
- [If there's no conflict, there's no innovation.](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/05/13/if-theres-no-conflict-theres-no-innovation/) - With Innovation, things aren't always what they seem. And the culprit for all this confusion is how she goes about her work. Innovation starts with different, and that’s the source of all the turmoil she creates. For the successful company, Innovation demands the company does things that are different from what made it successful. Where the company
- [The Top Three Enemies of Innovation - Waiting, Waiting, Waiting](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/05/06/the-top-three-enemies-of-innovation-waiting-waiting-waiting/) - All innovation projects take longer than expected and take more resources than expected. It’s time to change our expectations. With regard to time and resources, innovation’s biggest enemy is waiting. There. I said it. There are books and articles that say innovation is too complex to do quickly, but complexity isn't the culprit. It’s true
- [The People Business](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/04/29/the-people-business-2/) - Things don’t happen on their own, people make them happen. With all the new communication technologies and collaboration platforms it’s easy to forget that what really matters is people. If people don’t trust each other, even the best collaboration platforms will fall flat, and if they don’t respect each other, they won’t communicate –
- [Strategic Planning is Dead.](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/04/22/strategic-planning-is-dead/) - Things are no longer predictable, and it’s time to start behaving that way. In the olden days (the early 2000s) the pace of change was slow enough that for most the next big thing was the same old thing, just twisted and massaged to look like the next big thing. But that’s not the case
- [Change your risk disposition.](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/04/15/change-your-risk-disposition/) - Innovation creates things that are novel, useful and successful. Something that’s novel is something that’s different, and something that’s different creates uncertainty. And, as we know, uncertainty is the enemy of all things sacred. Lean and Six Sigma have been so successful that the manufacturing analogy has created a generation that expects all things to
- [Innovation is alive and well.](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/04/08/innovation-is-alive-and-well/) - Innovation isn't a thing in itself; rather, it’s a result of something. Set the right input conditions, monitor the right things in the right ways, and innovation weaves itself into the genetic makeup of your company. Like ivy, it grabs onto outcroppings that are the heretics and wedges itself into the cracks of the organization. It
- [Compete with No One](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/04/01/compete-with-no-one/) - Today’s commercial environment is fierce. All companies have aggressive growth objectives that must be achieved at all costs. But there’s a problem – within any industry, when the growth goals are summed across competitors, there are simply too few customers to support everyone’s growth goals. Said another way, there are too many competitors trying to
- [Purposeful Violation of the Prime Directive](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/03/25/purposeful-violation-of-the-prime-directive/) - In Star Trek, the Prime Directive is the over-arching principle for The United Federation of Planets. The intent of the Prime Directive is to let a sentient species live in accordance with its normal cultural evolution. And the rules are pretty simple – do whatever you want as long as you don’t violate the Prime
- [The Certainty of Uncertainty](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/03/11/the-certainty-of-uncertainty/) - When the output cannot be predicted, that’s uncertainty. And if there’s one thing to be certain of it’s uncertainty is always part of the equation. With uncertainty, the generally accepted practice is minimization, and the method of choice is to control inputs. The best example is a high volume manufacturing process where inputs are controlled
- [Clarity is King](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/03/04/clarity-is-king/) - It all starts and ends with clarity. There’s not much to it, really. You strip away all the talk and get right to the work you’re actually doing. Not the work you should do, want to do, or could do. The only thing that matters is the work you are doing right now. And when
- [The Lonely Chief Innovation Officer](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/02/25/the-lonely-chief-innovation-officer/) - Chief Innovation Officer is a glorious title, and seems like the best job imaginable. Just imagine – every-day-all-day it’s: think good thoughts, imagine the future, and bring new things to life. Sounds wonderful, but more than anything, it’s a lonely slog. In theory it’s a great idea – help the company realize (and acknowledge) what
- [Innovation is a Choice](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/02/18/innovation-is-a-choice/) - A body in motion tends to stay in motion, unless it’s perturbed by an external force. And, it’s the same with people – we keep doing what we’re doing until there’s a reason we cannot. If it worked, there’s no external force to create changes, so we do more of what worked. If it didn’t
- [The Best Leading Indicator of Innovation](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/02/11/the-best-leading-indicator-of-innovation/) - Evaluation of innovation efforts is a hot topic. Sometimes it seems evaluating innovation is more important than innovation itself. Metrics, indicators, best practices, success stories – everyone is looking for the magical baseline data to compare to in order to define shortcomings and close them. But it’s largely a waste of time, because with innovation,
- [Constructive Conflict](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/02/04/constructive-conflict/) - Innovation starts with different, and when you propose something that's different from the recipe responsible for success, innovation becomes the enemy of success. And because innovation and different are always joined at the hip, the conflict between success and innovation is always part of the equation. Nothing good can come from pretending the conflict does
- [Innovation Fortune Cookies](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/01/28/innovation-fortune-cookies/) - If they made innovation fortune cookies, here's what would be inside: If you know how it will turn out, you waited too long. Whether you like it or not, when you start something new uncertainty carries the day. Don’t define the idealized future state, advance the current state along its lines of evolutionary potential. Try
- [Top Innovation Blogger of 2014](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/01/21/top-innovation-blogger-of-2014/) - Innovation Excellence announced their top innovation bloggers of 2014, and, well, I topped the list! The list is full of talented, innovative thinkers, and I’m proud to be part of such a wonderful group. I’ve read many of their posts and learned a lot. My special congratulations and thanks to: Jeffrey Baumgartner, Ralph Ohr, Paul
- [Battle Success With No-To-Yes](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/01/14/battle-success-with-no-to-yes/) - Everyone says they want innovation, but they don’t - they want the results of innovation. Innovation is about bringing to life things that are novel, useful and successful. Novel and useful are nice, but successful pays the bills. Novel means new, and new means fear; useful means customers must find value in the newness we
- [Mind-Body Motivation for Innovation](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/12/03/mind-body-motivation-for-innovation/) - Mind and body are connected, literally. It’s true - our necks bridge the gap. Don’t believe me? Locate one end of your neck and you’ll find your head or body; locate the other and you’ll find the other. And not only are they connected, they interact. Shared blood flows between the two and that means
- [To make the right decision, use the right data.](https://www.shipulski.com/2015/01/07/to-make-the-right-decision-use-the-right-data/) - When it’s time for a tough decision, it’s time to use data. The idea is the data removes biases and opinions so the decision is grounded in the fundamentals. But using the right data the right way takes a lot of disciple and care. The most straightforward decision is a decision between two things –
- [To improve innovation, improve clarity.](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/12/17/to-improve-innovation-improve-clarity/) - If I was CEO of a company that wanted to do innovation, the one thing I’d strive for is clarity. For clarity on the innovative new product, here’s what the CEO needs. Valuable Customer Outcomes – how the new product will be used. This is done with a one page, hand sketched document that shows
- [The Prerequisites for Greatness](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/12/10/the-prerequisites-for-greatness/) - There are three prerequisites for greatness. You have to believe greatness is possible. You have to believe greatness is worth it. You have to believe you’re worthy of the journey. If you can’t see old things in new ways, see new things in new ways, or see what’s missing, you won’t believe greatness is possible. To
- [Starting starts with starting.](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/10/29/starting-starts-with-starting/) - If you haven’t done it before and you want to start, you have only one option – to start. Much as there’s a huge difference between lightning and lightning bug, there’s a world of difference between starting and talking about starting. Where talking about starting flutters aimlessly flower to flower, starting jolts trees from the
- [How It Goes With Innovation](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/11/26/how-it-goes-with-innovation/) - Innovation starts with recognition of a big, meaningful problem. It can come from the strategic planning process; from an ongoing technology project that isn't going well; an ongoing product development project that's stuck in the trenches; or a competitor's unforeseen action. But where it comes from isn't the point. What matters is it's recognized by
- [Don't boost innovation, burst it.](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/11/19/dont-boost-innovation-burst-it/) - The most difficult part of innovation is starting, and the best way to start is the Innovation Burst Event, or IBE. The IBE is a short, focused event with three objectives: to learn innovation methods, to provide hands-on experience, and to generate actual results. In short, the IBE is a great way to get started.
- [Starvation, Pressure, and Perspective Shift](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/04/17/starvation-pressure-and-perspective-shift/) - I like Dave Snowden’s thinking on innovation – starvation, pressure, and perspective shift. Here’s what it means to me: Starvation – Left to our own, we’ll do as we did before. Starvation of resources pushes thinking away from stale, worn paths. Almost in reverse, define what you don’t want, then construct intelligent constraints (the most
- [What's your innovation intention?](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/11/05/whats-your-innovation-intention/) - If you want to run a brainstorming session to generate a long list of ideas, I’m out. Brainstorming takes the edge off, rounds off the interesting corners and rubs off any texture. If you want me to go away for a while and come back with an idea that can dismantle our business model, I’m
- [Less-With-Far-Less for the Developing World](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/09/19/less-with-far-less-for-the-developing-world/) - The stalled world economy will make growth difficult, and companies are digging in for the long haul, getting ready to do more of what they do best - add more function and features, sell more into existing markets, and sell more to existing customers. More of the same, but better. But growth will not come
- [Are you doing innovation?](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/10/22/are-you-doing-innovation/) - If you’re not thinking differently, you’re thinking the same. And if you’re thinking the same, you’re going to get the same. Same may feel safe, and at some level it is. But when sameness festers into staleness, too much of a good thing isn’t wonderful. In our fast moving Bizzaro World, safe is dangerous; repeatable
- [Orchids and Innovation - Blooms from the Same Stem](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/10/15/orchids-and-innovation-blooms-from-the-same-stem/) - Innovation is like growing orchids – both require a complex balance of environmental factors, both take seasoned green thumbs to sprout anything worth talking about, what worked last time has no bearing on this time, and they demand caring and love. A beautiful orchid is a result of something, and so is innovation. It all starts
- [Innovating from a Woman's Perspective](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/10/08/innovating-from-a-womans-perspective/) - Innovation is about selling different products and services to different customers. Different means growth because you're not yet selling the different products and you're not yet selling to the different customers. If you can learn to see your customers differently, you'll create new products that are different; and if you can learn to see your
- [Celebrating 5 Years of Writing](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/10/01/celebrating-5-years-of-writing/) - Today is a celebration. I have written a blog post every Wednesday evening for the last five years. No guest blogs, no ghost writer, no repeat blogs, and no editor. Just me. The main theme last year was around doing new. Though I used the word innovation too many times, I provided real examples and
- [Customer Value - the Crowned Jewel of Innovation](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/09/24/customer-value-the-crowned-jewel-of-innovation/) - Innovation results in things that are novel, useful, and successful. These things can be products, services, data, information, or business models, but regardless of the flavor, they’re all different from what’s been done before. And when things are different, they’re new; and that means we don’t know how to do them. We don’t know how
- [Your money or your time, which is worth more?](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/09/17/your-money-or-your-time-which-is-worth-more/) - If you were given a choice – for the same number of hours worked you get 20% more money, or for 20% fewer hours worked you get the same money – which would you choose? In real life it would not go that way, but set that aside for a moment. It’s a thought experiment,
- [If it's not different, it's not innovation.](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/09/10/if-its-not-different-its-not-innovation/) - Creative products are novel and useful; Innovative products are novel, useful, and successful. Beforehand, it’s impossible to know if something will be successful, but if it’s useful there’s a chance it could be; beforehand, it’s subjective whether something will be useful, but if it’s novel there’s a chance; but no one is sure what novel
- [Prototypes Are The Best Way To Innovate](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/09/03/prototypes-are-the-best-way-to-innovate/) - If you’re serious about innovation, you must learn, as second nature, to convert your ideas into prototypes. Funny thing about ideas is they’re never fully formed – they morph and twist as you talk about them, and as long as you keep talking they keep changing. Evolution of your ideas is good, but in the
- [Ratcheting Toward Problems of a Lesser Degree](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/08/27/ratcheting-toward-problems-of-a-lesser-degree/) - Here's how innovation goes: (Words uttered. // Internal thoughts.) That won't work. Yes, this is a novel idea, but it won't work. You're a heretic. Don't bring that up again. // Wow, that scares me, and I can't go there. Yes, the first experiment seemed to work, but the test protocol was wrong, and the results
- [How do you choose what to work on?](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/08/20/how-do-you-choose-what-to-work-on/) - There are always too many things to do, too much to work on. And because of this, we must choose. Some have more choice than others, but we all have choice. And to choose, there are several lenses we look through. What's good enough? If it's good enough, there's no need to work on it.
- [Embrace Uncertainty](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/08/13/embrace-uncertainty/) - There’s a lot of stress in the working world these days, and to me, it all comes down to our blatant disrespect of uncertainty. In today’s reality, we ask for plans then demand strict adherence to the deliverables – on time, on budget, or else. We treat plans like they’re chiseled in granite, when really
- [Inspiration, Imagination, and Innovation - in that order.](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/08/06/inspiration-imagination-and-innovation-in-that-order/) - Inspiration is the fuel for imagination and imagination is the power behind innovation. All companies want innovation and try lots of stuff to increase its supply. But innovation isn’t a thing in itself and not something to be conjured from air – it’ a result of something. The backplane of innovation, its forcing function, is
- [The Power Of Pizza](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/04/23/the-power-of-pizza/) - When you want to recognize people for their wonderful work, dollar-for-dollar, the best value on the planet is pizza. Research shows monetary rewards aren’t all that rewarding, and the thinking carries with pizza - you can buy bargain brand, wood-fired, free-range, vegan, or designer, the power of pizza is independent of pedigree. The power of
- [How to Make Big Data Far More Powerful](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/07/30/how-to-make-big-data-far-more-powerful/) - Big Data is powerful - measure what people do on the web, summarize the patterns, and use the information for good. These data sets are so powerful because they're bigger than big; there's little bias since the data collection is automatic; and the analysis is automated. There's huge potential in the knowledge of what people
- [The Invisible Rut of Success](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/08/07/the-invisible-rut-of-success/) - It's easier to spot when it's a rut of failure - product costs too high, product function is too low, and the feeding frenzy where your competitors eat your profits for lunch. Easy, yes, but still possible to miss, especially when everyone's super busy cranking out heaps of the same old stuff in the same
- [Difficult Discussions Are The Most Important Discussions](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/07/23/difficult-discussions-are-the-most-important-discussions/) - When the train is getting ready to pull out of the station, and you know in your heart the destination isn’t right, what do you do? If you still had time to talk to the conductor, would you? What would you say? If your railroad is so proud of getting to the destination on time
- [Marketing's Holy Grail - Emerging Customer Needs](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/07/09/marketings-holy-grail-emerging-customer-needs/) - The Holy Grail of marketing is to identify emerging customer needs before anyone else and satisfy them to create new markets. It has been a long and fruitless slog as emerging needs have proven themselves elusive. And once candidates are identified, it's a challenge to agree which are the game-changers and which are the ghosts.
- [What Do You Believe About Independence?](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/07/02/what-do-you-believe-about-independence/) - Independence is important; independence is powerful; it's dangerous; it's threatening. But, above all, independence is about control. If you believe it's a zero-sum-game, independence is adverserial - more for you, less for me. It's give-and-take without the give - I don't give you control, and you take it anyway. If you believe there's no trust,
- [Do The Work No One Is Asking For](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/06/25/do-the-work-no-one-is-asking-for/) - We spend too much time on the mundane. Every day people come to work, turn on their PCs, and the mundane magically happens on its own accord. Email gets sent, phones get answered, mail gets delivered, and processes get followed. And after lunch, the hamster wheel spins back up and the mundane consumes the rest
- [Occam's Razor For Innovation](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/06/18/occams-razor-for-innovation/) - There are many flavors of innovation – incremental, disruptive, and seven flavors in between. And there is lots of argument about the level of innovation – mine’s radical and yours isn’t; that’s just improving what we already have; that’s too new – no one will ever buy it. We want to label the work in
- [Experiment With Your People Systems](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/06/11/experiment-with-your-people-systems/) - It’s pretty clear that innovation is the way to go. There’s endless creation of new technologies, new materials, and new processes so innovation can create new things to sell. And there are multiple toolsets and philosophies to get it done, but it’s difficult. When doing new there’s no experience, no predictions, no certainty. But innovation
- [Put Yourself Out There](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/06/04/put-yourself-out-there/) - Put yourself out there. Let it hang out. Give it a try. Just do it. The reality is few do it, and fewer do it often. But why? In a word, fear. But it cuts much deeper than a word. Here’s a top down progression: What will they think of your idea? If you summon
- [The Complexity Conundrum](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/05/28/the-complexity-conundrum/) - In school the problems you were given weren't really problems at all. In school you opened the book to a specific page and there, right before you in paragraph form and numbered consecutively, was a neat row of "problems". They were fully-defined, with known inputs, a formal equation that defined the system's response, and one
- [The Illusion of Planning](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/05/21/the-illusion-of-planning/) - Planning is important work, but it’s non-value added work. Short and sweet - planning is waste. Lean has taught us waste should be reduced, and the best way to reduce waste from planning is to spend less time planning. (I feel silly writing that.) Lean has taught us to reduce batch size, and the best
- [A Viral Infection Of Alignment And Consensus](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/05/14/a-viral-infection-of-alignment-and-consensus/) - Alignment is all the rage. The thinking goes: If we’re all pulling in the same direction, we’ll get their faster. There’s truth to that – the boat does go faster with more oars and more backs pulling on them. And as long as the boat’s heading in the right direction, alignment holds water. But here’s
- [How Things Really Happen](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/05/07/how-things-really-happen/) - From the outside it’s unclear how things happen; but from the inside it’s clear as day. No, it’s not your bulletproof processes; it’s not your top down strategy; and it’s not your operating plans. It’s your people. At some level everything happens like this: An idea comes to you that makes little sense, so you
- [The Ladder Of Your Own Making](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/04/30/the-ladder-of-your-own-making/) - There’s a natural hierarchy to work. Your job, if you choose to accept it is to climb the ladder of hierarchy rung-by-rung. Here’s how to go about it: Level 1. Work you can say no to – Say no to it. Say no effectively as you can, but say it. Saying no to level 1
- [Summoning The Courage To Ask](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/04/16/summoning-the-courage-to-ask/) - I’ve had some great teachers in my life, and I’m grateful for them. They taught me their hard-earned secrets, their simple secrets. Though each had their own special gifts, they all gave them in the same way – they asked the simplest questions. Today’s world is complex – everything interacts with everything else; and today’s
- [Can It Grow?](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/04/09/can-it-grow/) - If you’re working in a company you like, and you want it to be around in the future, you want to know if it will grow. If you’re looking to move to a new company, you want to know if it has legs – you want to know if it will grow. If you own
- [The Safest Bet Is Far Too Risky](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/04/02/the-safest-bet-is-far-too-risky/) - It’s harder than ever to innovate, and getting harder. The focus on growth can be empowering, but when coupled with signed-in-blood accountability, empowering turns to puckering. It’s an unfair double-bind. Damned if you try something new and it doesn’t work, and damned if you stay the course and don’t hit the numbers. The most popular
- [An Injection Of Absurdity](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/03/26/an-injection-of-absurdity/) - Things are cyclic, but there seems to be no end to the crusade of continuous improvement. (Does anyone remember how the Crusades turned out?) If only to take the edge off, there needs to be an injection of absurdity. There’s no pressure with absurdity - no one expects an absurd idea to work. If you
- [Retreating From Activity To Progress](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/03/19/retreating-from-activity-to-progress/) - Every day is a meeting-to-meeting sprint with no time for some of the favorite fundamentals like the bathroom and food. Though crazy, it’s the norm and no longer considered crazy. But it is crazy. When you’re too busy to answer emails that’s one thing, but when you’re too busy to realize answering email isn’t progress,
- [Slower Can Be Faster](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/03/12/slower-can-be-faster/) - There are two types of drivers – those that speed as a way of life and those that speed when they forget to pay attention. But for both, speed kills. For the everyday speeder, life is an opportunity to push limits and break rules. Every highway is a Formula One course; every traffic light an
- [The Importance Of Knowing Why You're In The Boat](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/03/05/the-importance-of-knowing-why-youre-in-the-boat/) - Whether at work or home, there are highs and lows. And you’re not getting special treatment, that’s how it is for everyone. And it’s a powerful fundamental, so don’t try to control it, ride it. When the sailing is smooth, at some point it won’t be - the winds change, that’s what they do. And
- [A Singular Pillar of Productivity](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/02/26/a-singular-pillar-of-productivity/) - Productivity generates profit. No argument. But it has two sides - it can be achieved through maximization by increasing output with constant resources (machines and people) or through minimization with constant output and decreasing machines and people. And the main pillars of both flavors are data, tools, and process. Data is used to understand how
- [Look Inside, Take New Action, Speak New Ideas.](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/02/19/look-inside-take-new-action-speak-new-ideas/) - There’s a lot buzz around reinvention and innovation. There are countless articles on tools and best practices; many books on the best organizational structure, and plenty on roles and responsibilities. There’s so much stuff that it’s tough to define what’s missing, even when what’s missing is the most important part. Whether its creativity, innovation, or
- [You Can't Saw People in Half](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/02/12/you-cant-saw-people-in-half/) - When there’s a big job, you’re taught to break it into a series of sub tasks, sequence them, and go after them with vigor. When there are different types of work within a job, you’re taught to break down the work into related bits of work, assign specialists, and take them on with the utmost
- [The Half-Life of Our Maps](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/02/05/the-half-life-of-our-maps/) - The early explorers had maps, but they were wrong - sea monsters, missing continents, and the home country at the center. Wrong, yes, but the best maps of their day. The early maps weren’t right because the territory was new, and you can expect the same today. When you work in new territory, your maps
- [Top 40 Innovation Bloggers of 2013!](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/02/01/top-40-innovation-bloggers-of-2013/) - Top 40 Innovation Bloggers just announced. Blown away to be in the top 5! Proud to be part of such an amazing group! FROM INNOVATION EXCELLENCE -- After two weeks of torrid voting and much passionate support, along with a lot of gut-wrenching consideration and jostling during the judging round, I am proud to announce
- [Decide To Tackle The Impossible](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/01/29/decide-to-tackle-the-impossible/) - Doing the impossible doesn't take a long time, starting does. More precisely, what takes a long time is getting ready to start. Getting ready is the gating item. So what’s in the way? The big deal about starting is other people will see you do it and they’ll judge you. Your brain tells stories about
- [Bridging The Chasm Between Technologists and Marketers](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/01/22/bridging-the-chasm-between-technologists-and-marketers/) - What’s a new market worth without a new technology to capture it? The same as a new technology without a new market - not much. Technology and market are a matched set, but not like peanut butter and jelly, (With enough milk, a peanut butter sandwich isn’t bad.) rather, more like H2 and O: whether
- [Breaching the Wall of Denial](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/01/15/breaching-the-wall-of-denial/) - To do innovation, you’ve got to be all in, both physically and mentally. And to be all in, you’ve got to bust through one of the most powerful forces on the planet – denial. Denial exists because seeing things as they are is scary. Denial prevents you from seeing problems so you can protect yourself
- [The Parent of Learning](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/01/08/the-parent-of-learning/) - Hypothesis is a charged word - It has a scientific color; it smacks of sterility; it is thought to be done by academics; and it’s sometimes classified as special class of guessing. In thought and action, hypothesis is misunderstood. We twist the word so it doesn’t apply in our situation; we label it to distance
- [Letting Go Of Last Year](https://www.shipulski.com/2014/01/01/letting-go-of-last-year/) - Last year is gone, and going forward things will be different. Last year’s you is gone, and going forward you will be different. That’s the thing – everything changes. Regardless if last year was enjoyable or terrible, no matter. This year will be different. You can try to hold on to it, but all you’ll get
- [Gifts Are For The Giver](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/12/25/gifts-are-for-the-giver/) - I've read emails from engineering students telling me I whipped them into a fervor over engineering. I've received notes from engineering leaders that, based on a single line of a post, reinvented the cost signature of their products. I've been sent messages from folks who were stuck in a rut, and after reading my post,
- [Weak Signals And The Radical Fringe](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/12/18/weak-signals-and-the-radical-fringe/) - We strive to get everyone on the same page, to align the crew in a shared direction. The thinking goes - If we're all pulling in the same direction, we'll get there faster and more efficiently. Yes, the destination will come sooner, but what if it's not there when we get there? There's implicit permanence
- [Tracking Toward The Future](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/12/11/tracking-toward-the-future/) - It’s difficult to do something for the first time. Whether it’s a new approach, a new technology, or a new campaign, the mass of the past pulls our behavior back toward itself. And sadly, whether the past has been successful or not, its mass, and therefore it’s pull, are about the same. The past keeps
- [It Can't Be Innovation If...](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/12/04/it-cant-be-innovation-if/) - Companies strive for predictability, yet if it’s predictable, it cannot be innovation. We seek comfort in our work, but if it’s comfortable it can't be innovation. Businesses like to grow by selling more to the customers we have, but if existing customers can recognize it, it can't be innovation. We want to meet year end
- [Error Doesn't Matter, Trial Does](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/02/27/error-doesnt-matter-trial-does/) - If you want to learn, to really learn, experiment. But I’m not talking about elaborate experiments; I’m talking about crude ones. Not simple ones, crude ones. We were taught the best experiments maximize learning, but that’s dead wrong. The best experiments are fast, and the best way to be fast is to minimize the investment.
- [Crossword Puzzle - Product, Technology, Innovation](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/11/26/crossword-puzzle-product-technology-innovation/) - Here's something a little different - a crossword puzzle to test your knowledge on products, technology, and innovation. Complete the puzzle using the image below, or download it (and answer key) using the green arrows below, and take your time with it over the Thanksgiving holiday. [wpdm_file id=5] [wpdm_file id=4]
- [Less Before More - Innovation's Little Secret](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/11/20/less-before-more-innovations-little-secret/) - The natural mindset of innovation is more-centric. More throughput; more performance; more features and functions; more services; more sales regions and markets; more applications; more of what worked last time. With innovation, we naturally gravitate toward more. There are two flavors of more, one better than the other. The better brother is more that does
- [Transplant Syndrome](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/11/13/transplant-syndrome/) - Overall, our upward evolutionary spiral toward infinite productivity is a good thing. (More profit with less work - can't argue with that.) And also good is our Darwinian desire to increase our chances of realizing profit by winding a thick cocoon of risk reduction around the work. But with our productivity helix comes a little
- [Choose Yourself](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/11/06/choose-yourself/) - We’ve been conditioned to ask for direction; to ask for a plan; and ask for permission. But those ways no longer apply. Today that old behavior puts you at the front of the peloton in the great race to the bottom. The old ways are gone. Today’s new ways: propose a direction (better yet, test
- [The Threshold Of Uncertainty](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/10/30/the-threshold-of-uncertainty/) - Our threshold for uncertainty is too low. Early in projects, even before the first prototype is up and running, you know what the product must do, what it will cost, and, most problematic, when you’ll be done. Independent of work content, level of newness, and workloads, there’s no uncertainty in your launch date. It’s etched
- [Accomplishments in 2013 (Year Four)](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/10/23/accomplishments-in-2013-year-four/) - Accomplishments in 2013 Fourth year of weekly blog posts without missing a beat or repeating a post. (251 posts in total.) Third year of daily tweets - 2,170 in all. (@mikeshipulski) Second year as Top 40 Innovation Bloggers (#12) - Innovation Excellence, the web's top innovation site. Seventh consecutive year as Keynote Speaker at International Forum on DFMA.
- [Innovation in 26 Words](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/02/06/innovation-in-26-words/) - What is to what isn’t. What isn’t to what could. What could to what should. What should to what will. What will to what is. Repeat.
- [What Aren't You Doing?](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/10/16/what-arent-you-doing/) - You're busier than ever, and almost every day you're asked to do more. And usually it's more with less - must improve efficiency so you can do more of what you already do. We want you to take this on, but don't drop anything. Improving your efficiency is good, and it's healthy to challenge yourself
- [Celebrating Four Years!](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/10/09/celebrating-four-years/) - Today is a celebration - four years of Shipulski On Design! To celebrate, I'm introducing my new book -- Product Process People - Designing for Change. And as a gift, I'm offering for free (pdf format) to my subscribers. If you're a subscriber, click below to download the pdf. If you're not a subscriber and
- [Positivity - The Endangered Species](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/10/02/positivity-the-endangered-species/) - There’s a lot of negativity around us. But it's not upfront, unadulterated negativity; it's behind-the-scenes, hunkering, almost translucent negativity. And it's divisive. This type of negativity is so pervasive it's almost invisible. It's everywhere; we have processes built around it; have organizations dedicated to it; and we use it daily to drive action. Take continuous
- [The One Thing To Believe In](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/09/25/the-one-thing-to-believe-in/) - I used to believe in control, now I believe in trust. I used to believe in process, now I believe in judgment. I used to believe in WHAT and HOW, now I believe in WHO and WHY. I used to believe in organizational structure, now I believe in personal relationships. I used to believe in
- [Moving From Kryptonite To Spinach](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/09/18/moving-from-kryptonite-to-spinach/) - With websites, e-books, old fashioned books, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and blogs, there’s a seemingly limitless flood of information on every facet of business. There are heaps on innovation, new product development, lean, sales and marketing, manufacturing, and strategy; and within each there are elements and sub elements that fan out with multiple approaches. With today’s
- [Incomplete Definition - A Way Of Life](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/09/11/incomplete-definition-a-way-of-life/) - At the start of projects, no one knows what to do. Engineering complains the specification isn’t fully defined so they cannot start, and marketing returns fire with their complaint - they don’t yet fully understand the customer needs, can't lock down the product requirements, and need more time. Marketing wants to keep things flexible and
- [Self-Perspective Using Mental Time Travel](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/07/24/self-perspective-using-mental-time-travel/) - If you’re sitting in the present, you’re sitting in a good place - you're more mindful of what's going on, more aware of your thinking, and more thoughtful of your actions. But there's one thing sitting in the present can't provide, and that's perspective. To create perspective, to understand the hows and whys of your
- [Moving at the Speed of People](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/09/04/moving-at-the-speed-of-people/) - More-with-less is our mantra for innovation. But these three simple words are dangerous because they push us almost exclusively toward efficiency. On the surface, efficiency innovations sound good, and they can be, but more often than not efficiency innovations are about less and fewer. When you create a new technology that does more and costs
- [The Confusing Antimatter of Novelty](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/08/28/the-confusing-antimatter-of-novelty/) - In a confusing way, the seemingly negative elements of novelty are actually tell-tale signs you're doing it right. Here are some examples: No uncertainty, no upside. No heresy, no game-changer. No recipe, no worries. No ambiguity, no new markets. No effectiveness, no success. No efficiency, no matter. No disagreement, no gravity. No answers, no problem.
- [Define To Solve](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/08/21/define-to-solve/) - Countries want their companies to create wealth and jobs, and to do it they want them to design products, make those products within their borders, and sell the products for more than the cost to make them. It’s a simple and sustainable recipe which makes for a highly competitive landscape, and it's this competition that
- [Wrestle Your Success To The Ground](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/05/01/wrestle-your-success-to-the-ground/) - Innovation, as a word, has become too big for its own good, and, as a word, is almost useless. Sure, it can be used to enable magical reinvention of business models and revolutionary products and technologies, but it can also be used to rationalize the rehash work we were going to do anyway. The words
- [Changing Your Behavior Is Hard](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/06/26/changing-your-behavior-is-hard/) - Changing your behavior is hard. Often, just wanting to change is insufficient, especially for change that runs deep. For deep change, on its own the want doesn't cut it. What's required is a powerful why. Why do you want to change? What's your motivation? But all whys are not created equal with some motivations more
- [Block Diagrams Are People Too](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/07/31/block-diagrams-are-people-too/) - For systems with high levels of complexity, such as organizations, business models, and cross-domain business processes, it’s characterize the current state, identify the future state, and figure out how to close the gap. That's how I was trained. Simple, elegant, and no longer fits me. The block diagram of the current state is neat and
- [A Healthy Dissatisfaction With Success](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/04/03/a-healthy-dissatisfaction-with-success/) - They say job satisfaction is important for productivity and quality. The thinking goes something like this: A happy worker is a productive one, and a satisfied worker does good work. This may be true, but it’s not always the best way. I think we may be better served by a therapeutic dose of job dissatisfaction.
- [Own Your Happiness](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/07/17/own-your-happiness/) - Own your ideas, not the drama. Own your words, not the gossip. Own your vision, not the dogma. Own your effort, not the heckling. Own your vacation, not the email. Own your behavior, not the strife. Own your talent, not the cynicism. Own your deeds, not the rhetoric. Own your caring, not the criticism. Own
- [Build A Legacy Of Trust](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/07/10/build-a-legacy-of-trust/) - We set visions, define idealized future states, define metrics, and create tools and processes to realize them. It’s all knit together, the puzzle pieces fight tightly, and it leaves out the most important part – people and their behavior. Metrics represent the all-important output of our tools and processes, and we’re so fascinated by metrics
- [On Independence](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/07/03/on-independence-2/) - When I think of independence: I know I can speak my mind, but must remember others have the same right. I know how lucky I am, but must keep in mind others are not. I think of my wonderful rights, but steep in the huge obligation that comes with them. I sometimes forget I have
- [On Being Well Rested](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/06/19/on-being-well-rested/) - All business processes are powered by people. Even with all our automation and standardization, nothing moves without people. And people are powered by language. Language is important. “Fix that so we don’t make any more mistakes.” Snarl words. “Figure out what we do well, and let’s do more of that.” Purr words. Which are more
- [Product Thinking](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/05/15/product-thinking/) - Product costs, without product thinking, drop 2% per year. With product thinking, product costs fall by 50%, and while your competitors’ profit margins drift downward, yours are too high to track by conventional methods. And your company is known for unending increases in stock price and long term investment in all the things that secure
- [Acceleration Is King](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/05/22/acceleration-is-king/) - Everything is about speed - speed through process reengineering, waste elimination, standardization, modularity, design reuse. All valid, but not all that powerful. Real speed comes from avoiding rapid progress in the wrong direction, from avoiding a blistering pace on the wrong stuff. Real speed comes from saying no to the work that creates drag in
- [It's All Connected](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/05/29/its-all-connected/) - There’s a natural tendency to simplify, to reduce, to narrow. In the name of problem solving, it’s narrow the scope, break it into small bites, and don’t worry about the subtle complexities. And for a lot of situations that works. But after years of fixing things one bite at a time, there are fewer and
- [Seeking Comfort in Discomfort](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/06/05/seeking-comfort-in-discomfort/) - There’s a natural desire to create comfort because, well, it’s comfortable. The parents of comfort are sameness and familiarity. To be comfortable we naturally seek out familiarity, and since we’re most familiar with what we did last time, we naturally want to repeat the past. Because we’re familiar with it and because the familiarity makes
- [The Illusion of Control](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/06/12/the-illusion-of-control/) - When things don’t go as planned, you have a choice – look outside or look inside. Looking outside is about control and looking inside is about lack of control. When you look outside, what you’re saying is the universe didn’t behave per the plan, and you’re going to teach it a lesson. You’re going to
- [The obligations of knowing your stuff.](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/04/27/the-obligations-of-knowing-your-stuff/) - If you know your shit, you have an obligation to behave that way: Do - don't ask. Say, "I don't know." Wear the clothes you want. Tread water with Fear until she drowns. Walk softly - leave your big stick at home. Ask people what they think – let them teach you. Kick Consensus in
- [The Flux Lines of Innovation](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/05/08/the-flux-lines-of-innovation/) - There are countless books, tools, processes, methodologies and frameworks for innovation. And cutting across all theory and practice, the biggest fundamental of innovation is fear. We define fear as bad because it limits new thinking and new actions, but there’s another way to look at it. We should look at fear as a leading indicator
- [What They Didn't Teach Me in Engineering School](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/04/24/what-they-didnt-teach-me-in-engineering-school/) - The technical stuff is the easy part. Technical systems respond predictably, but people don’t. There’s nothing worse than solving the wrong problem, so before you start solving you’ve better done a whole lot of defining. There is no exact answer; engineering is all about judgment. Organizational structure is important. Whatever the structure, see its strengths
- [Own The Behavior](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/04/10/own-the-behavior/) - The system is big and complex and its output is outside your control. Trying to control these outputs is a depressing proposition, yet we’re routinely judged (and judge ourselves) on outputs. I think it’s better to focus on system inputs, specifically your inputs to the system. When the system responds with outputs different than desired,
- [How long will it take?](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/03/27/how-long-will-it-take/) - How long will it take? The short answer – same as last time. How long do we want it to take? That’s a different question altogether. If the last project took a year, so will the next one. Even if you want it to take six months, it will take a year. Unless, there’s a
- [Drag Racing Behavior](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/03/20/drag-racing-behavior/) - Our productivity-by-the-minute culture is killing us. In business speed is king, and with it comes our short-sighted drag racing behavior. As we pull to the starting light our big engines shake and rumble, our pipes shoot flames, and our tires smoke. We stomp the throttle, accelerate to mach 1, kill the engine, and throw the
- [Hearts Before Minds](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/03/13/hearts-before-minds/) - We often forget, but regardless of industry, technology, product, or service, it’s a battle for hearts and minds. The building blocks of business are processes, machines, software, and computers, but people are the underpinning. The building blocks respond in a repeatable way - same input, same output - and without judgment. People, however, not so
- [There Are No Best Practices](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/03/06/there-are-no-best-practices/) - That's a best practice. Look, there's another one. We need a best practice. What's the best practice? Let's standardize on the best practice. Arrrgh. Enough, already, with best practices. There are no best practices, only actions that have worked for others in other situations. Yet we feverishly seek them out, apply them out of context,
- [Innovation Eats Itself](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/02/20/innovation-eats-itself/) - We all want more innovation, though sometimes we’re not sure why. Turns out, the why important. We want to be more innovative. That’s a good vision statement, but it’s not actionable. There are lots of ways to be innovative, and it’s vitally important to figure out the best flavor. Why do you want to be
- [Engineering Will Carry the Day](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/02/13/engineering-will-carry-the-day/) - Engineering is more important than manufacturing - without engineering there is nothing to make, and engineering is more important than marketing - without it there is nothing to market. If I could choose my competitive advantage, it would be an unreasonably strong engineering team. Ideas have no value unless they’re morphed into winning products, and
- [The Middle Term Enigma](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/01/30/the-middle-term-enigma/) - Short term is getting shorter, and long term is a thing of the past. We want it now; no time for new; it’s instant gratification for us, but only if it doesn’t take too long. A short time horizon drives minimization. Minimize waste; reduce labor hours; eliminate features and functions; drop the labor rate; cut
- [How Engineers Create New Markets](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/01/23/how-engineers-create-new-markets/) - When engineers see a big opportunity, we want desperately to move the company in the direction of our thinking, but find it difficult to change the behavior of others. Our method of choice is usually a full frontal assault, explaining to anyone that will listen the opportunity as we understand it. Our approach is straightforward
- [Engineering Incantations](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/01/02/engineering-incantations/) - Know what’s new in the new design. To do that, ask for a reuse analysis and divvy up newness into three buckets - new to your company, new to your industry, new to world. If the buckets are too big, jettison some newness, and if there’s something in the new-to-world bucket, be careful. Create test
- [Guided Divergence](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/01/16/guided-divergence/) - We’ve been sufficiently polluted by lean and Six Sigma, and it’s time for them to go. Masquerading as maximizers, these minimizers-in-sheep’s-clothing have done deep harm. Though Six Sigma is almost dead (it’s been irrelevant for some time now), it has made a lasting mark. Billed as a profit maximizer, it categorically rejects maximization. In truth,
- [Do You Care Enough To Be Lonely?](https://www.shipulski.com/2013/01/09/do-you-care-enough-to-be-lonely/) - If you don’t feel lonely, you’ve succumbed to group-think. No, it’s worse - you’ve stopped thinking altogether. If you don’t feel lonely you’re doing it wrong. Mainstream follows mainstream - they don’t know why, they just do. In truth, mainstream likes to be lead by the nose because it’s easy, because they can get through
- [Forgotten Pillars of Personal Growth](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/12/26/forgotten-pillars-of-personal-growth/) - There are a lot of complex self-help programs out there to help us reach our potential. These programs are designed to take us to the next level by building on what we have. And they do help. But implicitly the programs assume we’ve got a foundation in place and it’s solid enough to stand on.
- [Lasting Behavioral Change](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/12/19/lasting-behavioral-change/) - Whether it’s innovation, creativity, continuous improvement, or discontinuous improvement, it’s all about cultural change, and cultural change is about change in behavior. With the police state approach, detailed processes are created and enforced; rules are created and monitored; and training is dealt out and attendance taken. Yes, behavior is changed, but it’s fleeting. Take your
- [Prototype the Unfamiliar](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/12/12/prototype-the-unfamiliar/) - Today’s answer to everything is process and tools. Define the desired outcome; create the process; create the tools. Problem solved. But if the desired outcome is lasting change, deterministic processes and static tools won’t get us there. Lasting change comes from people and their behavior. Going forward, instead of creating process, create an
- [Choose to Choose](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/12/05/choose-to-choose/) - There will always be more work than time – no choice there. But, you can choose your mindset. You can choose to be overwhelmed; you can complain; and you can feel bad for yourself. You can also choose to invert it - you only work on vital projects because less important ones aren’t worth your
- [Circle of Life](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/11/28/circle-of-life/) - Engineers solve technical problems so Other engineers can create products so Companies can manufacture them so They can sell them for a profit and Use the wealth to pay workers so Workers can support their families and pay taxes so Their countries have wealth for good schools to Grow the next generation of engineers to
- [Why Tough Choices Are Tough](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/11/21/why-tough-choices-are-tough/) - This week my son made a difficult choice - he chose between two things he loves. The easy choice was to say yes to both, but in reality, there was not enough time. And in reality, the easy yes was a masquerade. It was really a slow, painful no with rippling consequences to his future.
- [A Race for Learning - Video Training with TED-Ed](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/11/14/a-race-for-learning-video-training-with-ted-ed/) - I’ve been thinking about how to use video to train engineers. The trouble with video is it takes time and money to create. But what if you could create lessons using existing video? That’s what the new TED-Ed platform can do. With TED-Ed, any YouTube video can be "flipped" into a customized lesson. Instead of
- [Celebrating Three Years of Shipulski On Design](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/11/07/celebrating-three-years-of-shipulski-on-design/) - Today is a celebration - three years of Shipulski On Design! I get lot's of great feeback, but the best is when you tell me my writing touched you and helped you do your work differently. You may see this as my gift to you, but I see it as your gift to me.
- [Beyond Dead Reckoning](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/10/31/beyond-dead-reckoning/) - We’re afraid of technology development because it’s risky. And figuring out where to go is the risky part. To figure out where to go companies use several strategies: advance multiple technologies in parallel; ask the customer; or leave it to company leader’s edict. Each comes with its strengths and weaknesses. I think the best way
- [More Risk, Less Consequence](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/10/24/more-risk-less-consequence/) - WHY? To grow sales in existing markets and create sales in new markets. WHAT? Create innovative technologies and design products with more function and less cost. HOW? Educate the engineering engine. This is easier said than done, because for years we’ve set one-sided expectations - new products must work and timelines must be met –
- [The Pilgrimage of Change](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/10/17/the-pilgrimage-of-change/) - The pilgrimage of change is hard. Before we start, we must believe there’s a way to get there. Before that, we must believe in the goodness of the destination. Before that, we must believe there’s a destination. Before that, we must want something different. Before that, we must see things as they are. Before that,
- [The Archeologist Technologist](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/10/10/the-archeologist-technologist/) - Archeologists look back to see what was; they scratch the ground to find what the past left behind; then they study their bounty and speculate backward in time. But what makes a good archeologist? In a word - belief. Archeologists must believe there’s something out there, something under the dirt waiting for them. Sure, they
- [A Race To The Top](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/10/03/a-race-to-the-top/) - We all want to increase sales. But to do do this, our products must offer a better value proposition – they must increase the goodness-to-cost ratio. And to do this we increase goodness and decrease cost. (No argument here – this is how everyone does it.) When new technologies mature, we design them in to
- [A Fraternity of Team Players](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/09/26/a-fraternity-of-team-players/) - It’s easy to get caught up in what others think. (I fall into that trap myself.) And it’s often unclear when it happens. But what is clear: it’s not good for anyone. It’s hard to be authentic, especially with the Fraternity of Team Players running the show, because, as you know, to become a member
- [You might be a superhero if...](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/09/12/you-might-be-a-superhero-if/) - You might be a superhero if... Using just dirt, rocks, and sticks, you can bring to life a product that makes life better for society. Using just your mind, you can radically simplify the factory by changing the product itself. Using your analytical skills, you can increase product function in ways that reinvent your industry.
- [How To Accelerate Engineers Into Social Media](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/09/05/how-to-accelerate-engineers-into-social-media/) - Engineers fear social media, but shouldn’t. Our fear comes from lack of knowledge around information flow. Because we don’t understand how information flow works, we stay away. But our fear is misplaced – with social media information flow is controllable. For engineers, one-way communication is the best way to start. Engineers should turn on the
- [Small Is Good, And Powerful](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/06/27/small-is-good/) - If lean has taught us anything, it’s smaller is better. Smaller machines, smaller factories, smaller teams, smaller everything. The famous Speaker of the House, Tip O’Neill, said all politics are local. He meant all action happens at the lowest levels (in the districts and neighborhoods), where everyone knows everyone, where the issues are well understood,
- [Make It Where You Sell It](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/05/09/make-it-where-you-sell-it/) - Lean has rolled through our factories and generated profits at every turn. Now it’s time to get serious about savings and realize the next level of savings. Companies are pushing lean into the back office, but that won’t get it done. The savings will be good, but not great. After picking low-hanging factory fruit, there’s
- [Lean and Supply Chain Sensitivity](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/02/05/lean-and-supply-chain-sensitivity/) - At every turn, lean has increased profits in the factory. Its best trick is to look at the work through a time lens, see wasted time, and get rid of it. Work is blocked by problems. You watch the work to spot blockages in the form of piles, otherwise known as inventory. When you find
- [The Bottom-Up Revolution](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/12/03/the-bottom-up-revolution/) - The No. 1 reason initiatives are successful is support from top management. Whether it’s lean, Six Sigma, Design for Six Sigma or any program, top management support is vital. No argument. It’s easy with full support, but there’s never enough to go around. But that’s the way it should be. Top management has a lot
- [Make your green programs actionable](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/10/09/make-your-green-programs-actionable/) - There’s a big push to be green. Though we want to be green, we’re not sure how to get there. We’ve got high-level metrics, but they’re not actionable. It’s time to figure out what we can change to be green. One way manufacturers can be green is to reduce their carbon footprint. That’s one level
- [Missing Element of Lean - Assembly Magazine article](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/04/04/missing-element-of-lean-assembly-magazine-article/) - With its strong focus on waste reduction of processes, lean has been a savior for those who've made it out of the great recession. But what's next? I argue the next level of savings will come from adding a product focus to lean's well-developed process focus. For the complete Assembly Magazine article (one page), click
- [Cure for offshoring: The design side of product development, from Machine Design](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/10/03/cure-for-offshoring-the-design-side-of-product-development-from-machine-design/) - A recent article written by Leslie Gordon of Machine Design. You have probably seen it yourself: images of Chinese workers toiling in mud-floored factories, each feeding a separate punch press, as if part and parcel of a living, progressive die. The lure of this cheap labor has sent many U.S. manufacturers scrambling overseas to cut
- [Back to Basics with DFMA](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/06/27/back-to-basics-with-dfma/) - About eight years ago, Hypertherm embarked on a mission to revamp the way it designed products. Despite the fact its plasma metal-cutting technology was highly regarded and the market leader in the field, the internal consensus was that product complexity could be reduced and thus made more consistently reliable, and there was an across-the-board campaign
- [Custom Model, exploring customized manufacturing (Mechanical Engineering Magazine)](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/04/24/custom-model-exploring-customized-manufacturing-mechanical-engineering-magazine/) - By reducing parts count and easing assembly, one plasma cutter maker explores customized manufacturing. By Jean Thilmany, Associate Editor, Mechanical Engineering Magazine Ask nearly any engineer or manufacturer about customized manufacturing and—to a person—they’ll all say the same thing: Have you heard the Dell story? Dell is offered up again and again as the number
- [Discontinuous Improvement at the Expense of Continuous Improvement](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/03/31/discontinuous-improvement-at-the-expense-of-continuous-improvement/) - Five percent here, three percent there. I'm tired as hell of continuous improvement. Sure there's a place for it, but it shouldn't be the only type of work we do. But, unfortunately, that's just what's happened in manufacturing. To secure the balance sheet, the pendulum swung too far toward continuous improvement. Just look at what
- [Pareto's Three Lenses for Product Design](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/03/24/paretos-three-lenses-for-product-design/) - Axiom 1 - Time is short, so make sure you're working on the most important stuff. Axiom 2 - You can't design out what you can't see. In product development, these two axioms can keep you out of trouble. They're two sides of the same coin, but I'll describe them one at a time and
- [Blind To Your Own Assumptions](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/03/18/blind-to-your-own-assumptions/) - Whether inventing new technologies, designing new products, or solving manufacturing problems, it's important to understand assumptions. Assumptions shape the technical approach and focus thinking on what is considered (assumed) most important. Blindness to assumptions is all around us and is a real reason for concern. And the kicker, the most dangerous ones are also the
- [With Innovation, It's Trust But Verify.](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/03/10/with-innovation-its-trust-but-verify/) - Your best engineer walks into your office and says, "I have this idea for a new technology that could revolutionize our industry and create new markets, markets three times the size of our existing ones." What do you do? What if, instead, it's a lower caliber engineer that walks into your office and says those
- [Tools for innovation and breaking intellectual inertia](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/03/03/tools-for-innovation-and-breaking-intellectual-inertia/) - Everyone wants growth - but how? We know innovation is a key to growth, but how do we do it? Be creative, break the rules, think out of the box, think real hard, innovate. Those words don't help me. What do I do differently after hearing them? I am a process person, processes help me.
- [Reducing the risk of Innovation](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/02/24/reducing-the-risk-of-innovation/) - Though we can't describe it in words, or tell someone how to do it, we all know innovation is good. Why is it good? Look at the causal chain of actions that create a good economy, and you'll find innovation is the first link. When innovation happens, a new product is created that does something
- [Looking for the next evolution of lean? Look back.](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/02/17/looking-for-the-next-evolution-of-lean-look-back/) - Many have achieved great success with lean - it's all over the web. Companies have done 5S, standard work, value stream mapping, and flow-pull-perfection. Waste in value streams has reduced from 95% to 80%, which is magical; productivity gains have been excellent; and costs have dropped dramatically. But the question on everyone's mind – what's
- [Engineers and Change?](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/02/10/519/) - As an engineering leader I work with design engineers every day. I like working with them, it's fun. It's comfortable for me because I understand us. Yes, I am an engineer. I know what we're good at, and I know we're not good at. I've heard the jokes. Some funny, some not. But when engineers
- [Fasteners Can Consume 20-50% of Assembly Labor](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/02/03/fasteners-can-consume-20-50-of-assembly-labor/) - The data-driven people in our lives tell us that you can't improve what you can't measure. I believe that. And it's no different with product cost. Before improving product cost, before designing it out, you have to know where it is. However, it can be difficult to know what really creates cost. Not all parts
- [DFA and Lean - A Most Powerful One-Two Punch](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/01/27/dfa-and-lean-a-most-powerful-one-two-punch/) - Lean is all about parts. Don't think so? What do your manufacturing processes make? Parts. What do your suppliers ship you? Parts. What do you put into inventory? Parts. What do your shelves hold? Parts. What is your supply chain all about? Parts. Still not convinced parts are the key? Take a look at the
- [Lack of product robustness can damage your brand](https://www.shipulski.com/2009/12/09/lack-of-product-robustness-can-damage-your-brand/) - There are many definitions of product robustness and just as many formally trained specialists willing to argue about them. I get confused by all that complexity, I don't like to argue, and I am not a specialist, I am a generalist. I like simplicity so I use operational definitions every chance I get. Here's one
- [Product Design - the most powerful (and missing) element of lean](https://www.shipulski.com/2009/12/01/product-design-the-most-powerful-and-missing-element-of-lean/) - Lean has been beneficial for many companies, helping improve competitiveness and profitability. But, lean has not been nearly as effective as it can be because there is a missing ingredient - product design. Where lean can reduce the waste of making and moving parts, product design can eliminate the parts altogether; where lean can reduce
- [Our New Normal, it's all-you-can-eat](https://www.shipulski.com/2009/11/03/our-new-normal-its-all-you-can-eat/) - Our New Normal is crazy. Competitors are chewing voraciously on each other, so are suppliers and their customers; there is immense pressure to launch more products; and radical cost cutting is required just to stay in business. It’s official, the engine is running at its rev limit. The wick is turned up. We’re running wide-open.
- [Engineering your way out of the recession](https://www.shipulski.com/2009/09/22/engineering-your-way-out-of-the-recession/) - Like you, I have been thinking a lot about the recession. We all want to know how to move ourselves to the other side, where things are somewhat normal (the old normal, not the new one). Like usual, my mind immediately goes to products. To me, having the right products is vital to pulling ourselves
- [Out of the recession -- top line or bottom line approach?](https://www.shipulski.com/2009/09/16/out-of-the-recession-top-line-or-bottom-line-approach/) - I have been watching the news and listening to the pundits, and, apparently, we are steaming out of the great recession and the manufacturing flywheel is nearing full speed. As we all know, that's a bunch of crap. Many manufactures are still in survival mode where cost cutting has crossed into the ridiculous; where the best talent
- [Can CEOs meaningfully guide technology work?](https://www.shipulski.com/2009/09/12/can-ceos-meaningfully-guide-technology-work/) - Leading, shaping, and guiding technology work is hard, even for technologists who spend all day doing it. So, it seems the all-too-busy CEOs don’t stand a chance at effectively shaping their companies’ technical work. And it’s not just the non-technologist CEOs who have a problem; the technologist CEOs also have a problem, as they don’t have sufficient
- [Let's Fix US Manufacturing Competitiveness](https://www.shipulski.com/2008/11/07/lets-fix-us-manufacturing-competitiveness/) - (This post was published as an article. View the article as a .pdf or .htm.) Have we read enough, talked enough, circled, and delayed the issue enough to finally do something about the decline in US manufacturing? Are we afraid enough yet, after each quarterly government trade report, to undertake what is obvious as far
- [Allocating Responsibility for Manufacturing Cost](https://www.shipulski.com/2008/08/15/allocating-responsibility-for-manufacturing-cost-by-john-teresco-industry-week/) - John Teresco of Industry Week wrote a thought-provoking article on assigning responsibility of product cost to the design engineering community (and not to the manufacturing community). An expert from his article: "We in the United States have mistakenly allocated the responsibility for [production] cost to the manufacturing folks. We forget that the cost has already
- [Tools, training, time, and a great piano teacher](https://www.shipulski.com/2009/10/28/tools-training-time-and-a-great-piano-teacher/) - It was Monday night after dinner. My thirteen year old son and I got in the car and started on the drive to hockey practice. I drove and he texted. I was in the middle a struggle to come up with a topic for this post. My son finished a text, snapped his phone shut,
- [Celestial Work and Gravitational Pull](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/08/29/celestial-work-and-gravitational-pull/) - Meeting agendas are a good idea. They make clear what will happen and they're time bound. (At least good ones.) They look forward in time and shape what will happen. Meeting agendas are created by the organizer so others follow. It’s strange to think about, but from thin air, the organizer congers magic words on
- [Climbing The Branches Of The Problem Tree](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/08/22/climbing-the-branches-of-the-problem-tree/) - The problem tree is big, old, and rugged with a fully developed branch network and the deepest roots. And nestled in its crown, set directly over the trunk, is the hidden tree house where the problem solvers play. The problem tree has a left and right, with its why branches to the right and why-nots
- [Creative Problem Creation](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/08/15/creative-problem-creation/) - Problems get a bad rap. We’re all clear on the negativity around problems, but we don’t appreciate their positive character. It’s time we use their powers for good. One of the least popular characteristics of problems is their selfishness. Like the friend who shows up for dinner unannounced, problems, left to their own, care only
- [Not Invented Here](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/08/08/not-invented-here/) - Not Invented Here (NIH) is ever-present and misunderstood. An operational definition of NIH: Group 1 creates new thinking that falls within the official domain of Group 2. When presented with the new thinking, Group 2 rejects it. It is said Group 2 rejects new thinking because they’re threatened. But that’s too high level to be
- [Curiosity Fuels Creativity](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/08/01/curiosity-fuels-creativity/) - Creativity generates things that are novel and useful. Make them successful, and you’ve got innovation. There can be no innovation without creativity. We associate creativity with innate ability that only some have; with transparent happenings that can’t be codified; with eureka moments that come from the subconscious. If anything defies process, it’s creativity. So let’s
- [Thoughts on Vacation](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/07/25/thoughts-on-vacation/) - Some thoughts on vacation: Take fewer longer vacations at the expense of shorter ones. Work hard, but on something else. On route to your destination, throw your cell phone from a moving vehicle. Forget about your work so you can do it better when you return. Don’t check in at work - that undoes all
- [Mindset for Doing New](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/07/18/mindset-for-doing-new/) - The more work I do with innovation, the more I believe mindset is the most important thing. Here’s what I believe: Doing new doesn’t take a lot of time; it’s getting your mind ready that takes time. Engineers must get over their fear of doing new. Without a problem there can be no newness. Problem
- [The Dark Art of Uncertainty](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/07/11/the-dark-art-of-uncertainty/) - Engineers hate uncertainty. (More precisely, it scares us to death.) And our role in the company is to snuff it out at every turn, or so we think. To shield ourselves from uncertainty, we take refuge in our analyses. We create intricate computer wizardry to calm our soles. We tell ourselves our analytic powers can
- [On Independence](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/07/03/on-independence/) - Independence for a country is about choice. A country wants to be able to make choices to better itself, to control its own destiny. A country wants to feel like it has freedom to do what it thinks is right. Hopefully, a country thinks it’s a good to provide for its citizens in a long
- [The People Business](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/06/20/the-people-business/) - Regardless of industry, product, or country, we’re in the people business. Got a problem? Problems are solved by people, and our first word is usually - who. Who has fixed something like this before? Who can make the problem go away? Who has the chops to pull it off? Our first thought is about people.
- [Just Start](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/06/13/just-start/) - Starting is scary - we’re afraid to get it wrong. And we let our fear block us from starting. And that’s strange, because there’s never certainty on the right way because every situation is different. Fact is, you will be wrong, it’s just a matter of how wrong. But even the level of wrongness is
- [Impossible](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/06/06/impossible/) - Things aren’t impossible on their own, our thinking makes them so. Impossible is not about the thing itself, it’s a statement about our state of mind. When we say impossible, we really say we lack confidence to try. When we say impossible, we really say we are too afraid to try. The mission of impossible
- [Less With Far Less](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/05/30/less-with-far-less/) - We don’t know the question, but the answer is innovation. And with innovation it’s more, more, more. Whether it’s more with less, or a lot more with a little more, it’s always more. It’s bigger, faster, stronger, or bust. It’s an enhancement of what is, or an extrapolation of what we have. Or it’s the
- [Untapped Power of Self](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/05/23/untapped-power-of-self/) - As a subject matter expert (SME), you have more power than you think, and certainly more than you demonstrate. As an SME, you have special knowledge. Looking back, you know what worked, what didn’t, and why; looking forward, you know what should work, what shouldn’t, and why. There’s power in your special knowledge, but you
- [Beliefs Govern Ideas](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/05/16/beliefs-govern-ideas/) - Some ideas are so powerful they change you. More precisely, some ideas are so powerful you change your beliefs to fit them. These powerful ideas come in two strains: those that already align with your beliefs and those that contradict. The first strain works subtly. While you think on the idea, your beliefs test it
- [Work The Rule](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/05/02/work-the-rule/) - If the rule makes things take too long, do you follow it or shortcut it? If the reason for the rule is no longer, do you follow it or declare it unreasonable? If you don’t understand the rule do you work to understand it, or conveniently trespass? If you don’t follow the rule, does that
- [The Forbidden Fruit of Failure](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/04/25/the-forbidden-fruit-of-failure/) - We’ve mapped failure to the wrong words. And this mis-mapping is so strong and deep that un-mapping seems unlikely. I propose failure, as a word, be scratched from the dictionary. Failure is learning in the form of experiments (including the thought kind) with outcomes different than theorized, where the outcomes create a more complete understanding
- [Creativity's Mission Impossible](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/04/18/creativitys-mission-impossible/) - Whether it’s a top-down initiative or a bottom-up revolution, your choice will make or break it. When you have the inspiration for a bottom-up revolution, you must be brave enough to engage your curiosity without self-dismissing. You’ll feel the automatic urge to self-reject – that will never work, too crazy, too silly, too loony –
- [Choose Your Path](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/04/11/choose-your-path/) - There are only three things you can do: 1. Do what you’re told. This is fine once in a while, but not fine if you’re also told how. 2. Do what you’re not told. This is the normal state of things - good leaders let good people choose. 3. Do what you’re
- [Of Sound Mind and Body](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/04/04/of-sound-mind-and-body/) - As professionals we get paid to think. But unlike professional athletes, we’ve forgotten the importance of mind and body. Clearly, mind is connected to body. (I’m not talking about a metaphysical connection, I’m talking about a physical physical connection.) There are electromechanical connections (nerves) that pass information between the two and hydromechanical connections (blood vessels)
- [Fix The Economy - Connect The Engineer To The Factory](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/03/21/fix-the-economy-connect-the-engineer-to-the-factory/) - Rumor has it, manufacturing is back. Yes, manufacturing jobs are coming back, but they’re coming back in dribbles. (They left in a geyser, so we still have much to do.) What we need is a fire hose of new manufacturing jobs. Manufacturing jobs are trickling back from low cost countries because companies now realize the
- [Win Hearts and Minds](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/03/28/win-hearts-and-minds/) - As an engineering leader you have the biggest profit lever in the company. You lead the engineering teams, and the engineering teams design the products. You can shape their work, you can help them raise their game, and you can help them change their thinking. But if you don’t win their hearts and minds, you
- [Upcoming Workshop on Systematic DFMA Deployment - June 2012](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/02/26/upcoming-workshop-on-systematic-dfma-deployment-june-2012/) - Systematic DFMA Deployment - How To Implement for Increased Profits I am running a half-day workshop on June 13 in Providence, RI. The workshop is part of the 2012 International Forum on Design for Manufacturing and Assembly. I will focus on how to increase profits and incorporate DFMA into your product development process. CLICK TO
- [Stop Doing - it will double your productivity](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/03/14/stop-doing-it-will-double-your-productivity/) - For the foreseeable future, there will be more work than time. Yet year-on-year we’re asked to get more done and year-on-year we pull it off. Most are already at our maximum hour threshold, so more hours is not the answer. The answer is productivity. Like it or not, there are physical limits to the number
- [Run From Your Success](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/03/07/run-from-your-success/) - Don’t worry about your biggest competitor – they’re not your biggest competitor. You’ve not met your biggest competitor. Your biggest competitor is either from another industry or it’s three guys and a dog toiling away in their basement. Certainly it’s impossible to worry about a competitor we’ve not met, but that’s just what we’ve got
- [Heroes of the Company](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/02/29/heroes-of-the-company/) - If I was a company, the first thing I’d do is invest in my engineering teams. But not for the reasons we normally associate with engineering. Not for more function and features, not for product robustness, not technology, and not patents. I would invest in engineering for increased profits. When it comes to their engineering
- [Can't Say NO](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/02/22/cant-say-no/) - Some thoughts on no: Yes is easy, no is hard. Sometimes slower is faster. Yes, and here's what it will take: The best choose what they'll not do. Judge people on what they say no to. Work and resources are a matched pair. Define the work you'll do and do just that. Adding scope is
- [Be Your Stiffest Competitor](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/02/15/be-your-stiffest-competitor/) - Your business is going away. Not if, when. Someone's going to make it go away and it might as well be you. Why not take control and make it go away on your own terms? Why not make it go away and replace it with something bigger and better? Success is good, but fleeting. Like
- [Seeing Things As They Are](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/02/08/seeing-things-as-they-are/) - It's tough out there. Last year we threw the kitchen sink at our processes and improved them, and now last year's improvements are this year's baseline. And, more significantly, competition has increased exponentially - there are more eager countries at the manufacturing party. More countries have learned that manufacturing jobs are the bedrock of sustainable
- [When It's Time For a New Cowpath](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/02/01/when-its-time-for-a-new-cowpath/) - Doing new things doesn't take a long time. What takes a long time is seeing things as they are. Getting ready takes time, not doing new. Awareness of assumptions, your assumptions, others' assumptions, the company's – that's critical path. An existing design, product, service, or process looks as it does because of assumptions made during
- [Why It's Tough To Decide](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/01/25/why-its-tough-to-decide/) - There is no progress without decisions. More strongly, decisions are unsung heroes of progress. Decisions are powerful - things are different after a decision. (You are different after a decision.) Before a decision it's one way, and after, another. And once a decision is made, the follow-on actions are clear, straightforward, transactional. In fact, the
- [Manage For The Middle](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/01/18/manage-for-the-middle/) - Year-end numbers, quarter-to-quarter earnings, monthly production, week-to-week payroll. With today's hyper-competition, today's focus is today. Close-in focus is needed, it drives good stuff – vital few, productivity, quality, speed, and stock price. Without question, the close-in lens has value. But there's a downside to this lens. Like a microscope, with one eye closed and the
- [Radically Simplify Your Value Stream - Change Your Design](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/01/11/radically-simplify-your-value-stream-change-your-design/) - The next level of factory simplification won't come from your factory. It will come from outside your factory. The next level of simplification will come from upstream savings – your suppliers' factories – and downstream savings – your distribution system. And this next level of simplification will create radically shorter value streams (from raw materials
- [Have fun at work.](https://www.shipulski.com/2012/01/04/have-fun-at-work/) - Fun is no longer part of the business equation. Our focus on productivity, quality, and cost has killed it. Killed it dead. Vital few, return on investment, Gantt charts, project plans, and criminal number one - PowerPoint. I can't stand it. What happens when you try to have a little fun at work? People look
- [A Recipe for Unreasonable Profits](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/12/28/a-recipe-for-unreasonable-profits/) - There's an unnatural attraction to lean - a methodology to change the value stream to reduce waste. And it's the same with Design for Manufacturing (DFM) - a methodology to design out cost of your piece-parts. The real rain maker is Design for Assembly (DFA) which eliminates parts altogether (50% reductions are commonplace.) DFA is
- [How To Create a Sea of Manufacturing Jobs](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/12/21/how-to-create-a-sea-of-manufacturing-jobs/) - It's been a long slide from greatness for US manufacturing. It's been downhill since the 70s – a multi-decade slide. Lately there's a lot of hype about a manufacturing renaissance in the US – re-shoring, on-shoring, right-shoring. But the celebration misguided. A real, sustainable return to greatness will take decades, decades of single-minded focus, coordination,
- [What is Design for Manufacturing and Assembly?](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/12/14/what-is-design-for-manufacturing-and-assembly/) - Design for Manufacturing (DFM) is all about reducing the cost of piece-parts. Design for Assembly is all about reducing the cost of putting things together (assembly). What's often forgotten is that function comes first. Change the design to reduce part cost, but make sure the product functions well. Change the parts (eliminate them) to reduce
- [Organizationally Challenged - Engineering and Manufacturing](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/11/30/organizationally-challenged-engineering-and-manufacturing/) - Our organizations are set up in silos, and we're measured that way. (And we wonder why we get local optimization.) At the top of engineering is the VP of the Red Team, who is judged on what it does - product. At the top of manufacturing is the VP of the Blue Team, who is
- [How To Fix Product Development](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/11/16/how-to-fix-product-development/) - The new product development process creates more value than any other process. And because of this it's a logical target for improvement. But it's also the most complicated business process. No other process cuts across an organization like new product development. Improvement is difficult. The CEO throws out the challenge - "Fix new product development."
- [We must broaden "Design"](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/11/23/we-must-broaden-design/) - Design is typically limited to function - what it does - and is done by engineering (red team). Manufacturing is all about how to make it and is done by manufacturing (blue team). Working separately there is local optimization. We must broad to design to include both - red and blue. Working across red-blue boundaries
- [Time To Think](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/11/09/time-to-think/) - We live in a strange time where activity equals progress and thinking does not. Thinking is considered inactivity - wasteful, non-productive, worse than sleeping. (At least napping at your desk recharges the battery.) In today's world there is little tolerance for thinking. For those that think regularly - or have thought once or twice over
- [Out Of Gas](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/11/02/out-of-gas/) - You know you're out of gas when: You answer email punctually instead of doing work. You trade short term bliss for long term misery. You accept an impossible deadline. You sit through witless meetings. You comply with groupthink. You condone bad behavior. You placate your boss. You write a short post with a bulletized list
- [Amplify The Social Benefits of Your Products](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/10/26/amplify-the-social-benefits-of-your-products/) - To do good for the planet and make lots of money (or the other way around), I think companies should shift from an economic framework to a social one. Green products are a good example. Facts are facts: today, as we define cost, green products cost more; burning fossil fuel is the lowest cost way
- [Off Track](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/10/19/off-track/) - When was the last time you: a Did real kid stuff with kids? Got real dirt on your knees? Went for a walk, simply to walk? Went outside and counted the stars? Shut your eyes and listened to birds? Spent seven days with just your spouse? Traveled to meet an old friend face-to-face? Sat quietly
- [The Supreme Court of Technology](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/10/12/the-supreme-court-of-technology/) - The Founding Fathers got it right with three branches: legislative to make laws; judicial to interpret laws; and executive to enforce them. Back then it was all about laws, and the system worked. What the Founding Fathers could not realize was there was a powerful, pre-chrysalis force more powerful than laws, whose metamorphosis would exploit
- [The Power of Now](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/10/05/the-power-of-now/) - I think we underestimate the power of now, and I think we waste too much emotional energy on the past and future. We use the past to create self-inflicted paralysis, to rationalize inaction. We dissect our failures to avoid future missteps, and push progress into the future. We make no progress in the now. This
- [Marinate yourself in scarcity to create new thinking](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/09/28/marinate-yourself-in-scarcity-to-create-new-thinking/) - There's agreement: new thinking is needed for innovation. And for those that have tried, there's agreement that it's hard. It's hard to create new thinking, to let go of what is, to see the same old things as new, to see resources where others see nothing. But there are some tricks to force new thinking,
- [Imagine your next innovation](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/09/21/imagine-your-next-innovation/) - Situation A The economy has picked up, but your sales have dropped off. Competitors' products work better than yours. Competitors' product launches are more frequent than yours. The number of competitors is increasing. The sales team is angry – they cannot sell against competitors. The product roadmap is more of the same. The situation is
- [Change your work.](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/09/14/change-your-work/) - You are you, and work is work, but work must fit you, not the other way around. Yet we hose it up most of the time. Most of the time it's: "improve your weaknesses" or "close your gaps". Make no mistake, this is code for “change yourself so you fit our work.” I say we
- [WHY, WHAT, HOW to Improve Engineering](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/09/07/why-what-how-to-improve-engineering/) - When asked how to improve manufacturing, the recipe is clear: lean. When asked how to improve engineering, the recipe: there isn’t one. Each engineering improvement effort is unique; though there are common themes and building blocks, each has its own fingerprint. Each company has its own strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats; each company has unique
- [Most Popular Posts of 2011](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/08/31/most-popular-posts-of-2011/) - This week marks two years of blog posts, delivered every Wednesday night (or Thursday morning for those that sleep in), whether you want it or not. I'm proud to say I have not missed one in two years. Here are the top 5 posts over the last 12 months (for direct visits to my website):
- [How to help engineers do new.](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/08/24/how-to-help-engineers-do-new/) - Creating new products that provide a useful function is hard, and insuring they function day-in and day-out is harder. Plain and simple, engineering is hard. Planes must fly, cars must steer, and Velcro must stick. But, at every turn, there are risks, reasons why a new design won’t work, and it’s the engineer’s job to
- [Want to be green?  Look to your product.](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/08/17/want-to-be-green-look-to-your-product/) - We're starting to come to terms with the green revolution; we're staring to realize that green is good for our planet and even better for our business. But how do we put greenwashing behind us and truly make a difference? To improve recyling, find the non-recyclable stuff in your product and design it out. Make
- [The Abundance Mindset](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/08/10/the-abundance-mindset/) - We're too busy. All of us. Too busy. And we better get used to it: too busy is the rule. But how to make too busy feel good? How to make yourself feel good? How to make the work better? Pretend there is abundance; plenty for all; assume an abundance mindset. There's a subtle but
- [Secret Sauce that Doubles Profits](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/08/03/secret-sauce-that-doubles-profits/) - Last month a group of engineers met secretly to reinvent the US economy one company at a time. Here are some of the players, maybe you've heard of them: Alcoa, BAE, Boeing, Bose, Covidien, EMC, GE Medical, GE Transportation, Grundfos, ITT, Medrad, Medtronic, Microsoft, Motorola, Pratt & Whitney, Raytheon, Samsung, Schneider Electric, Siemens, United Technologies,
- [The Voice of Technology](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/07/20/the-voice-of-technology/) - We've all done Voice of the Customer (VOC) work, where we jump on a plane, visit our largest customers, and ask leading questions. Under the guise of learning it's mostly a mechanism to justify what we already want to do, to justify the products we know want to launch. (VOC should stand for Validate Our
- [Recharge your brain.](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/07/27/recharge-your-brain/) - Battery life of cell phones is horrific. We’re sold on high functionality, communication speed, and beautiful, bright screens, but with all systems up, the phone cannot deliver; we get about half a day. We pare down functionality, and try to make it through the day; we shut off regular requests for updates; we shut down
- [The two parts of innovation](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/07/13/the-two-parts-of-innovation/) - Innovation has two parts: ideation and commercialization. Ideation, the first part, is all about ideas, and this the part of innovation that comes to mind when we think of innovation. Commercialization, the second part, is all about products. This is the part we don't think of, and this is the part we've got to do
- [It's all about judgement.](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/07/06/its-all-about-judgement/) - It's high tide for innovation - innovate, innovate, innovate. Do it now; bring together the experts; hold an off-site brainstorm session; generate 106 ideas. Fast and easy; anyone can do that. Now the hard part: choose the projects to work on. Say no to most and yes to a few. Choose and execute. To choose
- [Pushing on Engineering](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/06/29/pushing-on-engineering/) - With manufacturing change is easy - lean this, six sigma that, more with less year-on-year. With engineering, not so much. Why? Manufacturing is about cost, waste, efficiency, and yield (how to make it), and engineering is about function (what it does) – fundamental differences but not the why. The consequence of failure is the why.
- [Do Magical Work](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/06/22/do-magical-work/) - We are responsible for our actions, for what we do, for our work, and others are responsible for their response to it. (That's why they call it responsibility.) Though we know we can't control others, we still snare ourselves in worry trap: What will they think? Will they like it? What will they say? Worse
- [The human side of Technology](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/06/15/the-human-side-of-technology/) - Technology has strong character traits; it has wants and desires; it plans for the future. It's alive. Technology continually tries to reinvent itself. And like rust, it never sleeps – it continually thinks, schemes, and plans how to do more with less (or less with far less). That's Technology's life dream, its prime directive –
- [Learning through disagreement](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/06/08/learning-through-disagreement/) - It's a little-know fact that you can disagree and still be a team player. (Really, it's true.) It's okay to disagree, but it should be done effectively. (Disagreement is not argument.) And disagreement can be a great source for learning. I learn most deeply from smart people I disagree with. As a self-declared smart person,
- [Coaxing out of the weeds.](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/06/01/coaxing-out-of-the-weeds/) - Doing new is difficult and scary. For safety, we create complexity and hide behind it; we swim for the weeds; we dive for the details. (At least we'll come across as knowledgeable about something when we bury our heads in details.) All of this so we can look smart and feel safe. But with new
- [Try it.](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/05/25/try-it/) - What's the risk? What's to lose? What's in the way? What are you afraid of? a Try it.
- [Improve the US economy, one company at a time.](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/05/18/improve-the-us-economy-one-company-at-a-time/) - I think we can turn around the US economy, one company at a time. Here's how: To start, we must make a couple commitments to ourselves. 1. We will do what it takes to manufacture products in the US because it's right for the country. 2. We will be more profitable because of it. Next,
- [The carry-over task and fear of success](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/05/11/the-carry-over-task-and-fear-of-success/) - The to-do list, whether digital or analog, we've all got 'em. We cross things off and put things on (mostly the latter); the list evolves - it's a living thing.We put energy into adding things, tasks, action items. (You can't go to a meeting without collecting one of them.) But most telling to me are
- [For innovation, look inside.](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/05/04/for-innovation-look-inside/) - Everyone is dissatisfied with the pace of innovation - solutions that change the game don't come fast enough. We look to the environment, and assign blame. We blame the tools, the process, the organization structure, and the technology itself. But the blame is misplaced. It is the innovators that govern the pace of innovation. It
- [Obsolete your best work.](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/04/20/obsolete-your-best-work/) - You solved a big problem in a meaningful way; you made a big improvement in something important; you brought new thinking to an old paradigm; you created something from nothing. Unfortunately, the easy part is over. Your work created the new baseline, the new starting point, the new thing that must be made obsolete. So
- [I can name that tune in three notes.](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/04/13/i-can-name-that-tune-in-three-notes/) - More with more doesn't cut it anymore, just not good enough. The behavior we're looking for can be nicely described by the old TV game show Name That Tune, where two contestants competed to guess the name of a song with the fewest notes. They were read a clue that described a song, and ratcheted
- [Pull the product lever, now.](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/04/06/pull-the-product-lever-now/) - If you're reading this you've probably survived the great recession. You had to do some radical stuff, but you pulled it off. You cut to the bone as demand fell off, but you managed to shed staff and capacity and kept your company alive. Congratulations. Amazing work. But now the hard part: increased demand! Customers
- [Mental Walls](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/03/30/mental-walls/) - Mental walls are more powerful than physical ones. With physical walls you know where they start and end and know if you can bust them down. With mental walls, you're not sure. With physical walls you know they exist – that they're real. With mental walls, you're not sure. With physical walls you can blame
- [Money out the wazoo](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/03/23/money-out-the-wazoo/) - There's a huge untapped source of profits out there – a virtual gold mine – with profit opportunities so large you can't see them, and if you do see them, too large to believe. These profits larger than you've achieved with your traditional lean work. (Actually, what I'm talking about the next evolution of lean.)
- [Upcoming Workshop on Systematic DFMA Deployment](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/03/17/upcoming-workshop-on-systematic-dfma-deployment/) - I will be running a half-day workshop on Systematic DFMA Deployment on June 13 in Providence, RI. The workshop will kick of BDI's 2011 International Forum on Design for Manufacturing and Assembly and will focus on how to incorporate DFMA into your product development process. The Forum (June 14, 15) is the yearly gathering of
- [Japan](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/03/16/japan/) - Japan, may you find the strength to move forward.
- [Work that creates wealth](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/03/09/work-that-creates-wealth/) - Today's biggest problems are difficult to solve and our approach to solving them isn't helping. Whether it's healthcare, education, infrastructure, defense, or the economy we never get past the wrong question: "Who's going to pay for it? With healthcare we argue about costs and taxes – who pays and how much. But we've got to
- [Treat your parts like your children](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/03/02/treat-your-parts-like-your-children/) - There's lots of charged debate these days on the strengths and weakness of in-sourcing and outsourcing. That's good. But what's a company to do? I'd like to propose a new framework to think through the situation. I call it the Parental Framework. (I get to name it since I just invented it.) There's only one
- [Rage against the fundamentals](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/11/03/rage-against-the-fundamentals/) - We all have computer models - economic models, buying models, voting models, thermal, stress, and vibration. A strange thing happens when our models reside in the computer: their output becomes gospel, unchallengeable. And to set the hook, computerized output is bolstered by slick graphics, auto-generated graphs, and pretty colors. Model fundamentals are usually well defined,
- [Imagination's Obituary](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/05/19/imaginations-obituary/) - Anytown, Any Country – Imagination died on Friday, May 14, 2010, following a long and courageous battle with continuous improvement. Imagination was born in a time long ago in a place we no longer recognize. Nurtured by her parents Individualism and Free Thinking, Imagination had a wonderful childhood. As a youngster, she was known to
- [Declare Success](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/02/23/declare-success/) - All projects are successful; it's just a matter of choosing what to declare. Here are some good choices: Success - We know when a project is too big. Going forward, let's do smaller ones. Success – We know we can run too many projects concurrently. Going forward, let's do fewer and get more done. Success
- [The Gravity of Intrinsic Motivation](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/02/16/the-gravity-of-intrinsic-motivation/) - Work can be exceptionally profitable, work can dovetail perfectly with strategy, and work can make perfect business sense. Though these attributes seem powerful, they're insufficient for work to carry the day. But there's a far more powerful force out there, a force that virtually guarantees that work will take on a life of it's own,
- [Great coaches invest.](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/02/09/great-coaches-invest/) - Great coaches invest. They're all-in. It's that simple. They know what you need and give it you. No need to ask. (And that's best because often you don't want it.) Great coaching is like medicine – tastes like crap and three years later you feel better. Great coaches are grounded in the reality of doing.
- [Confusion of facts with feelings](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/02/02/confusion-of-facts-with-feelings/) - Facts and feelings are different. Both are real, but facts are verifiable and feelings are not. Feelings are all about, well, feelings and facts are all about actions, events, and things that happened. But even with those differences, we still confuse them. And the consequences? We're misunderstood and judged and, if the feelings are deep
- [Too afraid to make money and create jobs.](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/01/26/too-afraid-to-make-money-and-create-jobs/) - What if you could double your factory throughput without adding people? What if you could reduce your product costs by 50%? How much money would you make? How many jobs would you create? Why aren't you doing it? What are you afraid of?
- [DFMA Won't Work](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/04/21/dfma-wont-work/) - Ask a company or team to do DFMA, and you get a great list of excuses on why DFMA is not applicable and won't work. Product volumes are too low for DFMA, or too high; product costs are too low, or too high; production processes are too simple, or complex; production mix is too low,
- [The Job Loss Implosion](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/01/19/the-job-loss-implosion/) - If you do one thing, click this link. (Or the graphic itself.) Please. You'll be sent to a page where you can watch an animation of US job losses. I was debilitated after watching the implosion. Here's how I reacted to the animation: Disbelief. No way. Not real. I checked the data. It's real. Fear.
- [Daily tweets will start today.](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/01/16/daily-tweets-will-start-today/) - Starting today I will be sending out a daily tweet (five per week.) I'll comment on interesting web content or send a short thought. The content will be in line with my blog posts -- innovation, product development, the economy, people, and teams. To follow me on Twitter and receive my daily tweets, click this
- [Your product costs are twice what they should be.](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/01/12/your-product-costs-are-twice-what-they-should-be/) - Your product costs are twice what they should be. That's right. Twice. You don't believe me. But why? Here's why: If 50% cost reduction is possible, that would mean you've left a whole shitpot of money on the table year-on-year and that would be embarrassing. But for that kind of money don't you think you
- [A Unifying Theory for Manufacturing?](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/01/05/a-unifying-theory-for-manufacturing/) - The notion of a unifying theory is tantalizing - one idea that cuts across everything. Though there isn't one in manufacturing, I think there's something close: Design simplification through part count reduction. It cuts across everything – across-the-board simplification. It makes everything better. Take a look how even HR is simplified. HR takes care of
- [2010 - Mike's year in review](https://www.shipulski.com/2011/01/01/2010-mikes-year-in-review/) - I looked back at 2010 and put together the list of things I shipped. (I got the idea from Seth Godin.) I made the list for me, to make sure I took some time to feel good about me and my work. I do. I want to share the list with you (because I'm proud
- [WHY, WHAT, HOW, and new thinking for the engineering community.](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/12/29/why-what-how-and-new-thinking-for-the-engineeting-community/) - Sometimes we engineers know the answer before the question, sometimes we know the question's wrong before it's asked, and sometimes we're just plain pig-headed. And if we band together, there's no hope of changing how things are done. None. So, how to bring new thinking to the engineering community? In three words: WHAT, WHY, HOW.
- [I don't know the question, but the answer is jobs.](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/12/22/i-dont-know-the-question-but-the-answer-is-jobs/) - Some sobering facts: (figure and facts from Matt Slaughter) During the Great Recession, US job loss (peak to trough) was 8.4 million payroll jobs were lost (6.1%) and 8.5 million private-sector jobs (7.3%). In Sept. 2010 there were 108 million U.S. private-sector payroll jobs, about the same as in March 1999. It took 48 months
- [I see dead people.](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/12/15/i-see-dead-people/) - Seeing things as they are takes skill, but doing something about it takes courage. Want an example? Check out movie The Sixth Sense directed by M. Night Shyamalan. At the start of the film Dr. Malcolm Crowe, esteemed child psychologist, returns home with his wife to find his former patient, Vincent Grey, waiting for him.
- [Define the future, walk the path.](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/12/08/define-the-future/) - If you want to shape what will be, define the future. a If you want to know how to get there, define the path. a If you want to know what's in the way, define your fears. a If you want to overcome your fears, walk the path. a If it doesn't work, repeat.
- [Our fear is limiting DoD's Affordability Quest](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/12/01/our-fear-is-limiting-dods-affordability-quest/) - The DoD wants to save money, but they can't do it alone. But can they possibly succeed? Do they have fighting a chance? Can they get it done? Wrong pronouns. Can we possibly succeed? Do we have a fighting chance? Can we get it done? In difficult times it's easy to be critical of others,
- [DoD's Affordability Eyeball](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/11/24/dods-affordability-eyeball/) - The DoD wants to do the right thing. Secretary Gates wants to save $20B per year over the next five years and he's tasked Dr. Ash Carter to get it done. In Carter's September 14th memo titled: "Better Buying Power: Guidance for Obtaining Greater Efficiency and Productivity in Defense Spending" he writes strongly: …we have
- [A Call To Arms for Engineers](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/11/17/a-call-to-arms-for-engineers/) - Engineers make magic. We are the only ones who create things from nothing: cars, televisions, bridges, buildings, machine tools, molecules, software… (You get the idea.) Politicians can't do it, lawyers can't do it, MBAs can't do it. Only engineers. And the stuff we create is the foundation of sustainable economies. We create things, our companies
- [What if labor was free?](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/11/10/what-if-labor-was-free/) - The chase for low cost labor is still alive and well. And it's still a mistake. Low cost labor is fleeting. Open a plant in a low cost country and capitalism takes immediate hold. Workers see others getting rich off their hard work and demand to be compensated. It's an inevitable death spiral to a
- [Manufacturing!](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/10/27/manufacturing/) - Manufacturing creates value to pay for schools. A Manufacturing creates value to pay for healthcare. A Manufacturing creates value to build and maintain infrastructure. A Manufacturing creates value to pay mortgages. A Manufacturing creates jobs.
- [Doing New](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/10/20/doing-new/) - Doing new is hard and starting new is particularly hard. Once fear is overcome and new is started, doing new becomes a battle with discouragement. Not managed, discouragement can stop new. Slumped shoulders and a head hung low are the signs and a mismatch with expectations is the source. Expectations are defined in the form
- [Don't change the culture, change your behavior](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/10/13/dont-change-the-culture-change-your-behavior/) - Change the culture. Easy to say, tough to do. What does it mean, anyway? Culture is a result of something - behavior. I'll go further - culture is behavior, behavior themes, but behavior still. Behavior is a result of behavior. Want to change someone's behavior? Wrong question. You can't. You can change yours, they can
- [Inspiring Work](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/10/06/inspiring-work/) - Inspiring work is art. Inspiring work is rare. Inspiring work is scary. Inspiring work is thrilling. Inspiring work is the reward. Inspiring work is life changing. Inspiring work is easy to recognize. Inspiring work is difficult to recognize. Inspiring work is an acknowledgment of self. Inspiring work's magnitude is proportional to the fear.
- [The design community has the biggest lever](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/09/29/the-design-community-has-the-biggest-lever/) - In sourcing, out sourcing, off shoring, on shoring – the manufacturing debate rages. So what's the big deal? Jobs – the foundation of an economy. Jobs pay for things, important things like food, schools, and healthcare. No jobs, no economy. The end. What does lean, the most successful manufacturing business methodology, have to say about
- [Do you know?](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/09/22/do-you-know/) - There are three categories of knowing: we know we know, we don't know, and we think we know. When we know we know - we understand fundamentals, we have a model, we have evidence, we can predict. We can build on this knowledge. We're not often in this state, but it sure feels good when
- [Fight Dilution](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/09/16/fight-dilution/) - What's worse than getting only one thing done today? Getting none done. The problem? Our New Normal. Too many things. Dilution. The answer? Stop starting and start finishing.
- [Green Jeans Drive Innovation](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/09/15/green-jeans-drive-innovation/) - Environmental stability, aka, Green, is just starting. Most are still in reluctant compliance mode, hoping beyond hope that this newest of corporate initiatives dies on the vine, that it's just another corporate initiative. Wrong. Very wrong. It's the way we're going to grow our business; it's the way we're going to make money. It's time
- [Bring It Back](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/09/14/bring-it-back/) - Companies (and countries) are slowly learning that moving manufacturing to low cost countries is a big mistake, a mistake of economy-busting proportion. (More costly than any war.) With labor costs at 10% of product cost, saving 20% on labor yields a staggering 2% cost savings. 2%. Say that out loud. 2%. Are you kidding me?
- [75% Warranty Cost Reduction - Preview of Upcoming Event](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/09/13/75-warranty-cost-reduction-preview-of-upcoming-event/) - Warranty cost: not a glamorous subject, but an important one. It's a great surrogate for what your customers experience. Some companies try to reduce warranty costs by trimming their warranty policies -- reducing costs but offering customers less. Bad idea, kind of like increasing insurance deductibles and co-pays. Warranty cost is best reduced by increasing
- [Most Popular Posts of 2010](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/09/12/most-popular-posts-of-2010/) - This week is an anniversary of sorts. So, I thought I'd share the most popular posts over the last twelve months. Here are the top 5: Who Owns Cost The Dumb-Ass Filter DFA Saves More Than Six Sigma and Lean Fasteners Can Consume 20-50% of Assembly Time DFMA Won't Work If over the last twelve
- [Top 10 signs your labor costs are too low](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/09/08/top-10-signs-your-labor-costs-are-too-low/) - Your purchasing manager was just fired due to skyrocketing shipping costs now that you build product in a country with low cost labor. You must hold a national press conference to explain how lead paint was put on your product by your supplier in a country with low cost labor. You get up at 3:00
- [Be Purple](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/09/01/be-purple/) - Focus, focus, focus. Measure, measure, measure. We draw organizational boxes, control volumes, and measure ins and outs. Cost, quality, delivery. Control volumes? Open a Ziploc bag and pour water in it. The bag is the control volume and the water is the organizational ooze. Feel free to swim around in the bag, but don't slip
- [The Dumb-Ass Filter](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/08/25/the-dumb-ass-filter/) - Companies pursue lots of ideas; some turn out well and some badly. Since we can't tell with 100% certainty if an idea will work, bad ones are a cost of doing business. And it makes sense to tolerate them. The cost of a few bad ones is well worth the upside of a game-changer. It's
- [What if manufacturing mattered?](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/08/18/what-if-manufacturing-mattered/) - What if it was cool to make stuff? What if we advertised manufacturing's coolness like we advertise beer and cigarettes? Who would be the celebrity spokesman? What if we took as much pride in university manufacturing programs as with their football programs? What if great manufacturing programs were as profitable as great football programs? What
- [Flags Without Sting](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/08/11/flags-without-sting/) - We live in the country. Trees and wildlife all around. Can't see our neighbors. A great place to be if you like the outdoors. We have two dogs – Abe and Lola. The dilemma: How to let the dogs run around outside but prevent them from running off into the wilderness? The technological solution: an
- [Who killed Vacation?](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/08/02/who-killed-vacation/) - What happened to Vacation? It used to be a time to let go, to separate from work, to engage with family and friends, to work hard on something else. A time to refresh, to recharge, to renew. Not anymore – a shadow of its former self - paler, thinner, hunched over. We still stay out
- [Don't bankrupt your suppliers – get Design Engineers involved.](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/08/04/dont-bankrupt-your-suppliers-–-get-design-engineers-involved/) - Cost Out, Cost Down, Cost Reduction, Should Costing - you've heard about these programs. But they're not what they seem. Under the guise of reducing product costs they steal profit margin from suppliers. The customer company increases quarterly profits while the supplier company loses profits and goes bankrupt. I don't like this. Not only is
- [What comes first, the procedure or the behavior?](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/07/14/what-comes-first-the-procedure-or-the-behavior/) - It's the chicken-and-egg syndrome of the business world. Does procedure drive behavior or does behavior drive procedure? Procedures are good for documenting a repetitive activity: Pick up that part. Grab that wrench. Tighten that nut. Repeat, as required. This type of procedure has value – do the activity in the prescribed way and the outcome
- [How to Make an American Job Before It's Too Late: Andy Grove](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/07/11/how-to-make-an-american-job-before-its-too-late-andy-grove/) - An amazing article by Andy Grove, co-founder of Intel, that puts things in perspective. A country's economy must be based on manufacturing and the jobs it creates. It's not about the designing and developing. It's about the manufacturing (and the jobs). End of story. This one's worth the read. Link to complete article Please pass
- [A Parallel Universe of Positivity](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/07/07/a-parallel-universe-of-positivity/) - That behavior was not appropriate; you did not finish that project on time; you made a mistake; you did not do it right; you did not build consensus; you did not do enough. Create an improvement plan, eliminate the shortfall, make up lost ground, re-attain the schedule. All negative, all day. I could scream. We
- [Anyone want to save $50 billion?](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/06/30/anyone-want-to-save-50-billion/) - I read a refreshing article in the Washington Post. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates wants to save $20B per year on the Pentagon's spend. I could kiss this guy! Gates wants contracts scrutinized more closely for inefficiencies and unneeded overhead. He said the savings could be shifted to support U.S. troops around the globe. Pentagon
- [Be Authentic](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/06/23/be-authentic/) - You're sitting in a big meeting discussing an issue, and consensus is nowhere to be found. There are two camps and you're in neither. And the big kahuna has marked her territory – you know where she stands. Frustrated by the lack of consensus she looks you in the eye and asks, "What do you
- [What we can learn from Balsamic Vinaigrette ](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/06/09/what-we-can-learn-from-balsamic-vinaigrette/) - Balsamic Vinaigrette - done well it's made from good balsamic vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) with a couple minor players thrown in as needed. Balsamic – dark, rich, full of spirit, bold, big personality. EVOO – deep yellow-green, thick, unflappable, broad-shouldered. Separately, they have their strengths and they know what they're good at. But
- [When Work Has Meaning](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/06/02/when-work-has-meaning/) - Work can be good or bad, calming or frustrating, it can fly by or crawl. What's makes the difference? Meaning. When work has meaning you are happy, and when it does not you are not happy. (Or you're happy for a different reason, likely because of a meaningful relationship.) You wear happiness on your sleeve
- [Cover Story IE Magazine - Resurrecting Manufacturing](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/06/01/cover-story-ie-magazine-resurrecting-manufacturing/) - For too long we have praised financial enterprises for driving economic growth knowing full well that moving and repackaging financial vehicles does not create value and cannot provide sustainable growth. All the while, manufacturing as taken it on the chin with astronomical job losses, the thinnest capital investments and, most troubling, a general denigration of
- [The Improvement Mindset](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/05/26/the-improvement-mindset/) - Improvement is good; we all want it. Whether it's Continuous Improvement (CI), where goodness, however defined, is improved incrementally and continually, or Discontinuous Improvement (DI), where goodness is improved radically and steeply, we want it. But, it's not enough to want it. How do we create the Improvement Mindset, where the desire to make things
- [Who owns cost?](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/05/12/who-owns-cost/) - I've heard product cost is designed in; I've heard it happens at the early stages of product development; And, I've heard, once designed in, cost is difficult get out. I'm sure you've heard this before. Nothing new here. But, is it true? Is cost really designed in? Why do I ask? Because we don't behave
- [If you were a country, what would you do?](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/05/05/if-you-were-a-country-what-would-you-do/) - If I was a country I would care about the well-being of my people. I would truly care about the health, education, and happiness of my families. That's easy to say, but hard to pay for. How would I fund it? I would make stuff, lots of stuff. My rationale - jobs, lots of jobs.
- [Ready, Fire, Aim.](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/04/28/ready-fire-aim/) - Pent up demand is everywhere. After almost two years of cutting inventories and pushing out purchases, companies are ready to buy. And with credit coming back on line, they're ready to buy in bulk. Good news? No, great news. We're back on our growth path. And that's good because Wall Street now expects growth. But,
- [Our Misguided Focus on Patents](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/04/14/our-misguided-focus-on-patents/) - Is it patented? Can we patent that? We need a @#!$%& patent and we need it now! You hear that a lot these days. Everyone wants to be part of the new economy, the thinking economy, and patents are the key, right? No. Patents are the results of something – good, old-fashioned innovation. The big
- [The Innovation Edict](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/04/08/the-innovation-edict/) - There is a groundswell of interest in innovation across the planet. As historians know, the interest in innovation is cyclic, and this year it's surely in vogue. Everyone wants more of it, even if we don't know what it is - we want it. And we want it because we want it; it's an emotional
- [DFMA to Control Controller Design - Design2Part Magazine](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/04/05/dfma-to-control-controller-design-design2part-magazine/) - Design for Manufacture and Assembly is reported to improve CNC performance, modularity, durability, and serviceability When Hypertherm (www.hypertherm.com) was getting ready to design its next generation of metal cutting CNCs, the engineering team’s goal was to make improvements. But the controllers, which automate the Hanover, New Hampshire-based company’s advanced cutting tools and systems, were already
- [Keynote Presentation - DFMA for Discontinuous Improvement and Innovation](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/03/29/keynote-presentation-dfma-for-discontinuous-improvement-and-innovation/) - Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Keynote Presentation 2010 INTERNATIONAL FORUM on Design for Manufacturing and Assembly Providence, Rhode Island, USA DFMA for Discontinuous Improvement and Innovation Abstract The literature is full of examples of companies using DFMA to design lower cost products. Though the savings are radical in magnitude, there is
- [Workshop on Systematic DFMA Deployment](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/03/22/workshop-on-systematic-dfma-deployment/) - Monday, June 14th, 2010 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pre‐Conference Workshop 2010 INTERNATIONAL FORUM on Design for Manufacturing and Assembly Providence, Rhode Island, USA Systematic DFMA Deployment Real‐World Implementation and Hard Savings Make the Difference Systematic DMFA Deployment is a straightforward, logical method to design out product cost and design in product function. Whether you
- [DFA Saves More than Six Sigma and Lean](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/01/20/dfa-saves-more-than-six-sigma-and-lean/) - I can't believe everyone isn't doing Design for Assembly (DFA), especially in these tough economic times. It's almost like CEOs really don't want to grow stock price. DFA, where the product design is changed to reduce the cost of putting things together, routinely achieves savings of 20-50% in material cost, and the same for labor
- [Innovation, Technical Risk, and Schedule Risk](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/01/13/innovation-technical-risk-and-schedule-risk/) - There is a healthy tension between level of improvement, or level of innovation, and time to market. Marketing wants radical improvement, infinitely short project schedules, and no change to the product. Engineers want to sign up for the minimum level of improvement, project schedules sufficiently long to study everything to death, and want to change
- [Design for Six Sigma and Six Sigma Are Not Even Cousins](https://www.shipulski.com/2010/01/05/design-for-six-sigma-and-six-sigma-are-not-even-cousins/) - There is no question that Six Sigma helps companies make money. So much so that everyone in the manufacturing community knows the five hallowed letters: DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control). It's straightforward and fully wrung-out. But that's not the case for the wicked step sister Design for Six Sigma (DFSS). She's fundamentally different and more complicated.
- [Improving Product Robustness 101](https://www.shipulski.com/2009/12/24/improving-product-robustness-101/) - Improving product robustness is straightforward and difficult. Here's how to do it. Identify specific failure modes, prioritize them, and go after the biggest ones first. Failure modes can be identified through multiple sources. Warranty data is sometimes coded by failure mode (more precisely, symptom type), so start there. The number one failure mode in this
- [Improve Product Robustness at the Expense of Predicting It](https://www.shipulski.com/2009/12/16/improve-product-robustness-at-the-expense-of-predicting-it/) - In a previous post I defined the term brand-damaging threshold and said I'd talk about how to improve product robustness. So, here goes. Every company is at a different stage in their formalized product robustness efforts, so it's challenging to talk meaningfully to everyone. But there are two especially meaningful principles that have served me
- [Innovation, problems, and stomach aches](https://www.shipulski.com/2009/10/06/innovation-problems-and-stomach-aches/) - In the last post on innovation I said I’d provide data on number of hits for a post with innovation in the title. Well, apparently the word recession is more relevant than the word innovation as there were 50% more hits with recession. Next time I should use both recession and innovation in the title
- [It's a tough time to be a CEO](https://www.shipulski.com/2009/10/13/its-a-tough-time-to-be-a-ceo/) - 2009 is a tough year, especially for CEOs. CEOs have a strong desire to do what it takes to deliver shareholder value, but that’s coupled with a deep concern that tough decisions may dismantle the company in the process. Here is the state-of-affairs: Sales are down and money is tight. There is severe pressure to cut
- [Make it worse and do the opposite](https://www.shipulski.com/2009/11/10/make-it-worse-and-do-the-opposite/) - It's time to write, but, again, no topic. This writing-once-a-week thing is tough. I drop my son off at the hockey rink and walk back to the parking lot to write in my car (I'm telling you, this is a good place to write). Before I get to my car, my cell phone rings. It's a
- [Want More New Products?  Reduce Capacity Utilization](https://www.shipulski.com/2009/11/17/want-more-new-products-reduce-capacity-utilization/) - Congratulations. You've managed to keep your product development engine running. Good work. But now the hard part. Marketing and sales know new products are a key to profitability, and so does the CEO. So they've all asked for more new products, and now you have more active product development projects in the pipeline. The product development
- [Problems are good](https://www.shipulski.com/2009/10/20/problems-are-good/) - Everyone laughs at the person who says “We don’t have problems, we have opportunities.” Why do we say that? We know that’s crap. We have problems; problems are real; and it’s okay to call them by name. In fact, it’s healthy. Problems are good. Problems focus our thinking. There is a serious and important nature
- [Design for Manufacture and Assembly Helps OEM Reduce Warranty Costs, Boost Profits](https://www.shipulski.com/2007/03/22/design-for-manufacture-and-assembly-helps-oem-reduce-warranty-costs-boost-profits/) - Design2Part Magazine published a good article on DFMA's ability to cut costs, labor, floor space and improve global competitiveness. Design for Manufacture and Assembly Helps OEM Reduce Warranty Costs, Boost Profits -- Design2Part Magazine An expert from the article: Five-year implementation of DFMA software creates strong business model for improving global competitiveness “We started with
- [Innovation - words and actions](https://www.shipulski.com/2009/09/28/innovation-words-and-actions/) - I sat down to write my weekly post with the hope of coming up with something meaningful on innovation. Nothing came. I asked the all-powerful oracle named Google for some guidance, and my thinking diverged. I realized that there are too many definitions for the word innovation, too many contexts, too many facets. There is too
- [Webinar on resurrecting manufacturing with Systematic DFMA Deployment](https://www.shipulski.com/2007/09/24/resurrecting-stuff/) - [flv:https://www.shipulski.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/ResurrectingWebinar.flv 320 240]
- [Boothroyd Dewhurst DFMA Helps Slash Warranty Costs and Boost Factory Floor Profits 600 Percent at Hypertherm](https://www.shipulski.com/2008/05/06/boothroyd-dewhurst-dfma-helps-slash-warranty-costs-and-boost-factory-floor-profits-600-percent-at-hypertherm/) - Five-year implementation of DFMA software by Hypertherm creates higher profits and strong business model for improving U.S. global competitiveness WAKEFIELD, R.I., and HANOVER, N.H.,USA, June 2, 2008—Hypertherm, the world leader in plasma metal cutting technology, has achieved a 600 percent increase in profit per square foot of factory floor space using Boothroyd Dewhurst, Inc., Design
- [Leading manufacturers cite upfront design creates significant downstream savings](https://www.shipulski.com/2008/11/06/leading-manufacturers-cite-early-design/) - Results from a new survey show that upfront design using DFMA methods creates significant savings in operational cost -- downstream savings. An exerpt from the survey: Sixty-eight percent of a survey group, including Fortune 400 companies, measured an increase in production throughput, and 47 percent an increase in profit per unit of factory floor space, after
- [How to organize for Lean / Six Sigma](https://www.shipulski.com/2008/11/16/how-to-organize-for-lean-six-sigma/) - John Teresco of Industry Week wrote a good article that shows how up upfront design enables the next level of improvments in Lean and Six Sigma. Here are several excerpts: At Hypertherm Inc., a manufacturer of plasma cutting systems, the DFMA software enabled a first pass part count reduction as high as 50%, says Mike
- [Engage product design in DFMA now; achieve 30 to 50% later](https://www.shipulski.com/2009/06/22/123/) - I wrote an article on the level of savings when product designers are engaged in DFMA. Here is an excerpt: This month, Shipulski details the company’s lean product-design efforts as he issues a “call to action” for lean manufacturers everywhere to involve their product-design teams. Why should the manufacturing engineering community care about engaging the product
- [Assess Design Alternatives With Axiomatic Design](https://www.shipulski.com/2009/09/07/assess-design-alternatives-with-axiomatic-design/) - Al Hamilton, of Axiomatic Design Solutions, wrote a good article on how Axiomatic Design can be used to evaluate multiple design alternatives. Here is an excerpt from the article: Axiomatic design breaks the design process into four domains, shown in Figure 1. The customer domain can be thought of as the voice of the
- [What is a DFMA Culture?](https://www.shipulski.com/2007/08/30/what-is-a-dfma-culture/) - What is a DFMA Culture? (.pdf, 1 page) John Gilligan of Boothroyd Dewhurst, Inc. asked me to describe a DFMA culture. Here is my description: At the highest level, a strong DFMA culture is founded on the understanding that The Product strongly governs most everything in a company. Product function governs what customers will pay
- [Measuring DFMA Savings](https://www.shipulski.com/2008/03/15/measuring-dfma-savings-wes-iverson-managing-editor-automation-world/) - Wes Iverson, Managing Editor of Automation World, wrote a good artcle on DFMA's ability to cut product cost, reduce part count, and save assembly floor space. Measuring DFMA Savings -- Automation World An expert from his article: When a Hypertherm team led by Shipulski designed a major new plasma cutting machine several years ago,
- [Redesigns get radical improvements using DFMA](https://www.shipulski.com/2006/04/13/redesigns-get-radical-improvements-using-dfma/) - Redesigns get radical improvements using DFMA Hypertherm, Inc. of Hanover, NH, is among the world’s foremost manufacturers of plasma arc cutting equipment. Founded in 1968 with a staff of two, the company today has 750 employees, with subsidiaries, sales offices, and distributors in multiple countries. All technology development, product development, and manufacturing is done in
- [Free Up Floor Space with Design for Assembly and Part Count Reduction](https://www.shipulski.com/2006/11/04/free-up-floor-space-with-design-for-assembly-and-part-count-reduction/) - Free Up Floor Space with Design for Assembly and Part Count Reduction By Mike Shipulski, Director of Engineering, Hypertherm, Inc Design for Assembly (DFA) methods have been around for over 25 years, but the number of companies using the methods is surprisingly low given that they are straight-forward, fast, and produce significant savings in traditional
- ["Hyper" for Lean](https://www.shipulski.com/2008/09/12/hyper-for-lean/) - "Hyper" for Lean -- Lean Directions, SME Hypertherm’s lean journey began in 1997 as a natural and enthusiastic extension of its long history of continuous improvement. Founded in 1968, the company’s “lean vision” includes training, application of 5S components, visual factory audits, single and mixed-model flow lines and the engagement of its product design functions.
- [Successful Design For Assembly](https://www.shipulski.com/2007/03/04/successful-design-for-assembly/) - Successful Design For Assembly Each company works with design for assembly (DFA) methods for different reasons. Some companies want to take cost out of their products, some want to make more products in their factories, and some want to simplify the product to increase quality and reliability. In a growing market, a company wants to
- [Part Cutters - Design for assembly dramatically reduces complexity of plasma arc cutter, Joseph Ogando, Senior Editor, Design News](https://www.shipulski.com/2006/07/20/part-cutters-design-for-assembly-dramatically-reduces-complexity-of-plasma-arc-cutter-joseph-ogando-senior-editor-design-news/) - Part Cutters -- Design News The engineers at Hypertherm Inc., a maker of plasma cutting systems,know a thing or two about cutting metals. They also know how to cut cost. A lot of cost. While redesigning one of the company's best-selling plasma cutting systems, they managed to reduce parts' count from more than 1,000 components
- [Six Lessons Learned from a Successful Design For Assembly Program](https://www.shipulski.com/2006/06/21/six-lessons-learned-from-a-successful-design-for-assembly-program/) - Six Lessons Learned DFA paper for May 2006 DFMA Forum.pdf (8 pages) Each company works with Design for Assembly (DFA) methods for different reasons. Some companies want to take cost out of their products, some want to make more products in their factories, and some want to simplify the product to increase quality and reliability.

## Pages

- [Publications](https://www.shipulski.com/publications/) - Articles Custom Model, Exploring Customized Manufacturing -- Mechanical Engineering Magazine Resurrecting Manufacturing -- IE Magazine (Cover Story) The Cure for Offshoring - The design side of product development -- Machine Design Let's Fix US Manufacturing Competitiveness -- Manufacturing Engineering Magazine Part Cutters -- Design News Successful Design For Assembly -- Assembly Magazine Getting Leaner at
- [About](https://www.shipulski.com/about/) - Mike Shipulski I strive to define best practices and tools for Product and Technology Development and Continuous Improvement and embed them into company culture. The intent of this blog is to describe the coming together of people with the right process and tools to grow the top and bottom lines, and doing the work as
- [Contact](https://www.shipulski.com/contact/) - Thanks for reaching out to me. You can reach me several ways. LinkedIn: Reach me and join my LinkedIn working group on Systematic DFMA Deployment. (select Search Groups and type "systematic dfma deployment") See my LinkedIn public profile. email: My personal email is mike@shipulski.com. (I read all non-spam messages but may not respond due

## MailPoet Page

- [MailPoet Page](https://www.shipulski.com/?mailpoet_page=subscriptions) - [mailpoet_page]
- [MailPoet Page](https://www.shipulski.com/?mailpoet_page=captcha) - [mailpoet_page]

## Categories

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- [Part Count Reduction](https://www.shipulski.com/category/part-count-reduction/)
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- [Downstream Savings](https://www.shipulski.com/category/downstream-savings/)
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- [Most Popular Posts](https://www.shipulski.com/category/most-popular-posts/)
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- [Additive Manufacturing](https://www.shipulski.com/category/additive-manufacturing/)
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- [Giving](https://www.shipulski.com/category/giving/)
- [Winning The Right Game & Wide Lens](https://www.shipulski.com/category/winning-the-right-game-wide-lens/)
- [Leadership](https://www.shipulski.com/category/leadership/)

## Tags

- [Design for Assembly](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/design-for-assembly/)
- [Lessons Learned](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/lessons-learned/)
- [Fix Manufacturing](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/fix-manufacturing/)
- [Competitiveness](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/competitiveness/)
- [Product Design](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/product-design/)
- [Cost Reduction](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/cost-reduction/)
- [Cost](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/cost/)
- [Engage Design; Product Design; Cost Savings](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/engage-design-product-design-cost-savings/)
- [Part Count](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/part-count/)
- [Manufacturing Competitveness](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/manufacturing-competitveness/)
- [Survey Results](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/survey-results/)
- [Profit Per Square Foot](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/profit-per-square-foot/)
- [DFMA Culture](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/dfma-culture/)
- [Role of Engineering](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/role-of-engineering/)
- [Design Alternatives](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/design-alternatives/)
- [Design Spaces](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/design-spaces/)
- [Functional Domain](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/functional-domain/)
- [Physical Domain](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/physical-domain/)
- [Process Domain](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/process-domain/)
- [Trust-based approach](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/trust-based-approach/)
- [Functionality](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/functionality/)
- [Features](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/features/)
- [Price Increase](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/price-increase/)
- [Problem Definition](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/problem-definition/)
- [Capacity Glut](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/capacity-glut/)
- [Understanding Physics](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/understanding-physics/)
- [Extensional Meaning; Intensional Meaning](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/extensional-meaning-intensional-meaning/)
- [Words](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/words/)
- [Stomach Aches](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/stomach-aches/)
- [States](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/states/)
- [Engineering Mindset](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/engineering-mindset/)
- [Engineering Capability](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/engineering-capability/)
- [Sales Tools](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/sales-tools/)
- [Product Development Engine](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/product-development-engine/)
- [Piano Teacher](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/piano-teacher/)
- [The Three Ts](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/the-three-ts/)
- [All-you-can-eat syndrome](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/all-you-can-eat-syndrome/)
- [Breaking Intellectual Inertia](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/breaking-intellectual-inertia/)
- [Capacity Utilization](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/capacity-utilization/)
- [Brand-Damanging Product Robustness Threshold](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/brand-damanging-product-robustness-threshold/)
- [Engage Design](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/engage-design/)
- [Failure Modes](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/failure-modes/)
- [Mae West](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/mae-west/)
- [Robustness Surrogates](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/robustness-surrogates/)
- [Physics of Failure](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/physics-of-failure/)
- [Big-Bar-Little-Bar](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/big-bar-little-bar/)
- [Leaders](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/leaders/)
- [Change](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/change/)
- [genes](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/genes/)
- [DNA](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/dna/)
- [genome](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/genome/)
- [economy](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/economy/)
- [Patents](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/patents/)
- [Work](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/work/)
- [Teams](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/teams/)
- [rodeo clown](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/rodeo-clown/)
- [Dumb-ass](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/dumb-ass/)
- [Local Optimization](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/local-optimization/)
- [Cloudy Lens](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/cloudy-lens/)
- [inspiring](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/inspiring/)
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- [Vacation](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/vacation/)
- [marinate](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/marinate/)
- [Tired](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/tired/)
- [Thinking](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/thinking/)
- [Purple](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/purple/)
- [Bottom-Up](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/bottom-up/)
- [DoD](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/dod/)
- [fun](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/fun/)
- [Success](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/success/)
- [personal productivity](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/personal-productivity/)
- [mind and body](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/mind-and-body/)
- [Creativity](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/creativity/)
- [Failure](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/failure/)
- [Rules](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/rules/)
- [Beliefs](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/beliefs/)
- [Ideas](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/ideas/)
- [Jedi](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/jedi/)
- [less-with-far-less](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/less-with-far-less/)
- [Start](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/start/)
- [People-work](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/people-work/)
- [Small Companies](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/small-companies/)
- [Lord Voldemort](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/lord-voldemort/)
- [alignment](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/alignment/)
- [Pronouns](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/pronouns/)
- [Social Media](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/social-media/)
- [Archeologist](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/archeologist/)
- [Be The Change](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/be-the-change/)
- [Training](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/training/)
- [video](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/video/)
- [sleep](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/sleep/)
- [exercise](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/exercise/)
- [eating well](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/eating-well/)
- [Loneliness](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/loneliness/)
- [Sam-I-Am](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/sam-i-am/)
- [Drag Racing](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/drag-racing/)
- [Behavior](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/behavior/)
- [Time Travel](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/time-travel/)
- [Novelty](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/novelty/)
- [People](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/people/)
- [free pdf of my book](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/free-pdf-of-my-book/)
- [Transplant Syndrome](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/transplant-syndrome/)
- [Crossword Puzzle](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/crossword-puzzle/)
- [weak signals](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/weak-signals/)
- [Top 40 Bloggers](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/top-40-bloggers/)
- [Grandfather](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/grandfather/)
- [Treat people like people](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/treat-people-like-people/)
- [meaning](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/meaning-2/)
- [Absurdity](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/absurdity/)
- [Anticonventional Thinking](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/anticonventional-thinking/)
- [Pizza](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/pizza/)
- [Consensus](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/consensus/)
- [Planning](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/planning/)
- [time](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/time/)
- [control](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/control/)
- [SenseMaker](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/sensemaker/)
- [Big Data](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/big-data/)
- [Inspiration](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/inspiration/)
- [uncertainty](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/uncertainty/)
- [money](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/money/)
- [Orchids](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/orchids/)
- [no-to-yes](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/no-to-yes/)
- [mind-body](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/mind-body/)
- [Greatness](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/greatness/)
- [IBE](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/ibe/)
- [Market](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/market/)
- [Customer](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/customer/)
- [Top Blogger](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/top-blogger/)
- [fortune cookies](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/fortune-cookies/)
- [ARIZ](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/ariz/)
- [Conflict](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/conflict/)
- [Leading Indicators](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/leading-indicators/)
- [Chief Innovation Officer](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/chief-innovation-officer/)
- [OODA loop](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/ooda-loop/)
- [Phaser](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/phaser/)
- [Prime Directive](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/prime-directive/)
- [Ants](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/ants/)
- [Ivy](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/ivy/)
- [Waiting](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/waiting/)
- [striving](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/striving/)
- [thriving](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/thriving/)
- [Accountability](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/accountability/)
- [awareness](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/awareness/)
- [DFA](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/dfa/)
- [Lean](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/lean/)
- [Six Sigma](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/six-sigma/)
- [Cost Savings](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/cost-savings/)
- [Seven Wastes](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/seven-wastes/)
- [Floor Space](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/floor-space/)
- [Downstream Savings](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/downstream-savings/)
- [CEO](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/ceo/)
- [Problems](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/problems/)
- [Fear](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/fear/)
- [Independence](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/independence/)
- [mentorship](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/mentorship/)
- [threaten](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/threaten/)
- [Podcast](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/podcast/)
- [Diversity](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/diversity/)
- [Present Moment](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/present-moment/)
- [Revolution](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/revolution/)
- [important](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/important/)
- [Diabolically Simple Prototypes](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/diabolically-simple-prototypes/)
- [Financial Accounting](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/financial-accounting/)
- [kindness](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/kindness/)
- [Learning](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/learning/)
- [DBE](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/dbe/)
- [Surprise](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/surprise/)
- [waste](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/waste/)
- [Eightfold Path](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/eightfold-path/)
- [Make it easy](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/make-it-easy/)
- [Business Model](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/business-model/)
- [situational awareness](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/situational-awareness/)
- [cubicles](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/cubicles/)
- [Planet](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/planet/)
- [Thankful](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/thankful/)
- [mutual respect](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/mutual-respect/)
- [Friendship](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/friendship/)
- [Feelings](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/feelings/)
- [stress](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/stress/)
- [Destination](https://www.shipulski.com/tag/destination/)