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Workaholism
“No one says, “Wow, an entire bottle of gin in one night? You are an outstanding drinker.” But work 16 hours a day, and you’ll probably get a promotion.” Arthur C. Brooks I’ve come to appreciate Arthur C. Brooks’ writing, and his recent article in The Atlantic links excessive work to lowered mental health. I’ve…
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TOC for Admirals
Coincidentally, I was already pondering a post regarding this article when I was asked to help the Coast Guard Vice Commandant’s office with administrative workflow. In my experience, admirals (and I assume other executives) are very comfortable at operating within MIT’s political and cultural lenses. Though they give much thought to strategy and wouldn’t accept…
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CPI of CPI
You don’t have time to make things better. All you’re doing is just getting up every day and trying to avoid disaster. Daniel Norton The above quote from a recent MIT Sloan article resonated with me. I see examples each week of teams so busy trying to keep up with inbound requests that they don’t…
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Meetings [usually] blow
After one of my first shop-level Theory of Constraints implementation pitch in 2014, I was asked if I desired unsolicited feedback on my meeting facilitation. I wasn’t sure if I did but listened to how inefficient I was. My agenda was vague, I failed to stick to it, and spoke more than I listened for…
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TOC 101
This is bar none the best tutorial I’ve ever come across explaining the Theory of Constraints. The job of management is to determine the capacity of their bottleneck, fill it, and then allow no more projects to begin until one is completed. Tiago Forte I had an experience this week that reminded me how undervalued…
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Scaling down TOC
I came across another successful Theory of Constraints (TOC) implementation this week with the world I am most familiar: aviation maintenance. I applaud the Air Force for insourcing this type of consulting and their findings were no surprise: The root-cause analysis identified core issues with scheduling processes, poor communication and multiple competing priorities. Katie Scott,…
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Reorganizing the Coast Guard for Steady-State Surge
I’m now zero for two in USNI’s Coast Guard essay contest. Reading Ryan Holiday’s Perennial Seller made me reevaluate my previous position that one should write for themselves. I still think the motivation must be internal, but without an external audience no one will care. Below is my 2022 submission. Enjoy! Introduction The Coast Guard…
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Efficiency is the Enemy – Farnam Street
If you ever find yourself stressed, overwhelmed, sinking into stasis despite wanting to change, or frustrated when you can’t respond to new opportunities, you need more slack in your life. Here’s how slack works and why you need more of it. — Read on fs.blog/slack/ I focused for many years on efficiency above all else,…
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Paperwork he-double hockey sticks
…automation is a great tool for killing busy work. Staff Sgt. Ryan Jette, USAF I posted before about the Navy allowing their graduate students to use automation in optimizing officer assignments and was happy to read that the Air Force is now providing licenses for any airman to iterate locally. The administrative aspects of the…
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Humble Workflow
pa·tience – the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. hu·mil·i·ty – a modest or low view of one’s own importance; humbleness. -Oxford English Dictionary Patience and humility have been my watchwords since beginning this blog. For too long I was too proud to recognize these blind spots of…
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Patience and Humility 