The Oil Crisis in the fall of 1973, followed by a recession, affected government, business, and society the world over. A period of general prosperity in the 1950s and 1960s in the wake of WW II had provided good business conditions, particularly in the newly ascendant USA. However, towards the end of the 1960s, a period of low to no growth and inflation in many countries set in and became … [Read more...]
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Best Operations Management Books and Resources
One of the most impressive business achievements of the late 20th century was the ascendance of Toyota from non-existent in the 1960s to the dominant car company in the United States. What is particularly impressive about Toyota is that they were not in a new or emerging category. The success of a Facebook or a Google is impressive in its own way, but they were part of new categories with no … [Read more...]
Company Culture & How It Can Be Worth $150 Million
After AirBnB closed out their Series C raising $200 million in a round led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, the AirBnB team invited Thiel to the office. They took him into a conference room and had pulled up various metrics on the screen to show him how the company was doing. Midway through the conversation, AirBnB CEO Brian Chesky asked Thiel what was the single most important piece of … [Read more...]
The Four Levels of Organization
Do you ever feel like a different version of the same problem keeps happening over and over? That every time you think you've finally won the game of whack-a-mole, another mole pops up? One common reason for this is that you are solving problems at the wrong level of the organization. Until you start to solve them at the right level, you’re going to continue to have an underperforming and … [Read more...]
The Toyota Production System: A Love Letter
A supermarket is a magical place. It is a place where a customer can get: What they need.At the time they need it.In the amount they need it. Supermarkets must make certain that customers can buy what they need at any time. If you run a supermarket and 10% of your products are always out of stock, customers will stop coming. They won’t be able to get everything they need when they need it … [Read more...]
A COVID-19 Crisis Management Plan for Startups and Small Businesses
Crisis management is the process used by organizations to respond to disruptive and unexpected situations - black swan events if you will. In crisis management theory, they are typically three elements that make something a crisis: A meaningful threat to the organizationFrom an unexpected eventThat must be responded to quickly The coronavirus presents a pretty good example of something … [Read more...]
Priority Management: How to Prioritize Tasks and Keep Your Life in Balance
“Plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” Dwight Eisenhower One of the primary frameworks I use in my work is something I call the business production function. It’s a diagnostic tool that lets me quickly look at the four big categories of business and asks: which one of these is the current limit? Which of these, if improved, will make the biggest impact on the … [Read more...]
The 3 Laws of Marketing: Why Nobody Buys Your Sh*t
In his book, Average is Over, economist Tyler Cowen argues that marketing, not STEM fields is the most important skill set for the future. “It might appear that a masseuse is not much affected by computers, at least provided you are skeptical about these robots that now offer massages. Nonetheless, masseuses increasingly market themselves on Google and the internet. These masseuses fit the … [Read more...]
The Business Production Function: A Framework for Growing Early Stage Ventures
What is the optimal business strategy for your company? What is the next project you should work on? The answer, of course, is “it depends.” Your business strategy is dependent upon the stage of the business, it’s industry, and macroeconomic factors outside your control. But, I think that there are frameworks that can help you figure out the next step. The framework I've found most helpful … [Read more...]