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Address Your Company’s ‘Rock’ Or It Will Impede Forward Momentum

In Business Innovation, Business Value, ConnectALL, Tech Talk by Lance Knight

Note: Originally published on Forbes I recently was a guest on a podcast and discussed value stream management—the mechanisms of mapping the value stream, understanding flow and removing waste. I thoroughly enjoyed my session and felt that the moderator asked me some really great, thoughtful questions. I talked about one of my favorite quotes famously attributed to Peter Drucker, which is, “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” While I agree wholeheartedly with this and have taken that approach throughout my professional career, another one of the quotes I shared was, “You are not managing something …

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The Surprising Reality About Software Process Bottlenecks (and How to Address Them More Effectively)

In ConnectALL, Value Stream Management, Value Stream Metrics by ConnectALL Marketing

Note: Originally published on LinkedIn Many people liken bottlenecks in software delivery to bottlenecks in manufacturing, and that isn’t an unreasonable comparison. Nevertheless, there are significant differences, not the least of which is that manufacturing bottlenecks tend to be easily identifiable. This is largely due to the measured nature of manufacturing where work flows through specific cells, and it’s pretty evident when one gets jammed up. Software bottlenecks are more complicated to diagnose and resolve because they aren’t always obvious. For example, one process might be two weeks behind, but if it’s at the end of the delivery cycle and …

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Get Started Marketing at the Speed of Tomorrow Now

In Business Innovation, Business Value, ConnectALL, Marketing, Tech Talk by Lance Knight

Note: Originally published on Forbes I was preparing a webinar for my company when I decided to do a little research to uncover the current optimal length for a product or promotional webinar. I started cruising search sites and was surprised by what I found. A global marketing company with eight offices and 350 employees stretching around the globe had posted an article on that very topic. One of the “cardinal rules,” the author stated, was to never let webinars be longer than 90 minutes. They recommended 60-90 minutes and said anything more than 90 would cause the audience to …

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What People Don’t Get About Value Stream Management

In Business Value, ConnectALL, Tech Talk, Value Stream, Value Stream Management by Andrew Fuqua

Note: Originally published on TechBeacon There’s nothing wrong with value stream management (VSM) itself, but there’s plenty wrong with how it’s being considered and discussed by bloggers, industry marketing types, and others, who often conflate it with DevOps and Agile. It’s not the same thing. When you read about value stream management, you need to be able to recognize bogus information when you see it. Here are five things obfuscating the truth about VSM—and what you should be focusing on instead. 1. Misattribution, personification, and wishful thinking The first problem relates to the many unsubstantiated claims about the benefits VSM can provide. Beware of statements that …

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Resiliency and Determination: How the Challenges of 2021 Made for Remarkable Opportunities

In Business Innovation, Business Value, ConnectALL, Tech Talk by Lance Knight

Note: Originally published on Forbes Last year saw a tremendous upheaval as everyone — businesses, governments, families, doctors — experienced challenges and even loss. Yet, it was also a year of heroism and defiance as the world faced a common foe in Covid-19. Although vanquishing that foe is still a question mark, business leaders understand they must move forward. They are asking themselves, “What can I do now to position my firm for recovery and growth?” This isn’t an easy question to answer, and because the pandemic left a significant number of businesses with economic uncertainty and revenue losses, it …