December 13, 2015 My close friend's step-mom is a sharp-witted, amazing story-teller, and one of her famous lines is "interpret". Whether she said something completely wrong or somewhat close to what she wanted to communicate, she simply says "interpret" with a smile. Somehow with her, it works every time. [...]
December 8, 2015 Sticking to priorities is always important; however, it can be especially challenging during the holiday season as there are so many demands on our time. For example, today I had a key priority that had to be completed for a client. I knew it would take [...]
November 30, 2015 During the holiday season, it is extra important to remember to say thank you. There is added stress and loneliness in our personal lives it seems yet there is also added stress in our business lives. Year-end is approaching for many. Vacations need to be covered. [...]
November 23, 2015 I was in Hawaii the last few days for a strategy session. It was great to have dedicated time to think through strategy, brainstorm and improve upon it with colleagues, etc. Although this photo isn't the typical beach scene from Hawaii, I thought it was a [...]
November 18, 2015 I've been partnering with clients to design and implement SIOP (sales, inventory and operations planning) programs the last several years as I've found them to be a GREAT way to achieve several results simultaneously: 1) Support growth 2) Improved service levels/ quicker turnaround of deliveries (shorter [...]
November 9, 2015 Since I was largely away for a few weeks during my dad's stroke, hospice stay and funeral, I moved all non-essential meetings during that time frame. Now that I am "back", I have been trying to reschedule the meetings, follow-up on the ones I never planned [...]
November 2, 2015 I was just talking with a manufacturing client on the topic of SIOP (sales, inventory and operations planning). In their case, they have an incredibly stable business - it is the most predictable business I've ever run across in terms of sales forecasts. Even though the [...]
October 26, 2015 My Dad's funeral was this weekend, and it went as well as a funeral can go. We tried to make it a celebration of life. He certainly was a family man, and it was easy to remember all his good qualities. He drove me to skating [...]
October 19, 2015 I adored the Chicago Cubs when I was young. My childhood friend Vonda and I used to watch every game. She loved Ryne Sandberg, and I loved Jody Davis. It was great fun! We even went to Wrigley Field a few times. As my Dad just [...]
October 13, 2015 While I was giving my speech at the APICS International Conference, my Mom was calling my cell phone to tell me that she couldn't wake my Dad up that morning. He had a stroke in his sleep. Of course I flew out to AZ immediately. He [...]
