Summer is a time to step away from the daily grind and, hopefully, enjoy some vacation time, since those of us in Canada know the season can be too short. Our family just wrapped up a whirlwind tour through Europe. It was a fantastic two weeks and gave our two teenagers their 1st introduction to some new countries and cultures. Despite my best efforts to put work behind me, and I believe I was mostly successful, I still had a few a-ha moments during the trip. Realizing ther

This was one of those lessons that was tough to learn – tough, because it was very expensive time and money wise, and doubly tough because I had to learn it more than once. Vision inversion is when your key people put their vision for their position above your vision for the company. It’s quite normal throughout the ranks – and its ok – but for your direct reports, it can be deadly. Whether people I hired knew it or not, I always made a personal pact with them. If they would

Every board decision assumes the organization can execute the company’s strategy. If the organization fails to achieve the outcomes expected, the root cause is routinely categorized as one of two things: a “failure to execute”, or “insufficient capital to execute”. Both of those failure modes are typically tied to the leadership and management team, but (in my opinion), the fault is equally divided between the board and the CEO. Why? Because most strategic failures aren’t c

I’ll be honest, I don’t read many business or leadership books cover to cover. In fact, over my 40-year career, I can only recall finishing three: Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Jim Collins’ From Good to Great, and Ben Horowitz’s The Hard Thing About Hard Things. That’s not to say I didn’t start and partially read many, it’s just I didn’t finish many. Some books started off great, then start to run thin after one or two chapters. And many fell into what

A question for CEOs of small and medium sized companies: what is “execution risk” and how have you been navigating it? I spent some time talking with Mina Johl, CEO of Purple Wins, on this subject, and here’s her answer: “Execution risk is the chance your organization can’t convert a decision into the result it promised. In other words, it’s the distance between the strategy on paper and what lands.” She goes on to explain that “execution risk is also the largest, least measu

I have held many titles over the years. Manager, Director, GM, COO, and now Consultant. The specific title has mattered far less than one consistent reality I've encountered in every organization I've led or worked with: most people have something valuable to say, and most of them aren't saying it. And it’s not because they don't care. It's because leadership hasn’t created the right conditions for them to speak. My first real leadership role with meaningful scope was as a Li

A few weeks ago, I picked up a new client and started doing something I hadn’t done in at least forty years; I started going to work with a packed lunch, leaving the house in time to get to the factory at 7:30, and getting back home at 4:30. And, I should add, loving it! Many of my friends and neighbours were caught off guard by this. “Why would you choose to do that?” they’d ask, and “what do you mean ‘you love it’?” I know where they’re coming from. I should be retired – in

I have written many blogs over the last few years about why I love manufacturing. There’s a lot of reasons to be sure, but principal among them is, people. Manufacturing people are great people. I was speaking with a consultant earlier today. She reached out to me because she wants to shift her practice towards manufacturing companies, and she knew I was well connected with manufacturing company leaders. I had to ask her why. She said it was because of the people. They were s

These two gems arrived recently, and I’m thrilled to have them on my trophy wall. I first got the chance to work with UFG (United Flower Growers) in 1987. It was the 3rd “Dutch Clock” system I would do for the three co-operative flower auctions in Canada, but it was the biggest and most advanced auction of its kind outside of Europe. They were always pushing the envelope. They also preferred home-grown solutions in those days (still do) and home-grown means west of the Rockie

I was quite young when this opportunity came along. I don’t think I was even in the company for a year when I got the phone call. The company had a single phone line in and we might’ve had two phones (maybe only one). My remaining cofounder and I had just agreed the day before to continue on our entrepreneurial pursuit after an objective review of our business venture caused one of the other cofounders to choose a more certain source of income for his young family. The call c

It’s not easy getting in the game, and winning is even tougher, but getting started involves taking chances while winning requires persistence. And so it was with a company I cofounded many years ago, and how it became one of the premier scoreboards and scoring and timing technology providers in North America – from schools and arenas, all the way up to the pro’s – the NHL, NBA and NFL. The first opportunity came from the local OHL team, the London Knights. They were playi

Last month, I decided to drop into “OFG”(Ontario Flower Growers) in Mississauga for the first time in 15 years, even though I have often been working with clients in the area. The clocks are not in use there now, but they are proudly displayed in the warehouse. OFG had become a customer in 1984, when they wanted an electronic “Dutch auction clock” to replace a mechanical one that a group of local growers had been using to sell flowers to retailers since 1972. The goal of an e

I couldn’t have a wall-of-fame of “trophies” from my first company without having Trojan’s UV3000 system components on it. The UV3000 products were the catalyst opportunity for the company that changed the course of it's trajectory. When two friends and I launched the company in 1980, it was a hobby sideline. I was the third to quit a full-time job when I jumped in full-time in 1981. We were a services company, fixing equipment made by others, and then adding some panel build

The Hyd-Mech PLC100 was a long sought after “trophy” for my wall. I had been looking for one for my trophy wall for years, checking back with a longtime contact (Jim), every year or two. I have frequently come across PLC100’s while visiting different client factories, and it is tremendously gratifying to see them in still action, doing what they were designed to do, nearly 40 years ago. They don’t break down and the operators love them, so they’re never pulled out of service.

Over the last month, as I've written about the dangers of data, how to ensure quality decision-making, and avoiding ambiguity, I’m going to conclude this series of articles with a topic that most know is near and dear to me – The Business Operating System. Every organization has an operating system. Most just don't realize it. It’s not the org chart. It’s not the strategy deck. And it’s definitely not the software stack. It’s the collection of habits, rhythms, decisions, a

Most organizations don’t set out to be unclear. Ambiguity creeps in quietly, usually with good intentions. A role evolves. A process stretches. A decision gets deferred. Someone says, “We’ll figure it out as we go.” And for a while, that works. Then the organization grows. Complexity increases. The same ambiguity that once felt flexible is now expensive. The problem is that ambiguity rarely appears on a financial statement. It hides in plain sight. Ambiguity feels harmless un

As I noted in my previous article, the conversation that “more data doesn’t mean better leadership” is now out in the open, which naturally leads to the next question. If data doesn’t make decisions, what does? The answer is uncomfortable for some leaders. Judgment. Context. Accountability. And the systems that support them. In other words, decision-making quality is not a personality trait of leadership. It’s a business capability. Decisions are the real output of leadership

I like data. That probably isn’t a surprise. I’ve built scorecards, KPI frameworks, dashboards, and reporting cadences across manufacturing, healthcare, and service environments. I’ve seen data bring clarity, alignment, and momentum. I’ve also seen it do the opposite. Because at a certain point, more data does not make you a better leader. It often makes you a worse one. Not because data is bad, but because of how we use it. The illusion of control Most leaders don’t ask for

Every team needs someone in the driver’s seat, not to control the car, but to guide it. I’ve found smarts to be the most misinterpreted or misunderstood of the three virtues. Patrick Lencioni, in his book The Ideal Team Player , provides greater detail to ensure the description is clear to all, as the word itself can be misleading, given our traditional definitions. Without the proper context, the terms Smart and Humble could easily conflict with one another. In Lencioni’s

Every high-performing team has a certain sound. It’s not loud or flashy. It’s that quiet hum that tells you something’s working under the hood. Progress is happening, not because someone’s cracking a whip, but because the team wants to move forward. That’s hunger. Patrick Lencioni describes it as one of the three virtues of the ideal team player. But it’s easy to mistake hunger for something else, ambition, competitiveness, or even obsession. Those can all look similar on th