Tuesday, June 28, 2005

multi project management

The clock is ticking... Purple Curve Events presents North East Ohio Constraints Management Workshop on Multi Project Management featuring Tony Rizzo of the Product Development Institute. www.NEOworkshops.info

Sunday, June 19, 2005

price wars

Nobody wins a price war. I grew up loving small block Chevys and the cars that featured them. I owned (among a lot of other cars!) a 1965 Chevelle with a 327 and the famous "hump back" hi-performance cylinder heads. Then there was the 1968 Chevelle with the big block, then back to a small block 350 in a 1972 Camero... General Motors decision to offer "employee" pricing to everyone is stupid. They should know that no one ever wins a price war. Marketing 101 should convey that regardless of the amount of lipstick on the pig, it is still a pig! Somewhere about ten years ago, I became a huge Chrysler fan. Lee Iacocca's efforts finally paid off. He saved the company, when I felt the government should have let it die. Okay, I was not always perfect. The mini-van is huge. My PT Cruiser is a great vehicle... but having rented a Pacifica this past January in Daytona Beach, I have a new dream! This vehicle (pictured above) is every bit as fun to drive as it looks. Chrysler has the vehicles that I want to own. As a very small group of folks know, Cadillac probably still exists today in no small part because of the efforts of Eli Goldratt. I do like the CTS. But it is the Pacifica that keeps me up nights. Come on GM, anybody can start a price war. Give us some cars worth parting with our hard-earned money! -SKI

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

canton ohio regional chamber

One of the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce's newest member, I am pleased to once again be an active part of a chamber. As a road warrior of almost four years now, I find myself spending a lot of time in North East Ohio. Add the fact that the June 24th Constraints Management Workshop featuring the financial genius of Dr. Howard Meeks, will be held in Canton, Ohio. For those who have yet to hear, the web site for this event (and note as of this writing, seats are still available) is as follows: www.NEOworkshops.info Note that on June 16th, a Thursday, from 5:30pm to 7:30pm at the same facility, the Stark KSU Professional Education & Conference Center will host the chamber's "After Hours" event. I will be present and manning a table top display, selling any remaining seats (there are only 50 total seats!) and hawking my book: Purple Curve Effect -- SKI's Throughput on Command See you then! -SKI

Sunday, June 05, 2005

focus is not enough

Subtitle: focus (take two) There are times when desire and focus are just not enough. Believe me, that is a tough confession for me to make publicly. I have made a lot happen in my entrepreneurial adventures over the last "twenty something" years. Many of you are aware of Malcolm Gladwell, the author of The Tipping Point and now Blink. I have shared with a number of folks about his great article on McKinsey & Company and its influence on decision making within Enron... today, let me share a new post on one of Gladwell's old articles: Charlie Wilson Please take the time to read the whole article. It is simply amazing. It is an unpleasant wake up call. One that I needed recently. -SKI