Welcome 2007

Happy New Year! "The year of the BIG payday!" -ski

Small Business

"The business of America is business." -Calvin Coolidge The smaller, the better. How so? Leadership. Not the kind that we find on so many blogs, that confuse management with leadership. I was taught (or assume that I was taught, it might just be the internalization of repeated exposure) that we manage things, and lead people. Makes sense. Few businesses run by managers will find themselves on the purple curve of unending growth. It takes leadership. Use cases. A use case describes a sequence of actions that provide something of measurable value to an actor. Actors. An actor is a person, organization, or external system that plays a role in one or more interactions with your system. In my spare time, I have tried to introduce Use Cases into Constraints Management circles. Those in the world of computer software development (especially those using object-oriented methodologies) understand the power of these simple stick men. Lets pick on Suzie. The HR Director that I introduced in Purple Curve Effect. She did so well with Todd's help, that head-hunters started recruiting her! Which led her to an epiphany that her skills were valuable enough to consider a career change. Leadership For me, before Suzie jumps ship, I would suggest some thinking exercises with Use Cases. Who is her customer today? Draw a simple stick figure. What is that person's title or function? Is it an internal or external person? I go on to put myself in that stick person's shoes... how does the world look from their vantage point? What is their mission or goal? What pressures are they under to perform? Leadership is about thinking outside the box. Outside YOUR box, and thinking about the box your customer is in, and what challenges they must overcome to be successful. Then, the leader will jump into the box with the customer, and help them fight their way to success (read profit!). The true leader will recruit others in their organization to jump in along side, to take hold with, and together everyone achieves more (TEAM). All the while lining up these actions with their own corporate mission statement! So much easier to do in a small business. And yet, perhaps more difficult. Another dichotomy, for another post on another day. However, there are large businesses that understand and appreciate the "out of the box" leader. Does your employer? Are you even such an individual? How is your new year going to be different from the old year? Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah www.ThroughputPress.com P.S. See these Use Cases applied at the Purple Curve Workshop in Canton, Ohio. tag: small business

Best Places to Work

It is that time of year, again... Folks like Computerworld are publishing their lists of best places to work in IT. Other such lists cannot be far behind. Here is my challenge for those of us basically self-employed: tell the world why. Why your entrepreneurial effort beats even the best of the best in jobs. But tell us on your blog. I do not allow comments on by blog for a lot of reasons, including the spam issue. But more importantly, I would rather see you reply (to most any of my posts) on your blog, in order to see the internalization that takes place as you express yourself in your natural habitat. Simply link your reply to this post. Consider adding the tag "best places to work" for technorati and the Z-lister debate. {grin} Allow me to offer a couple thoughts of my own to start the process: Why self-employment is Thee Best Place to Work

• I get to keep 100% of the profits
• I get to work as late as necessary
• I can sleep in (rarely, but the option is there, and that makes my place, one of the best places to work!)
• I select my team mates based on their ability to produce results (not on seniority or other stupid rules that actually reduce the likelihood of producing results)
• With today's technology, I may choose great places to live and therefore work (like my beloved Hilton Head Island or Ft. Lauderdale)
• I get to use an Apple Mac Mini (the ultimate computer; finally a computer worthy of retiring my NeXTstation!)
• I can ignore the phone when known bozos call

Obviously not all inclusive, but a hint at some of the reasons that make my business one of the "best places to work". Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah www.ThroughputPress.com P.S. Do send me a link to your post and I will acknowledge your contribution. In fact, the best contribution received by 12noon on January 7, 2007 will receive a copy of my book, Purple Curve Effect. Email your links to: consultSKI@yahoo.com to qualify. tag: best places to work

Making Money

Adrian Slywotzky's The Art of Profitability Here comes a bold statement, but I have no trouble making it... and as Zig Ziglar says, its gonna be profound: "If you do not own The Art of Profitability then you are not serious about making money. Real money" Well, okay, first you buy it, then you have to read it. Over and over. Until "light breaks over marble head." Then you get to my workshop to see it applied "up close & personal". I would suggest that the better car dealers and motorcycle dealers have read it. At least someone in authority did for my last two major purchases. Anyone that knows me, knows that I love America and make every attempt to "buy American" every chance I get. Like my new V-Rod by Harley-Davidson. The dealer sold me on gap insurance. Their own policy. Where they make the profit. As good as the Harley brand is, the minute one rides a new bike off the showroom floor, its value (at least in the eyes of the insurance industry) drops significantly. Well, Adrian discusses this profit model. Among 20-something other models. And in one of the chapters, the main character talks of taking his wife to Hilton Head Island for a few days. Besides preaching Americanism (I would hope my colleagues around the globe are preaching the benefits of their homeland), I love to talk about my beloved Hilton Head Island. We first visited the island in 1983. It took until January 4, 1997 for me to relocate to this island paradise. It is a great place to vacation. It is an even better place to live. But I digress... If you are serious about making money in 2007, you need to attend the Purple Curve Workshop. Together, we will create a game plan for your success. Still not sure? Call me. Let's discuss your personal situation. I have been electrifying students for years! And producing results. Make 2007 your year of "the BIG payday!" Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah www.ThroughputPress.com P.S. I have been helping folks make money for years. tag: making money

Sun Microsystems Sales Force

Sun Microsystems Remakes Its Sale Force Wall Street Journal article By Christopher Lawton Interesting... maybe my remarks to some folks at Sun back in December 2005 made a difference? I suggested that they may want to review the landmark book, To Catch a Mouse Make a Noise Like a Cheese by Lewis Kornfeld. I was trying to buy one of their servers, during a promotion that they were running for the Sun Ultra 20. They were giving them away, if you bought the service contract for three years. As I recall, they required a credit card that had an expiration date at least three years into the future, then they would bill you monthly. Great idea. As had become the case however, poor implementation. During the 1990s Sun hardware and the Sybase RDBMS was my preferred platform. Although I had pushed NeXT to implement NeXTstep (called OpenSTEP on non-NeXT hardware as I recall) on the HP PA-RISC platform... but I digress. Sun also had a lousy video with poor sound qualities to promote the Ultra 20. I recommended that my contact look at Steve Job's (then) recent iPod video from apple dot com to learn how video promotions should be done by Fortune 1000 organizations. I am not interested in helping a publicly traded company, but if I were, I would say focus on the sales function. But too little, maybe too late for Sun. The article quotes one customer of 10 years (not me) as saying "Sun had become a fairly complex organization." Too bad. Wonder if I shared my classic "everyone is in sales" speech? Oh well. I hope they make it. The products are exceptional. Tell you what, if anyone in sales at Sun Microsystems attends the upcoming Purple Curve Workshop on January 19th, I will give them an extra copy of my book for Jonathan Schwartz. Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah www.ThroughputPress.com tag: sun microsystems

Starbucks and blogging

Reflecting on Starbucks As some of you know, I wrote about two companies in Purple Curve Effect that offered a great customer experience. Even encouraged readers to visit any of their stores and observe what (and how) they did what they did, differently than most retailers. Well, one of them was bought, and the bigger fish has all but destroyed the experience. Too bad. I now look for ways to NOT go in one of their locations. However, Starbucks is still a class act. In fact, the Starbucks is even more rewarding today, as my better half can now find drinks that she enjoys. Five years ago, that was not the case. So, if you have not visited a Starbucks lately, give them another shot. Make mine a decaf, grande Frappuccino® ... Blogging But the reason for this post, was in part a result of the "what I learned" exercise from yesterday. While surfing the other posts to Ben's query, I ran across a blogger known as starbucker. And his post on Starbucks. I actually heard about starbucker through the LivingLeadership blog post on what she learned this year. I said all that, to say, starbucker talks about a goal of Starbucks to serve everyone in three minutes or less. And the fact that they have yet to meet that goal. Again, a good post. However, having the goal is the right thing to do. As long as they never loose sight of the importance of true customer service. I would rather this goal exist, and never be achieved, than to drop it in favor of simply striving for "better customer service". It is the dichotomy that helps create the great experience! Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah www.ThroughputPress.com tag: what i learned

Eleventh Tenet

Eleventh Tee on Scarlet, Ohio State University How much golf is enough? I had a client retire, and after three months of golfing "at will", said that he had played enough. I like what Dr. Robert Schuller said, "I played golf until it threaten my religion!" Purple Curve Effect Tenet #11: "Only by fixing cashflow can most businesses survive long enough to find and fix the true weakest link." What are you doing that threatens your cashflow? Near the start of my computer consulting days (circa 1980's), I computerized a lot of manual accounting systems, using the great software from Open Systems Accounting Software (OSAS). It just worked. And the source code was included (hence the term 'open'). One client had the best approach to cash management that I have seen in 20+ years of working with small privately held firms: The Cash Inventory Ledger As in, "cash" as an inventory item. As in, "how much cash do we have today?" Why did it increase? Or, why did it decrease from the day before? Now, you see why I love the Open Source movement. We had to make a lot of modifications and write a lot of new code, to properly computerize this component of the old manual system. The gentleman had been through a bankruptcy a number of years prior, and learned the hard way that "cash is king". He realized after the fact, that if he had only tracked his cashflow better, he could have survived. The cash factor is twice as important to the startup. Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah www.ThroughputPress.com tag: cashflow

What I learned

What did I learn this year? A lot! Although the project officially ended Sunday, Ben is still accepting posts this week. And that is why I offer this post. One of those, "wish that I had thought of it" kinda projects... allow me to share just one profound moment from 2006. Eli Goldratt is brilliant. Ok, I already knew that. His P&Q example is brilliant. Yep, I knew that too. Here is the drop shot for all the money: "If your client does not understand the P&Q example and its ramifications, you cannot help them. Period. End of discussion. No amount of wishing will change the outcome." A little history is in order. I know the P&Q exercise is profound. Not just good, or great, or even brilliant. It is profound. So, when I had Eli on the phone a number of years ago, I asked permission to include the example in my then, upcoming book, Purple Curve Effect. I have used the P&Q to test understanding. You must allow the participant to work the example out, long-hand for themselves to truly determine their effectiveness. If they refuse to work it out, simply comment (quietly to yourself) "next" and thank them for their time. Then run away! Far away. And yes, my book is worth the $19.95USD price just for the P&Q example. Or the H. William Dettmer Foreword. Or the Index that Thayer Bennett created. Oh yea, I had a number of profound thoughts you might want to check out. Better yet, do what ever is required to get one of the fifty (50) seats in my workshop on Friday, January 19, 2007 in Canton, Ohio. I am giving a copy of the book to each attendee. Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah www.ThroughputPress.com tag: what i learned

Tenth Tenet

Tenth Tee at Harbour Town on Hilton Head Island, SC Ever wonder why professional golfers have caddies? SKI's Tenth Tenet: "Two heads are better than one" Common sense, right? I talk about the power of a SME (subject matter expert) and Constraints Management Jonah teaming up to turbocharge results. But it is more than just good horse sense... The great golfers know when to ignore their caddy. I often wonder if I too, made my book to easy to discount. In Purple Curve Effect, we talk about Eli Goldratt and his world wide best seller, The Goal. The fact that once read, a lot of otherwise smart people put the book down, and go about their business. It is too good. Well, my book is not too good. But it is the best guide I know for accomplishing one's dreams, regardless the mission. And I have read a lot of books. Some great ones. Like Jim Collins' Good to Great (actually, I have it on CD-ROM and my iPod, not in book form). And some not so great... but regardless, I can usually find at least one nugget to justify the purchase. But I digress... Having trouble making this tenth tenet seem profound? Better buy my book! Or attend the workshop next month. They will even improve your golf game! Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah www.ThroughputPress.com

My Technorati Profile

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Merry Christmas

Updated Agenda for Workshop

Ron McDaniel and Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey present:

• Northeast Ohio's First Purple Curve Workshop
• Friday, January 19, 2007
• 7:45am to 12noon
• Keynote by Ron McDaniel, Buzz Guru
• Workshop led by Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah
• Stark Campus of Kent State; Conference Center
• Canton, Ohio

Complete Agenda, Bios and Registration online {here}

Ninth Tenet and Boyd's OODA Loop

Smaller is Better Our ninth tenet from Purple Curve Effect is about planning in smaller batches, to allow one the flexibility to jump onto the purple curve of unending growth: "Plan your work in small units of time. It will allow you the flexibility to jump onto the purple curve." As H. William Dettmer suggests in Strategic Navigation, "speed alone" is not the key to Boyd's OODA loop. Yes, you must cycle through the Observe-Orient-Act-Decide process faster than your competitor, however, by implicitly knowing your plan, and the incremental transitions to the next step, one gains significant advantage. In Chapter Ten, where this tenet was birthed, I was talking about TOCreview magazine. The plan called for the creation of the full-color magazine in just 90 days. The project plan had a fairly large number of moving parts, but each aspect was broken down into small enough chunks to allow processing. And the constant last minute adjustments that always surface in any project. By looking at the components (and yet knowing the look & feel of the finished product), I was able to elevate any sub-task as necessary to keep the whole project on time. Some of you may know that it actually took 95 days. Eli Goldratt suggested that I use Critial Chain Project Management next time. Good insight. One of the keys of CCPM is buffer management. As i did not allow for any buffers, we ran over five days. Live and learn. And that is the message (one of many!) in Purple Curve Effect. Live and Learn! How are you going to have a dream come true, if you do not have a dream? Already have a dream? Maybe not as big as Bono's? Or Cindi's? So what. Start where you are. If you have not already done so, buy my book... it is that good (and important!). Then jump into action. A generic game plan is included in book, at no extra charge! I even show you how to adapt it to your mission. Still having trouble? Write me. consultSKI@yahoo.com Together, we can change the world! Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah www.ThroughputPress.com P.S. I have added a PDF of Chapter 10 from Purple Curve Effect. (c)Copyright 2006, Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey. All rights reserved.

Wake up call

This is your wake up call... Unlike the windfall from GG to Bud Fox in the Wall Street movie, there are legal methods for earning eight hundred thousand dollars. There are a number of people that have accomplished such amazing results in very short time frames. "If the dream is big enough, the facts don't count." Consider bringing your dream to the Purple Curve Workshop on Friday, January 19th. See if we cannot impart some practical wisdom, mixed with olde fashion encouragement, to help you design a system for making money... or getting out of debt... or changing the world. Seating is limited. Register today. Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah www.ThroughputPress.com (c)Copyright 2006, Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey

More World Peace

A year ago... Give or take a few days, I shared the World Peace Passport with readers. So what? What have you done with this worthy effort? If you are like me, nothing. As the year closes around us, this is a mission that deserves more of my attention. I will contact them anew today, and simply ask, "what can I do to help?" Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah www.ThroughputPress.com (c)Copyright 2006, Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey

Nothing proves like time

John Bray "gets it" He claims that online booking will exceed traditional booking in 2007 I concur. Back in October 2000, I created an Open Source based module to help tip this movement... in fact, at an industry conference and workshop, my company, eDivision.net LLC had a vendor booth to promote our wares... complete with a press release crafted in part by Thayer Bennett. What happened at the conference? Nothing. We did not sign up one vacation rental company. Why? The complete answer would fill a textbook... the short answer: most attendees were too busy putting out fires to see the future bearing down on their industry. They are not alone. We all do it. Yes, even the SKI man. I did not get RSS feeds for the longest time (90 days, which is a life time in our connected and web oriented world). And for all my preaching, very few of my colleagues use RSS on a daily basis. FYI: my home page is bloglines dot com. But I digress... The good news, the client we developed the RMS2WEB app for went on to sell the business a few years later for many millions of dollars. Yes, they were already a leader. Da. But the millions in real dollars that I helped book (in real time) played a part in the valuation. One of the principals made a great observation in 2000, when I mentioned my frustration at the lack of interest in my solution. He said basically, sorry about your luck, but that is good news for me. In less than a year of implementing my product, 80% of his business was being booked via the web. Oh well. As the late Colonel Hannibal Smith (George Peppard) said: "I just love it when a plan comes together!" Colour me right. Again. It will not be the last time. Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah www.ThroughputPress.com (c)Copyright 2006, Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah

Sears and more

Patriotic Business A friend emailed me a note about Sears and its policy concerning military reservist employees. Amazing. I hope to see you all at Sears this Christmas season. Sales 101 Another friend started a discussion about marketing, and during an exchange of posts, he proved once again, why he is one of the most successful and respected business professionals in the Constraints Management world: he asked for the order! What are you doing to move your business forward? Purple Curve Workshop Well, fear not! If you can get to Canton, Ohio on Friday, January 19th, you too can pick up some valuable pointers in Constraints Management, Sales, and Marketing. In fact, seating is limited, so act quickly! I have a surprise (as always!) up my sleeve: the Keynote is by Ron McDaniel. He has helped companies stand out and create a buzz for years. He just published his book, Buzzoodle Buzz Marketing, which shows small and medium businesses how to create buzz, get more referrals and grow their organization in as little as 5 minutes per day. Buy your copy today! Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah www.PurpleCurve.com

Eighth Tenet

Purple Curve Effect Eighth Tenet: Every business has real problems requiring real solutions. When I wrote this over two years ago, it made sense. Today, even more. I was on a gig where everything seemed to be going well... no real fires to fight, at least not on a daily basis. As time elapsed, a number of cracks in the mortar appeared. Every business has a weakest link. What is the expression, "still water runs deep?" In recent posts, I have been talking about the importance of the dream. The mission. Doubt that YOUR business has problems, great. Set a mission to grow or increase in market share (or whatever), then use the Purple Curve book to make that happen. Challenges will arise. The good news: the answers are in the book! {grin} I try to re-read the book just about every month (as time permits). As Bill Dettmer said, "it is a fast read". Why? There are some great truths that need revisited. Like "testing". The up-coming workshop on applying the "Purple Curve" to your life and/or business is for anyone and everyone. Unlike the Jonah3+3™ course, this workshop is affordable! It will clear the air concerning Goldratt's TOC, Dettmer's CMM, and Boyd's OODA Loop. We will define both internal and external constraints, and how to deal with them effectively. If you need to make significant progress, you need to buy the book. The PDF is just two bucks. Then, be at the workshop on Friday, January 19, 2007 in Canton, Ohio at the Kent State Stark Conference Center. As my friend and fellow author Todd Canedy says about the Purple Curve, "It may just be the 'kick in the pants' you are not getting!" Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah www.PurpleCurve.com

More Dreaming

apple mac mini #01.3 :: December 7, 2006 :: 07:55 EST i wrote about the new intel based apple iMacs back in february of this year, and encouraged everyone to buy one! well... i took my own advice! and bought one. actually, to talk about dreams coming true, lets talk about the first macintosh. i had started a computer club for kent state tusCampus in 1981 (as i recall) and we had an intro session when IBM released their first PC. then, in january or february of 1984, i put on a huge event to introduce the Apple Mac. the canton, ohio dealer brought one of the few macs in the state to the event... i even special ordered mcintosh apples for the event. but i digress... i saw the beauty of a simple graphical user interface, and decided that i had to have one. ordered it, and waited like a lot of other folks. while waiting, i had to figure out how to pay for it! i had a new dream, and i was determined to make it come true. and did. same with the mac mini. what dream are you dreaming? how are you going to have a dream come true, if you do not have one? how can one change the world without a dream? need help? ask. Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah www.ThroughputPress.com

Living in the Moment

Living in the Moment Enjoying every second By Dr. Roger A Rhoades (c)2006 Foreword by Thayer Bennett Published by Throughput Press ISBN13: 978-0-9760692-4-9 Buy now Securely Link: {here} It is rare when I get excited about a book that is not strictly 'business'... this is an exception. One chapter talks about the imagination. I have always had a very active one! Some great olde fashion wisdom and common sense. Something I place a lot of value on... Check it out, it just may be the encouragement you need. Today. -ski

The Dream

the goal. mission. purpose. i could write for days without end on the importance of making the dream one's focal point, and still not convey the power of this concept. ---- #01.1 :: December 3, 2007 :: 8:33am EST where to begin... with a recent example: my new Harley V-Rod. a number of years ago, my brother asked what i thought about the revolutionary new motorcycle (a radical departure for them, including their first water cooled engine) the 2002 V-Rod. i had not heard about it! sure enough, it was on the cover of magazines everywhere. looking most excellent. with engine design help from of all folks, the masters of air cooled "go fast" machines: Porsche! did i mention this was water-cooled? i test rode the wheels off this $17k wonder every chance i had... but had to settle (in the short term) for the Buell. used. but i kept dreaming. test riding them. studying the web site. reading articles about them. telling folks that some day i would own one. today, i do. dreams do come true... ---- #01.2 :: December 3, 2006 :: 13:13 EST how about a biz example? ok, TOCreview magazine. i have told this story from several vantage points over the years. what i did not mention, was when i made the decision to create this international biz leadership rag, i went and bought over one-hundred dollars worth of my favorite magazines... to study. to create a mental image of what success looked like... or in the words of Purple Curve Effect, "to find a working model and steal it!" using goldratt's TOC (theory of constraints), it took just 95 days (yes, DAYS) to create the magazine. as fine and professional as any magazine on any newsstand in any bookstore. because the dream of creating it on such a short timeline was bigger than all the reasons that it could not be done. i had the mental picture of the completed project in my mind's eye, before ever starting...

JAD

JAD (Joint Application Development) Scott at Tyner Blain say "Design", but we did a whole project within the JAD while I was consulting at Lexis-Nexis... my boss actually had me doing RAD during the sessions. I created a great "change management" app that worked within the framework of their helpdesk app... using Tcl and Sybase and a GUI builder by Scopus. The good olde days... JADs are still the way to go for larger organizations. The key role: the project sponsor. Get a good one! Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah

Workshop Coming to Ohio

Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah Purple Curve Workshop in Canton, Ohio Friday, January 19, 2007 Details online {here}

(RED) letter day

December 1, 2006 is the first World AIDS Day (RED) was created by Bono and Bobby Shriver, Chairman of DATA, to raise awareness and money for The Global Fund by teaming up with the world's most iconic brands to produce (PRODUCT) RED-branded products. A percentage of each (PRODUCT) RED product sold is given to The Global Fund. The money helps women and children with HIV/AIDS in Africa. www.joinred.com

six simple skewed sentiments sez ski

Six sentiments; simple, skewed, sez SKI #06 :: the right people are your greatest asset i talked recently of zig ziglar's bicycle buying experience... hopefully that hit home with folks (other than just myself). but what about leverage? a number of years ago, i worked in a manufacturing environment, that oft worked more than one shift... sometimes, in a crunch, we worked all three shifts. the owner was always buying more equipment in order to return to a one-shift operation. why? in order to better supervise the work. today, i would fight this approach (much more vocally than i did then). why? jim collins taught us that the "right people" are your greatest asset. not more equipment. it takes a lot of effort to recruit and hire the right people. it is a cost of doing business. the problem is when we settle for someone... or wait too long to make a change. fiorina mentioned this as well. without too much effort, it should be fairly simple to chart the cost of acquiring equipment versus the expenses associated with hiring the right person (or people). but remember, we must find and focus on solving the weakest link in our business. but actually, we must draw a line in the sand first. #05 :: there are two types of constraints: internal and external in the fall of 2004 i made a dream come true (hardly the first, hopefully not the last time) by becoming the Director of Manufacturing for Red Horse Motorworks LLC. as mentioned on several occasions, i was able to double production while reducing inventory (both raw material and work in process) by 50%... but what i wanted to really do, was sign up dealers by cruising up and down the eastern USA on a Red Horse Corsair 250 fat tired custom motorcycle... simple question: if sales doubled, could you handle it (within reason) with your existing facilities? another elementary question: are your shipments less than 80% on time? in other words, do you miss due dates a lot? one of the problems with TQM (total quality management) is the empowerment of everyone, without regard for the "weakest link." same with Lean and Six Sigma: great tools, once you know where to aim them. your business is a system. for the most part, a closed loop system. a change in one part of the business will (actually it must!) impact one or more of the other sub components. double shop floor production and the shipping department will scream! switch from low cost provider to the most reliable vendor and your comptroller will pay you a visit. there are only so many hours in the day... spend them wisely. quickly determine if you need more orders or more throughput. external or internal focus? #04 :: improve cash-flow in order to fight another day i gave a great speech a couple of years ago on the importance of selling, and the fact that if there is not enough money left at the end of the month, then focus on sales and marketing. you can always turn your attention to throughput next. an aside is in order. very few otherwise intelligent business people seem to be able to grasp this simple fact: fix the weakest link. until it is no longer the weakest link. then shift your focus to the next weakest link. repeat. they really have trouble with this next statement: not sure what to fix? pick something and take action! one does not have to guess with any real accuracy. any selection is better than no selection. if you guess wrong, so what? you will do better the next time. another reason for my focus on doing this in 90 day segments. the Boyd OODA Loop demands that we loop faster than our competition. fix sales (the external constraint) first, then you have the money to fix any and all internal constraints. why is that so hard to appreciate? #03 :: the mafia offer by cash-flow guru Dr Lisa there are any number of people better at any number of components of constraints management than me... so what? i am happy and pleased to blow their horn. one such guru in cash-flow and creating un-refusable offers (formerly known as "mafia offers" -- too good to refuse!) is Dr Lisa. get to one of her boot camps... buy her materials... do it today! i am more than "okay" at marketing... and have sold six figure (and a lot of four figure) contracts... so i can help in the short term. if your requirements are beyond me, i will be the first to run to lisa for help on your behalf! #02 :: throughput means "what gets measured, gets done" lets save strategy for another day, other than to say if you are not using CMM (goldratt's TOC and Boyd's OODA Loop, as explained by dettmer), you are probably not serious about results... which, basically could be defined as throughput. i would suggest that few are as good as yours truly when it comes to throughput. yet (and maybe 'because') i have had failures... one of the key's to IBM's success under tom sr. was his approach to failure: it is a requirement of success. yes, goldratt is light years ahead of me... and charges accordingly; but prefers to work with the fortune 100. it now takes me a week on-site to determine the weakest link. two years ago, it took a month. a year ago, about 3 weeks. progress! what metric do you study? you can invent reports of everything under the sun... but if that raw sales number is not a focal point, the rest is oft for naught. remember that GAAP is mostly for taxes. managerial accounting has its roots in cash based metrics, not accruals. the business owners that i prefer to work with are interested in putting more money in their pockets, AND the pockets of those contributing to throughput. a friend of the family, many years ago, worked for a company that offered a 10% commission on everything that he sold. until one day... they called him in, and said his checks were too big. they wanted to cut the commission rate. how stupid can people be? they were getting 90% and it was not enough... smartly, our friend said good bye. ever kill the golden goose? #01 :: what is your dream this topic deserves its very own post... but let me set the stage: humans will do very little without a reason. sure, you may run to the mall or over to friends without one, but prolonged efforts need, no DEMAND, a purpose. a goal. a mission. a dream! Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah consultSKI@yahoo.com www.SKIconsulting.biz

Seventh Tenet

Purple Curve Effect -- SKI's Throughput on Command by Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah with Thayer Bennett Available in both trade paperback and PDF, the first book in the "Applying Common Sense" Series, Purple Curve Effect is a "how to" for anyone in business wanting to accomplish more. Hands on exercises help the reader apply the wisdom immediately. Find your weakest link and fix it fast! 186 pages. Our eCommerce store, CCnow delivers via USPS Priority mail, assuring delivery within three to four days in the continental USA. The PDF is a 1.5meg file that is emailed within 24 hours. Order today!

Seventh Tenet The synergy from using the Socratic Method to gain invaluable feedback cannot be overrated.

In the foreword by H. William Dettmer (the foreword alone is worth the price of the book!), he cautions the reader about this method by offering its creator's words from 399 B.C.: "You ask questions, and then they kill you." So... learn the proper approaches to ensure long-life and positive results from the Socratic Method. Only by framing the problem properly and thoroughly, can one hope to solve it with a truly win-win solution. Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah consultSKI@yahoo.com www.SKIconsulting.biz

YAYE

Yet Another Year End What have you accomplished? I ask that myself often... and not just at year end! Some of my projects are coming along nicely... others are, well, not. On a positive note, I have started to put thoughts on paper (electrons on magnetic storage devices, to be more correct) for the Constraintless Personnel book. It is shaping up better than expected. The draft on hiring is a pure work of art... but I digress. And yes, a co-author was located... and you will be pleasantly surprised. Heard of the "Peanut Butter Manifesto"? I am toying with using TOC to analyze what Garlinghouse covered, and then use CMM (Dettmer's Constraints Management Model) to create a strategy to obliterate the competition. However, I hate to expend such efforts without a "payer source" as they say... plus, it might fall into the wrong hands. {grin} I love his comment about the loss of focus at Yahoo. Throughput Press will soon have another book in print... Did I mention that we are actively seeker authors that have a message of value to share? So, as I reflect on the year about to end, I am reminded of what the master of profit, Adrian Slywotzky, wrote in "The Art of Profitability":

"I can give you the complete recipe for the secret sauce [to success], and the chances are good that you still won't use it." --David Zhao

What did you do this year? Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah consultSKI@yahoo.com www.SKIconsulting.biz

Viral Marketing

see "The Bubba Test" link ... Marketing 101 -- Know your target market! This talks to the buyer on a level unmatched by common practice... -ski

Old West Antiques

Circa 1880 A good friend recently upgraded his eCommerce site, re pleat with a shopping cart and great items at very attractive prices. If you are looking to buy, sell or trade olde west items, check out his web site: www.OldWestAntiques.biz Tell him SKI sent you... -ski

Purple Curve Workshop

Purple Curve Effect Workshop Featuring author, educator, and Constraints Management Guru, Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey. Details online [here].

Genius

Genius has been called the result of hard work. If there is a secret to my success, that would be a major component. I have been willing to do the time required to achieve the results. Of course, not every client provides that latitude. But I digress... Last night, I attended a great 'exchange' session hosted by jumpstartinc dot org. The keynoter talked of doing a 40 hour semester. Wow. Ouch! If I can only get the rights to his story... For those that missed it, I took away one key concept (in two parts): "Business is about acquiring customers. And retaining them" -- Frank Griffith Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah consultSKI@yahoo.com www.SKIconsulting.biz P.S. Did I mention that I am actively seeking business books to publish? I will also consider other works that deserve a public voice. But only from those individuals passionate about making a difference in the world. Slack'ers need not apply.

Sixth Tenet

You get what you pay for! This wisdom comes from my book, Purple Curve Effect. Zig Ziglar tells of the Schwinn bike that his son wanted. It was too expensive. So they bought a cheaper brand. As I recall, six weeks later, they had replaced so many parts that the money invested in the "cheaper" bike now exceeded the price of the Schwinn. Zig says, "You can spend too little." And loose big time... as he learned the hard way. They ended up buying the Schwinn and it lasted the rest of the kid's bike riding career. As most of you know, I only work with privately held firms. The joy of helping a business owner change the world drives me like few other highs in life. Of course my Super X comes close! I do not come cheap... but if you are a business owner seeking to change the world, and could use some help, drop me a note. I am always looking for the next great challenge! Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah consultSKI@yahoo.com www.SKIconsulting.biz

mac mini

Apple mac mini I recently was on a gig where I needed the open source tools that are part of the new Apple Mac Operating System. When the gig was up, I bought my own mac mini. I love it. It has now replaced my love for its forefather, the NeXTstation that I bought back in the early 1990's. And with Intel "inside" -- what more could you ask for? You gotta love the "Front Row" app and the super-slick mini remote... I leave my iPod mini plugged in most of the day, and have "The Big Lebowski" DVD keyed up and ready for that sudden impulse to seek comedic relief. Hit the "menu" button on the remote, and instant relief! Oh yea, back to the apps... I run Apache, MySQL, and PHP for such great Open Source apps as SugarCRM. My iPodScarf app and most everything else of any real value. Need to put the "fun" back into your cubicle? Switch to the mac mini. Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah Mac user since March 1984

Is Six Sigma worth it

IndustryWeek asks, "Is Six Sigma worth it?" The short answer: it depends. Constraints Management oriented leaders understand that first you need a tool to determine the "weakest link" in your business. In order to focus your efforts. Among the tools used to strengthen that link, may in fact be Six Sigma. Or Lean. Or both. However, before one invests a small fortune (or even a large one!) in tools like Six Sigma or Lean, consider learning more about CMM (Constraints Management Model). H. William Dettmer took the power and focusing energy of Goldratt's Theory of Constraints (TOC) and reengineered it with Boyd's OODA Loop, to create an inexpensive toolbox to focus one's efforts on the important issues first, and then repeatedly, faster than your competition. Simple. But brilliant. Where should you start? First things first: "Purple Curve Effect -- SKI's Throughput on Command" Get my insight on TOC and its application to both personal and professional challenges. The two dollar PDF is a great value. Second, buy Dettmer's "Strategic Navigation" Most readers should skip ahead to chapter four. Dettmer gives a thorough history of strategy and tactics in the first three chapters -- too much detail for some folks. Third, buy one of Goldratt's books on TOC. I like "Critical Chain" for most folks. At some point you will want to read "The Goal". The techie or Information Technology folks might prefer "Necessary but not Sufficient". Then consider getting your new talents honed to a razor's edge with my Jonah3+3(TM) course, taught by Dettmer. Then, yes, Six Sigma might just make sense. Of course, you may be making too much money at that point to care. Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah consultSKI@yahoo.com www.SKIconsulting.biz

Sweet Dreams

The Eurythmics Sweet Dreams An amazing sound. One of my all time favorite tunes. A reminder that, "... everybody is looking for something ..." For me, it is simple: results. I am always looking for results. There, I said it. Revealed the inner workings of my mind. Or at least the driver to my actions. Like Dr. Robert Schuller, I played Golf until it threatened my religion. I wanted results: a lower score than last time. Not always possible. What do you want out of life? From your business? The end of yet another year approaches. What are you going to do about it? Sit back, and wonder, "what happened?" Or make some plans? Guess what, if you want something that you have never had before, you will most likely have to do some things differently. Common sense, right? Not at all. It is just not that common! Plus, it is a lot like work. Want to change the world? Drop me a note. I am looking for something to do in my spare time... and as Einstein said, "small plans have no ability to motivate." Start with my book. Available for just two bucks ($2) in PDF, and learn the seven (7) steps to accomplishing everything on your "to do list" before the end of the year. Then together, lets tackle something worthy of our God-given talents. Want to "run on ahead" by yourself? Start with the proper training: the Jonah3+3™ by H. William Dettmer. Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah consultSKI@yahoo.com www.SKIconsulting.biz

Tough Choices

Tough Choices by Carly Fiorina Yes, I read a lot. Mostly biz books and magazines. And yes, there are a lot of books that I never finish. Although it may seem that I say it often, I am sincere when I say Fiorina's book is a "must read!" It is important to me to understand how and what successful leaders think, and their decision-making processes. To what do they give credit, for their accomplishments. I was surprised when there was little media coverage immediately following the boot of Fiorina. I was not a big HP fan, and so her exploits rarely reached my threshold for serious investigation. Not because she was a woman. Some of my most successful clients have been female CEOs and business owners. There is a great expression: "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear." Working with my co-author on our personnel book for Constraints Management oriented business owners and managers, one topic that repeatedly comes up, "metrics", is covered on numerous occasions in this book (309 pages -- but a fast read). As always, your mileage may vary. Some could read this book and remark, "what is the big deal?" Others, maybe at HP or Compaq during her tenure may have a different vantage point. But as I said in my Amazon dot com review, until you have been in the role of CEO, you may be unable to appreciate the demands. Another reason to adopt Constraints Management: we see lay-offs as the last resort. But overall, this book helped me understand more of the inner workings of the Fortune 500, and those executives that lead their organizations to this elite grouping. Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah November 2006 P.S. Here is a great speech that Fiorina gave last year on Economic Development.

Veterans Day

Veteran's Day November 11th It seems that everyone gets today off. Well maybe not everyone. Bankers. State and Federal employees mostly. All in my honor, and the honor of those that came before me, and those to follow that have served our great country. To protect the freedom we oft take for granted. Enjoy the holiday. Please try to remember that most of us have very little input in the selection of missions. Ours is simply to do or die. That may help to explain my love of Constraints Management: the requirement to focus. In the Marine Corps, everyone is taught first how to be a highly effective and motivated killing machine. Then comes your MOS (military occupational skill) training. Once you the get priorities right. So few understand or appreciate the power of focus. On the weakest link, and only the weakest link. Until it is no longer the weakest link. After three months of constant training and conditioning in boot camp, you become a key component of one the world's most elite fighting machines. Little room for debate. Or questions. Or second thoughts. Simply execute. Einstein and Goldratt call it "inherent simplicity." The building block of complexity. Take a minute today (maybe even go slightly out of your way) to thank a veteran. Male or female. Old or young. Marine or not. We do not do it for the praise. But it is nice to hear every now and again. Semper Fi Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah

Meteor Crater Arizona

Amazing Recently, I drove past the meteor crater near Winslow, Arizona. Amazing is the only word that comes to mind. They say a rock about 150 feet in diameter hit the ground, and left a crater 4000 feet across and over 500 feet deep. I thought $15 a head to see it was a little steep. I heard someone ask where the original meteor was now, and the reply was, "it vaporized on impact." Wrong. Ted Turner has it. I bet the price of admission is going into a Nixon-like slush fund to buy the meteor back. Only problem, I doubt Ted will part with it! -ski

Harley V-Rod

The 2004 Harley-Davidson V-Rod is a work of art. In fact, this one hung in a Las Vegas casino for a year as the possible prize for a slot machine payout. With numerous chrome updates, I was able to purchase the bike for a huge discount. Officially three years old, but still a "new" bike with only 14 miles, I rode it to Modesto, California and then back to Vegas three weeks later. I guess the purchase of the BMW K1200S will have to wait. -ski

WYAJ

Welcome Yet Another Jonah... This guest blogger is from America's heart land: Iowa. The latest to share their thoughts having recently completed the Jonah3+3™ course, featuring master instructor H. William Dettmer. Introducing Eric Brasch, Jonah I recently completed Bill Dettmer’s Logical Thinking Process Course (Jonah3+3). For me, it was incredible. I came out light years ahead of where I thought I would be. Before the class started Bill stated that I wouldn’t look at the world the same way once I completed the class. He was correct. In addition to in-depth learning of the TP, the class gave me a head start on some key issues within one of our business units. I’ve been home for a few weeks and have been able to hit the ground running with the TP inside of my areas of control. In addition, I’m working with a group leader to put his plans into a Future Reality Tree. Right now we are trimming negative branches and shoring it up. Our class was in Port Angeles, Washington. During the weekdays, there was very little time for anything but the class, eating and sleeping. However the weekend allowed me to see some sights that one doesn’t normally get to explore in Iowa. About 80 miles from Port Angeles are spectacular beaches and even a temperate rain forest. Iowa has… corn. I strongly suspect that I will be back in that area on a vacation at some point. This is an absolutely beautiful place. Other things of note about the class:

• Bill’s teaching style covers all of the bases. He provides verbal explanations and visual tutorials. I learned the most when we got into building the trees.
• Probably one of the more impressive things about Bill is his ability to analyze and really get into your tree. At times it felt like playing blackjack with Rainman…he knew what the next card (or in this case missing entity) was going to be before I did.
• Bill’s training is top notch and I came out of the class far more confident than when I went in.
• In addition to his teaching abilities, Bill was a wonderful host.

I highly recommend this class to anyone who is interested. Thank you Bill and SKI. Eric Brasch, Jonah

Wanted -- Co Author for new Personnel Book

WANTED: Constraints Management Guru to co-author a book on personnel. It has come to my attention that few business leaders understand the role of personnel in Constraints Management energized organizations. Key concepts of the book will include focusing on the common sense solutions, like proper measurements and goal setting. This will be the next book in the "common sense series" of books by Throughput Press. Got what it takes? Write me. Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah

Marketing 101

"There are only two types of constraints that prevent businesses from truly exploiting the vast yet unbelievable riches that await the savvy marketer: Internal and External. "Marketing" should be defined as the process of creating a valid strategy and a test suite of tactics to absolutely destroy any external constraints blocking the tsunami of throughput that represents unimaginable wealth." --Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah Comments?

Dylan on XM

I missed it, Dean. Thanks for the note! AOL to carry Bob Dylans' "Theme Time Radio Hour" -ski

Opening in Jonah3+3(TM) Class

WHEN: September 27th through October 4th: http://www.toctalk.net/showthread.php?t=76 WHERE: Port Angeles, WA WHAT: http://consultski.blogspot.com/2006/02/calling-jonah.html http://consultski.blogspot.com/2005/12/logical-thinking-process.html http://consultski.blogspot.com/2005/12/dettmer-on-strategy.html http://consultski.blogspot.com/2006/03/welcome-jonah.html One seat available. First come, first served. -ski

M109R Go Fast Time Machine

Suzuki M109R Boulevard Cruiser And I offer the word "cruiser" very carefully. This is more like a rocket ship than your average run of the mill street bike. My brother had to have one. Then he wanted to sell it. Then it went into the shop for a small leak. Then he missed it! Part of my "everybody needs at least three bikes" approach, he also owns a Kawasaki Vulcan Nomad for comfort. But when it is time to "git r done" -- a quick slide down the bat pole and off to the interstate on this rocket. Don't tell anyone, but I actullay rode it about 10 miles. In a straight line... mostly. I was impressed. For a fat tired bike, it handled very well. There was no real sense that the rear tire was larger than needed. But it is. And yet it looks great. When I compare the M109R to my Red Horse Corsair Sport with a 250 rear tire, there is no comparison. The Corsair with Harley Twin Cam 88" looks great, sounds great, turns slightly more heads at the petro stations, but rides like... well, like the 1960's chopped and bobbed bikes to which it owes its heritage. The Suzuki blows away the Victory Hammer and Jackpot on every front. Price. Speed. Comfort. Handling. Looks. So, if you want to go fast on a budget, and mostly speed your time away on the interstate, this is a great bike. Of course, we do not all want to spend all our time on that big straight slab... {grin} -ski