Recently, I started doing some work with an already successful company in the throes of reinvigorating itself for the future. I hold them out as a good example of an organization that despite today’s economic climate remains forward-looking.

The principle they are using to guide their transformation efforts is embodied in a book entitled The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less, authored by Richard Koch. The headline for this blog post is the title of Chapter 5 in the book and captures the essence of the idea.

Yes, The 80/20 Principle is based on the patterns discovered by Vilfredo Pareto in the 1890s that many of us know as the Pareto Principle. But the book brings that principle alive and relevant to today. I recently completed reading Koch’s updated treatise and found it to be a good reminder to us all … in all things. While not quoted or referred to in the book, for me it comes down to this: Always keep in mind the “KISS” principle. more

Several years ago, there was a lot of interest in going “lean.” Much of the interest was being generated in manufacturing companies who were finding that implementing lean philosophies and practices was helping them to increase productivity, reduce cycle times, reduce inventory carrying costs, and control other costs through greater productivity.

While there was talk about lean principles moving into the service industry, I have not seen many reports on the experiences of service companies who have made the transformation. So what is the status of lean moving beyond manufacturing? more

Recently I have had opportunities to visit with various organizations and speak with controllers, auditors, and fraud examiners about some of the challenges they see in the area of assuring compliance with prescribed business processes. With many organizations facing reduced resources assigned to “maintaining control” the case is strong for finding ways to use technology to be on guard 24/7 in order to keep a “watchful eye.” more

It is not difficult to find stories to read about business process and internal control failures happening all around us … in entities of all types and sizes.

And doesn’t every case of failure start and end with people?

The answer to that is clearly “yes.”

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As the second quarter “earnings season” has played out over the last several weeks, I think it is fair to say that more often than not “numbers” were made despite drops in revenue. The explanation for this is again, more often than not, that the company has “cut costs.” Does this mean there are no more costs to cut? Does it mean the job was done well and all organizations are now better cost managers? Experience tells us the answer to both questions is “probably not.” more