Steve Beeler

You have a goal…I have a way to get you there.

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Slide Rule

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I found my slide rule the other day while moving into my new home office. While made obsolete by hand-held calculators, a slide rule still teaches a valuable lesson in precision, or more specifically, false precision in the digital age.

Slide Rule

Divide 4 by 7 on a calculator, your smartphone, or in Excel and something like 0.57142857 will be returned. Now, perform the same operation on a slide rule, and (after some squeezing and squinting) 0.572 will be returned. Wow…the digital age is so much more precise!

Not so fast. Granted, the calculator returns more decimal places but the answer may or may not be more precise. How can that be? Good engineering practice is to express results to the same number of significant digits as the measured value with the least number of significant digits. Since it is unlikely that both our “4” and “7” were measured out to 9 decimal places, the digital age’s greater precision is an illusion.

Excel formulas to truncate significant digits are tricky and I don’t know anyone who uses them. Even so, we can all easily limit decimal points to something more reasonable than nine places.

slide rule calculator PC

So that’s the lesson on precision. Curious as to how a slide rule works?

Slide rules are based on base 10 logarithms. A logarithm is the power to which a number must be raised to equal another number. The base 10 logarithm of 100 is 2 because it takes exactly 2 tens (10 x 10) to equal 100. Adding the logarithms of two numbers is the same as multiplying the two numbers. Similarly, subtracting logarithms is the same as dividing one number by another. By sliding the scales and cursor relative to each other, logarithms are added or subtracted to perform multiplication and division.

A slide rule can also calculate square roots, cube roots, sines, tangents, etc. If I remember correctly, I did not use my slide rule for the trig functions. I looked them up in tables like this one from my CRC Standard Mathematical Tables, a reference book full of way too much information. Calculators are much easier!

CRC Trig Tables

Here’s a link to an NPR article on slide rules including a demo:

https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2014/10/22/356937347/the-slide-rule-a-computing-device-that-put-a-man-on-the-moon

The slide rule jockeys of the 1960’s had it right: they put a man on the moon to three significant digits.

Great Books

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Great Books

After a crazy busy summer with the FF50th, I am finally moving into my home office. In addition to finding my slide rule, I have rediscovered so many great books! Here are three great books from my personal library:

The Goal

 

The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt. The first book on Theory of Constraints. Very cleverly written as a novel, not as a text book. “In isolation yes, in combination no” is a lesson that I apply (successfully and profitably) over and over again.

Out of the Crisis

Out of the Crisis by W. Edwards Deming. Deming’s values and clear thinking provide timeless direction. Correctly categorizing variation (common cause vs special cause) keeps me out of a lot of trouble.

Getting to Yes

Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher and William Ury. This is a great book on how to get things done: focus on common interests, create win-win options, consider alternatives. Don’t leave home without a BATNA!

What great books are on your shelves?  Click on the GET IN TOUCH button below.

SQDCME

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Organization and focus are essential elements in achieving operational excellence. There is just so much to do and it is easy to fall into the “work on everything, accomplish nothing” trap. In automotive, objectives commonly fall into five categories: Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, Morale, and Environment. SQDCME is much more than a format for annual performance reviews: the six dimensions focus improvement actions and prioritize competing objectives.

SQDCME

Safety is the first priority. The first questions to ask are around employee and customer safety. What processes are in place to ensure employees are working safely and that products are safe for their intended use? Who is responsible for managing these processes? What metrics measure employee and customer safety? Corrective actions to ensure employee and customer safety will be the first line items on the action plan matrix.

Customer satisfaction must be ensured. Unhappy customers do not stay customers so the quality system is the second area of interest. What processes are in place to ensure finished products meet customer requirements before they are shipped? What processes ensure internal quality between manufacturing processes? Who is responsible for managing these processes? What are the key internal and external quality metrics? Gaps in the quality system will drive the second set of line items on the action plan matrix.

Production schedules must be met. Customers waiting for products are almost as unhappy as those with defects. What processes are in place to align production schedules with customer demand and plant capacity? How are engineering changes coordinated? What processes are in place to successfully launch new products? How are supplier and production bottlenecks managed? What processes are in place to maintain production equipment? Who is responsible for managing these processes? What metrics are used to measure delivery performance? These questions will lead to a third set of action plan line items related to on time delivery.

Waste (and cost) must continuously be attacked. Cost and quality together drive value…and loyal, repeat customers. Does everything have a place? Are materials delivered directly to the point of use? Does the plant layout facilitate single piece flow? Is there a problem-solving methodology that facilitates continuous improvement? Who is responsible for identifying and reducing waste? What metrics are used to track progress? As above, these questions will generate actions to reduce waste and cost.

Engaged employees are critical to success. It is hard to imagine a successful plant full of unhappy, disinterested employees. What processes are in place to ensure effective two-way communication with employees? Is the plant clean and bright? Are restrooms spotless? Are break rooms and cafeterias pleasant places to hang out? Are offices and cubicles functional and professional? What processes ensure employees are properly trained? Who is responsible for employee involvement? The answers (or missing answers) will lead to action plans to increase employee involvement and satisfaction.

The plant must be a responsible member of the community. It is equally hard to imagine a successful plant that pollutes and is an eyesore. What are the processes to monitor air and water standards? Is refuse minimized and disposed of responsibly? Are the plant grounds appropriately maintained? How do the plant and its employees contribute to the community? From these questions will follow action plan line items related the plant’s place in the community.

Plan-Do-Check-Act continuous improvement model

Is SQDCME all that there is to operational excellence? Certainly not. However, in short order the SQDCME approach will form a half dozen or so teams focused on specific actions towards operational excellence.  Couple SQDCME with a continuous improvement model (Plan-Do-Check-Act is a perfect choice), and you are on your way.

Please click HERE with your questions and comments.

Event Management

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What makes an event a special project management challenge? Everything has to be ready in the first minute! In automotive, there is a “Job One” date when the first car rolls off a new assembly line. After Job One, production ramps up as problems are solved. In event management, there is no such luxury. When the gates open, it is go time.

I recently completed a two-and-a-half year adventure in the planning and organization of Formula Ford’s 50th anniversary celebration at Road America. The FF50th was a very complex five day event with a full slate of racing and off track activities The FF50th was not perfect but it was pretty good.

FF50th Group Photo
A timeless image of an historic occasion (courtesy Jay Bonvouloir)

Keys to Success

Here are some keys to successful event management:

First, write a business plan that paints a picture of the event. Thoroughly think through the who, what, where, when, and why. I outlined the FF50th business plan. Outlines are easy to edit and can be read quickly by busy people. Eleven headings fully scoped the FF50th: Objectives, Where and When, Sanctioning Body, Leadership Team, Car Eligibility, Driver Eligibility, Race Groups, On-Track Schedule, Surprise & Delights, Communication Channels, and Budget.

Next, start thinking about the how. That’s where the “traditional” project management tools come into play, first a Gantt chart followed later by a punch list. The timing plan should pull decisions as far forward as possible to provide more slack time for all the little details. Remember: an event has a hard deadline…get ready for it!

Event Management Gantt Chart
FF50th Gantt chart

The Gantt chart defines blocks of work and timing at a “big picture” level.  The punch list gets into the nitty gritty of who and when at the task level.  It is also a good place to capture decisions and other project data.  The Gantt chart is updated infrequently.  The last revision to the FF50th’s Gantt chart was made eight months out.  One the other hand, the punch list changes about every time something happens.  In practical terms, that means daily (more on this below).

FF50th Punch List
First page of FF50th punch list

With the picture painted and a work plan taking shape, the next step is to recruit people to work on the event. No doubt the right people are the single most important key to successful event management (and anything else I can think of, for that matter). Find people who will start with your picture and then surprise you daily with something better.

The last key to successful event management is a new project management trick that I learned while doing the FF50th. About six weeks out, the world was spinning just a little too fast for my punch list…all the little details! To slow things down, I drew up a short list of twelve deliverables that had to be done right and on time. Then frequently during the day, I reviewed the list asking a simple question: Is there something that I need to do NOW to make this deliverable happen? If the answer was yes, then that e-mail was written or that phone call was made right then and there.

Event Management Short List

The short list eventually grew to nineteen deliverables. Even so, the world slowed down and the “must haves” all fell into place.

Steve Beeler

So there you have it, an event management road map. Now go out there and deliver an epic event!  Click HERE to let me know how you are doing.

Fractional Leadership

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Some time back, LinkedIn suggested that I connect with someone who described herself as a Fractional CEO. This title caught my interest. A Google search led me to a series of articles on fractional leadership. To my great surprise, I discovered that I am ahead of a curve that I did not know even existed.

Every organization, from time to time, is faced with skill set gaps and limited resources. Fractional leadership is a cost-effective option to meet critical objectives that would overextend management teams…or just not get done.

fractional leadership

Fractional leadership is a simple concept. A fraction, of course, is a portion of a larger something. Leadership requires vision, perspective, organization, inspiration, accountability, etc. A fractional leader becomes an essential part of your team, a hands-on implementer on an interim or extended part-time basis.

I found aspects of fractional leadership in most if not all of my case studies.  At one end of the time horizon, I provided daily (including weekend) boots-on-the ground project management for a manufacturing plant rearrangement that spanned seven months.  In another case, I worked part time for two and half years to organize and deliver an event, the FF50th.

At established companies, a fractional leader is an effective solution during periods of transition: a new product or IT systems launch, a plant relocation or rearrangement, an ISO registration, an opening of a new sales territory, integrating an acquisition, the unexpected exit of a key executive, etc. A fractional leader can quickly and cost effectively fill a transitory mis-match between skills and resources.

fractional leadership

Startups and emerging growth companies are excellent candidates for fractional leadership. A fractional operations engineering expert can provide technical direction, supervision, and business acumen until cash flow catches up for a full-time hire.

I merely discovered, and did not invent, fractional leadership. Here is a link to one of the better articles that I found:

Kimberley A. Whitler: “The Outsourced Executive: A Growing Leadership Staffing Solution” (Forbes)

Fractional leadership is a nimble, flexible, and cost-effective alternative to a full-time hire and my preferred client relationship. Facing a work bubble or skills gap? Consider fractional leadership instead of a full-time hire.

If a fractional leader is a potential solution to your business challenges, please click here to start a conversation.