Dave Oventhal
When Poor Planning Meets Reality

In the March/April 2024 issue of Car & Driver magazine, Jamie Kitman points out the gains and pains within the current four-wheel EV landscape. Kitman’s Upfront article, Alternating Current provides the painful reality of “piss poor planning” (my words, not his) within the hallowed walls of auto OEs, again. As history seems to always repeat itself, once again the lack of reality has bit auto manufacturers in the ass. When global governments started mandating zero-emissions by 2035, the OEs’ jealousy of Tesla gained unprecedented momentum.

When Poor Planning Meets Reality

continous improvement

The Most Valuable Asset

The Most Valuable Asset

An asset is defined as “a useful or valuable thing or person”. The problem in business is that most leaders forget about the person aspect of this definition. Business leaders typically focus on tangible or intangible assets that the firm owns. Most assets that are front-and-center within day-to-day business are inventories, buildings, equipment, patents, copyrights, or financial assets such as stocks or bonds. However, this limited perception ignores the most valuable corporate asset; every, single employee.

Kaizen Culture

Kaizen Culture

Kaizen is a Japanese term typically translated to continuous improvement that covers the processes and theory for ongoing improvements. The theory (and term) was introduced to the West by Masaaki Imai in his legendary book, Kaizen: The Key to Japan’s Competitive Success. Imai outlined the following principles of kaizen:

  • Good processes bring good results

  • Go see for yourself to grasp the current situation

  • Speak with data, manage by facts

  • Take action to contain and correct root causes of problems

  • Work as a team

  • Kaizen is everybody’s business

Creative Alternatives

Creative Alternatives

A great method to drive innovation throughout the organization is to constantly search for alternative ways of doing business. A key part of the de Bono Thinking Systems is the use of alternatives. Creativity is about finding alternatives, different ways of doing things. Too often we are satisfied with the current state and avoid any effort for improvement. Before we realize it, our sales are declining and customers are moving to our competitors. We should always be looking for new ways to improve a product, process, or business operation. Not just when problems occur or during special situations, but always, every day!

After-action Review

After-action Review

Your team has been working for months on the new product rollout. Product photos and videos have been produced and launched. Media events are moving along and social media plans are engaging with consumers. Sales people are meeting with retailers to demonstrate the new product and educate staff. National advertisements are launched and hitting large regional markets. But something is not right.

Kaizen Comedy

Kaizen Comedy

As a business professional, you can develop a kaizen philosophy learning from stand-up comedians. Don’t laugh, successful comedians live and breathe based on a mindset (and practice) of continuous improvement. Never being satisfied with their current work, they continually refine and change their jokes and stories. They embrace failure based on “bombing” and then going back and rewriting their jokes.

The System of Profound Knowledge

The System of Profound Knowledge

Dr. W. Edwards Deming, primarily known as the God of Quality and the usage of statistical control techniques, focused on areas where management needs apply energy; understanding of statistical control techniques, the realization of everything being a process, and the importance on focusing on people, not technology, costs, or other variables. Deming felt that true organizational change had to come from the top-down.

Taiichi Ohno and The Toyota Production System

Taiichi Ohno and The Toyota Production System

I recently re-read Yoshihito Wakamatsu’s great book, The Toyota Mindset: The Ten Commandments of Taiichi Ohno. Taiichi Ohno was the incredible mind behind the Toyota Production System (TPS), the system that brought Lean into the mainstream and developed the foundation for one of the world’s largest and most successful automotive brands