Leadership Archives | Page 36 of 37

The Enemy of Better

By Ron Pereira - May 5th, 2008

Do you aspire to be the best? How about your company… do they want to be the best? If so, I contend this is the deadliest goal you or your organization can have. Allow me to explain. You see if you are indeed the “best” as de

Life is like a bowl of oranges

By Ron Pereira - April 29th, 2008

As I mentioned towards the end of our most recent video the demonstration with the oranges, pebbles, sand, and water can be used to explain a far more important life lesson. Before this, please allow me to thank you for your comments a

Tips for Dealing with Conflict

By Ron Pereira - April 21st, 2008

Our ability, as business leaders, to manage conflict can’t be overstated. If you’ve never dealt with conflict in a professional environment…well, you live a blessed life. Most of us, however, have almost certainly facilitated a m

The Crow and the Pitcher

By Ron Pereira - April 20th, 2008

Here’s a neat story credited to Aesop. It’s found in the 2nd century AD Greek fable collection by pseudo-Dositheus. That sets the scene far more eloquently than me explaining how I came across the story in one of my kid’

The Efficiency Conundrum

By Ron Pereira - April 15th, 2008

Ah yes, efficiency. If there was ever a word more abused I’d like to know about it. I don’t think there is. OK, maybe utilization. But efficiency is really butchered. So let’s dig into the efficiency conundrum a bit this evening

The Old Navy from Hell

By Ron Pereira - April 10th, 2008

My blogging goes in spurts. I seem to get on a “theme” and roll with that for a few posts. Well, regular readers of LSS Academy have likely sensed I have been on a “take action/5S” rant as of late. Well,

Well Do Something!

By Ron Pereira - April 9th, 2008

“If you come to a fork in the road, take it.” -Yogi Berra A True Story Several years ago I was riding in the car with my Grandma and Grandpa. We were driving to the store if I remember correctly. Along the way my Grandpa pulled

Fix the Broken Windows

By Ron Pereira - April 7th, 2008

What do fixing broken windows and continuous improvement have in common? I contend a lot. Read on and let me know if you agree. The so-called broken window theory comes to us by way of the criminology world. Broken Windows The theo

Hesitate and Die

By Ron Pereira - March 31st, 2008

One of my favorite movies is U-571 starring Matthew McConaughey. In the movie, a German submarine is boarded by disguised American submariners seeking to capture its Enigma cipher machine. Now in Charge Once the seasoned skipper di

Dealing with Doubting Thomas

By Ron Pereira - March 30th, 2008

Today, Roman Catholics around the world read about Doubting Thomas. No matter what your personal belief system is, I think there is much to learn from this story, especially for those of us attempting to drive change in our organizati

What is Progress?

By Ron Pereira - March 26th, 2008

I was reading some quotes of G.K. Chesterton tonight and came across this one. “Progress should mean that we are always changing the world to fit the vision, instead we are always changing the vision.” – Orthodoxy, 19

The Time of Fulfillment

By Ron Pereira - February 28th, 2008

The word metanoia literally means the changing of one’s mind through repentance. Spiritual Life In the theological sense, metanoia occurs when a person examines their life and decides to turn away from sin and towards God. Often time

The Real Leader

By Ron Pereira - February 25th, 2008

My sister Denise recently sent me this quote. “He has genuine integrity, he has serious style, and he’s pulled me through more than one bout of the stomach flu. Anybody can sprinkle rose petals across a big brass bed, but o

The Never Ending Pursuit of Wisdom

By Ron Pereira - February 5th, 2008

Let no one deceive himself. If any one among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool so as to become wise (1 Cor 3:18). Wisdom is a mysterious thing and something, I contend, worth our full attention. You see, I

Rope Suppliers

By Ron Pereira - January 28th, 2008

J Thatcher recently asked: Here’s a question: If the student becomes the initiation point for “pull” learning, how does the instructor continue to “push” students beyond what they believed themselves capable? (And yes, I’m

Inspired at NASA

By Ron Pereira - January 27th, 2008

This past weekend my family and I went to Houston to visit some relatives. On Saturday we went to NASA. If you have never been there you need to carve out some time to make this visit. I took quite a few pictures and will try to

Excellence is a Habit

By Ron Pereira - January 23rd, 2008

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but habit.” -Aristotle I am doing my best to teach my kiddos about lean and six sigma. Since they are ages 5, 3, and 1 my instructional tactics need to be crea

Learning to Learn

By Ron Pereira - January 17th, 2008

Lean Enterprise Institute has a book called Learning to See. It’s about how to use value stream maps to “see waste” in a new way. It’s a great book and even better book title. Go to Amazon and check it out. But I think an even

Shadows or Reality?

By Ron Pereira - January 14th, 2008

One of my passions in life is to learn. As such, I have begun the year by ditching books about leadership, lean, and six sigma (for now). In their place I have decided to study philosophy which may make you want to yawn… but I woul

The Highest Form of Human Excellence

By Ron Pereira - January 8th, 2008

“I know you won’t believe me, but the highest form of Human Excellence is to question oneself and others.” -Socrates When someone asks me a question I typically respond with an immediate answer. There are many issues

Walk Slowly

By Ron Pereira - January 6th, 2008

Do you aspire to be a better leader in 2008? If so, you may consider walking slower through your office or shop talking to folks more than you do today. In lean speak we often use the phrase genchi genbutsu which basically means to go

Lloyd Carr’s Final Message

By Ron Pereira - January 2nd, 2008

As even semi-regular readers of the blog know I am a huge Ohio State fan. But since it is bowl season I am all about the Big Ten and was actually, yeah I am choking a bit as I say this, cheering loudly for the Michigan Wolverines yes

The Lion and the Gnat

By Ron Pereira - December 18th, 2007

One of my kiddos picked The Aesop for Children for their bedtime book. It is chalk full of short fables with some sort of theme associated with them. One of the fables I read called “The Lion and the Gnat” was an excel

Be Like Tony – Smile More!

By Ron Pereira - December 10th, 2007

OK, I admit it. I have jumped on the Dallas Cowboy’s bandwagon. For those who don’t follow American football the Dallas Cowboys are having their best season ever. They have won 12 games and only lost 1. Their one loss was to a team

Six Characteristics of a Lean Leader

By Ron Pereira - October 3rd, 2007

There are a plethora of books on leadership. I have read many such books and seem to gain something from each of them. I don’t always agree with the authors but in the end I feel better for studying these folks. But, if I were to

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