What is benchmarking, and what tools and templates can businesses use to benchmark more effectively? What you don’t know can hurt you. This is especially true in business. If you aren’t aware of what’s going on around you as a business leader, you may risk being left behind by your competitors. Even worse, your business…
Managing projects with the Critical Path Method (CPM) allows teams to streamline processes that drive success even when the odds are stacked against you By upBOARD In the 1940s, the United States began working on a secretive program called the Manhattan Project. The project went on to develop the first functional nuclear weapons which…
What is the Agile Innovation Process, and what are best practices, tools and online templates for teams and organizations? By Upboard Today, everyone wants to be agile. It’s seen as sexy and cool to be agile, but most people don’t know what the term really means. Still, concepts like agile design and agile software…
Operations Management Dashboards Are Being Used More and More by Businesses Looking to Drive Change by upBOARD When pilots take off from an airport with a plane full of passengers, you might imagine that they simply set coordinates for their end location and count the minutes until they arrive. That could not be farther…
Why the Stage Gate Process is Being Used by More and More Organizations to Evaluate and Refine Their Next Big Ideas by upBOARD While every business wants to be seen as the creator of the next massively “disruptive” product or service, the truth is that most businesses won’t be able to disrupt the market in a…
Change your company’s structure to get bigger and better ideas. Just about everyone wants more creativity and innovation these days. But what’s the secret to getting it? While most companies agree that innovation is vital, few actually spend time creating structures or devising rewards systems hinged on creativity. Many leaders also struggle with the fact that innovation comes from culture, something…
Innovation is as much about choosing what not to do as it is about deciding what you’re going to do. I’ll never forget the words of a client of mine, an executive at PepsiCo: “We can do anything, but we can’t do everything,” he said to me. So true. But most companies forget this fact. They…
“Decoupling” the value chain is the next big strategy for digital innovation and business models Digital disruption isn’t just about the internet or mobile technology. It’s about the digitally-driven business models that forever transform business as usual no matter what you’re doing. I recently had a chance to connect with Harvard Business School professor, Thales…
A “lean” approach amplifies both profits and purpose. Corporate philanthropy. Benefit corporations. Nonprofits and non-governmental organizations. Doing well while doing good seems to be all the rage these days. Sounds ideal. But, if we are truly intent on achieving both, we need to start taking social impact just as seriously. Mission-driven organizations have an equal…
Large scale 3D printing farms will create the next industrial revolution When it comes to business and the economy, there’s constant buzz about Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook. There’s also been lots of attention lately on middle America and the loss of manufacturing jobs. At times these topics seem at odds – the new high-tech guard disrupting the old,…