A Consortium of Problem Solvers Podcast of Len Bertain's Audio Books

Episode 95 - Conclusion - How to Win the War on Waste in 90 Days - Audio Book

SUMMARY (The 90 Day Schedule) HOW TO  WIN THE WAR ON WASTE IN 90 DAYS?   Having read the book, you can now ask me again: “How can I win the War on Waste in 90 Days?” First of all, you sign up with me.[1]  Or do it on your own with a consulting phone support from me.  Or you just do it and if you get in trouble, call me. It really is pretty easy to do. I also have training manuals that you can buy to follow the program. Calendar    Action to be Accomplished. Day 1         Just get started on an 8 week program (4 days a week) Class Day 1 - During these  first 16 workdays each team goes thru the War on Waste 6 steps.  It isn’t a lot of time but it is enough time.  It isn’t about being precise; it is totally about making your point. Day 29       Presentations to management: Class Day 17 (Note that the Calendar day is a running clock, while class day is only while an employee is in class)  - All participating employees make their presentations to the CEO or local managing director. Just listen to the rest of the process and you will appreciate how direct and simple this whole process is.  Just focus.  Best, Len [1] Len Bertain, Bertain Consulting Group, len@bertain.com [len@bertain.com], Cell: 510-520-8011.

Episode 94 - Chapter 11 - How to Win the War on Waste in 90 Days - Audio Book

The 7 things listed below are items that you need to do to make the War on Waste work successfully. 1. Begin the 6 Steps of the War on Waste! Of course, that is what this whole process is about.   Start it up and stand back.  This is really a fun process. 2. Use the tools of the War on Waste. Tools of the War on Waste were explained throughout the book. Chapters 7, 8, and 9 describe a number of tools that we use extensively as we deliver the War on Waste.  3. Check in often with each team personally. Do this before they do their presentations. You need time to digest their suggestion and maybe even to think of things to make their project work better and more cost effectively.d 4. Push the teams. People who have done the War on Waste with my remote support have all said that they didn’t push the teams hard enough to get their projects ready for the presentation day.  5. Integrate your Mission Statement. You want to follow the guide defined in the process. Each idea needs to be weighed against the Mission Statement.  6. Integrate 5/67 tThinking into your daily routine. We absolutely believe that the 5/67 Rule is an important tool to be used in key management decisions. Understand what I wrote about it earlier and take it seriously.  7. Set up the TKC. As I noted earlier, I don’t care what you call it but set up a center where ideas can be collected. The concepts that are described in Chapter 9 may help you set it up. Just do it.  I hope you find this book of value, but I still have one more task to do, and that is to show you the time line of How You Win the War on Waste in 90 Days.

Episode 93 - Chapter 10 - How to Win the War on Waste in 90 Days - Audio Book

10.  FAQS   Have you ever done a company like ours? This is one of the most interesting questions that I get asked.  The answer is pretty easy.  Probably not or if I did one like yours, it still wasn’t yours.  And that doesn’t matter a bit. The War on Waste is about fixing a company’s processes.  It doesn’t make any difference what business you are in, the first question that we ask in the program is, “What do you do here to make money?” That is what determines waste in the company.  If for instance you are a bank or finance company, this is not an easy answer.  Do you make it only when you take in savings of your customers and invest them?  Or are there other things that you do?   So getting clear on this is the very first thing you do in the War on Waste.  Once you know how the company makes money, then the whole process flows from there. Other questions:  When can I ever do the War on Waste? How much does it cost? Of course there are a hundred questions that we get asked but the bottom line is the target of 50 to 1 for small companies and 100 to 1 for large companies worth it.  If we can do that all day long, the War on Waste is a good deal.

Episode 92 - Chapter 9 - How to Win the War on Waste in 90 Days - Audio Book

9.  THE TKC   The War on Waste creates the ideas and a process to get ideas into play.  But it still requires a formal process to get new ideas into the system.  Once the War on Waste is completed, the company still wants new ideas to continue.  When the War on Waste is over, the implemented ideas need to be tracked.  That is achieved with the Tribal Knowledge Council, the subject of this chapter. The TKC is the control point for the input of all ideas.  Its purpose is to be the clearing-house for change and new ideas.  It serves as a touchstone for the CEO and his Executive team.  They use it to keep track of ideas as they move through the system.  It is not managed as much as it is a monitor.  It is an automated function with a dashboard.  The dashboard tracks the progress of results. A word of caution here: this council has no direct authority.  Nor should it.  It merely facilitates the process of putting ideas into play.  If authority is given, it will create two problems.  One, it will conflict with line management authority.  And two, it will create an artificial elite status.  This will dampen participation. Just a note: I wrote this book 10 years ago and had not gotten my on-line business going.  With the on-line business, there is a demand for an opportunity to participate in the program and so the management of the ideas using the TKC is no longer required.  The system morphs in response to new ideas and continuously does so.  It has been an amazing process.  Try it out: email me at len@copsolvers.com.  Best, Len

Episode 91 - Chapter 8 - How to Win the War on Waste in 90 Days - Audio Book

8.  STRATEGY    This is not a chapter to compete with other treatises on strategy.  There are a number of great tomes on the subject.  This chapter is merely to place it in context within the War on Waste.   The War on Waste led to the idea that strategy became aligned with process in the program.  We referenced Michael Porter,[1] who is the pre-eminent strategy scholar in the United States.  But this observation is not Porter’s.  It is ours.    This came out of our field research.  It was a remarkable outcome.  And we didn’t see it coming.  But it happened with all of our clients.  Now, it serves as one of the anchor tenets of the paradigm.  We would like to explore that a bit.   Who cares about this?  Why is this important?  To answer these questions let us get back to basics. [1] Op. Cit., Porter, p 11