"Knowledge is invariably a matter of degree: You cannot put your finger upon
even the simplest datum and say 'this we know.' " -- T.S Eliot

Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning

If you want something to end up delightfully, wait until delight
appears, then call that the end.

I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message.

Nothing Happens Until You Start

The mess is the message.

"To be sure I will. I don't think so. Perhaps,"

When you run out of things to say, quit talking.

1. Not done equals no dollars.
2. Get one project done rather than 99 undone.
3. Almost done is the enemy of done.

Memory is not just of the past, it's of the future, too.

The dance itself is the dance of time."

play the conversation from where it landed

If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time--a tremendous whack.

Don't knock the weather. If it didn't change once in a while, nine out of ten people couldn't start a conversation.

Information is not knowledge.

Everyone should seek to be creative, even though creativity is full of risks and uncertainties.

"When you accept that your To Do list is more like a Mobius Strip than
an actual list, you accept that it will never be[en] finished. The
question then becomes "At what point do I abandon my day as
'finished'?"

“What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step. It is always the same step, but you have to take it.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900-1944)

If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.” -- Isaac Asimov, US science fiction novelist and scholar, (1920 - 1992)

Things won are done; joy?s soul lies in the doing.

Perfection [in design]
is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but rather when there is nothing more
to take away.

Success comes in a can, not a can't.

quote

Presentations are not opportunities for people to read in a group setting.

--
Sally

Construction Executive Lessons from the Toyota Visit

The use of visual management was far more than expected. Will attempt
to over communicate project key performance indicators and goals.
Stopping to fix the problem ? jidoka ? could lead to far fewer quality problems.
Executives have a role to play in kaizen activities. Gary Convis,
President of Georgetown operations, got involved in kaizens in a
coaching capacity.
Staff project roles with people with the appropriate skills and
interests. Develop the basic skills for the work in construction.
Use five whys at the time variances (problems) are identified.
Encourage trade labor to change roles throughout the day. This avoids
repetitive motion injuries, reduces boredom, and builds an
appreciation for the conditions of completion for work.
Clean as we go throughout the day. Assign accountability for workplace
orderliness. Use indicators ? andon ? to signal that the work teams
recognize that they are keeping their workspaces in a condition for
others (and themselves) to proceed with work.
Thinking that we already know ? that we are the best ? is the enemy of
learning and becoming lean. We must overcome that.
Celebrate success as it occurs. Celebrate the work of teams.
A lean approach requires a different culture (from the usual AEC project).
Don't hesitate to display banners, mottos, and team improvement
projects across the project work site.
Keep everyone informed everyday (throughout the day) of the key
performance indicators for the project.
See that the whole project organization ? owner, architect,
contractor, sub-consultants, and sub-contractors ? are all using the
same language of improvement.
Training can begin at the earliest encounters with prospective
employees. It can help us select the best people for our projects.
Have the client involved at appropriate times throughout the project.
Pay attention to the details. It can lead to higher quality and
customer satisfaction.
Evolve a lean approach on projects and throughout the organization.
Start with a focus on quality. Follow that with improving production
throughput. Finish by reducing costs.
Use color charts, displays, and signaling to draw attention to
anomalies and to what is important.
Organize people into small teams ? five people ? with a working leader
who can fill in for everyone else. Use multi-skilling to develop a
response capability.
The person performing the next operation is your customer. Make sure
people know who will be working next in the workstream, especially
when they work for another organization or company.
We observed a simplicity in the language at Toyota. Find ways to
communicate what is requested, standards of performance, and details
so that they will be understood.
Have a 15 minute stand-up meeting every morning with all the
supervision to review progress and to pursue an improvement agenda.
Finish the day with a similar meeting to provide the opportunity for
supervision (last planners) to declare complete on the promised work
for the day.
Establish standard work ? the currently understood best way ? for key
project operations.
I didn't have the opportunity to share my impressions with the group.
Here are three key lessons:

Work to a pace that both allows the team to meet the project goals and
doesn't overburden them. Pacing reduces one source of variability
while simplifying planning.
Use improvement activities ? project kaizen ? as the principal means
of engaging project team members in meaningful work that advances
their careers.
As leaders, involve yourself to ease the work of the project team
members rather than operating in the illusion that you can control.

You can't unring a bell

"But a meeting is only as valuable as the action taken after everyone's left the conference room."

Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless.

Quote

"Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator; but among those whom I love, I can: All of them can make me laugh." - W.H. Auden  

Fwd: Quote of the day

It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and
not to deserve them.

"The truth knocks on the door and we say, Go away. I'm looking for the truth."

Self managed teams 101 - The Bumble Bee: "Start the change by fixing things that dont work"

Usability in One Easy Step (First Draft) - Joel on Software: "Something is usable if it behaves exactly as expected."

Questions are good. If you only have questions then you are a real expert! Only novices seem to have all the answers."

To imagine is everything, to know is nothing at all

This Is Broken - Textual annoyances: "The bottom line is, at the end of the day, you should avoid cliches like the plague. Also, eschew obfuscation, and never use a preposition to end a sentence with."

"Trial and error IS preparation"

"No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously." - Dave Barry

Achieve-IT!: Abe Lincoln?s Productivity Secret: "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.'"

The awareness of our own strength makes us modest. --Paul Cezanne

Tell a man that there are 400 billion stars and he ll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint and he has to touch it.

Successful people are those who are good at Plan B.

Our attempts lay no claim to
perfection; but they represent the most that could
be done in the time and with the data at our
command.

Don't just do something...sit there.

It's not what we do that makes us tired - it's what we don't do. The tasks we don't complete cause the most fatigue.