Archive for the ‘Continuous Improvement’ Category

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How to get back 3 billion hours of productivity in America

January 26th, 2011 by John Gallagher 4 Comments

“The standard 1040 form now comes with an instruction booklet that is 172 pages long. Each year, Americans spend 6.1 billion hours preparing their taxes. That is the equivalent of 3 million people working full time. By simplifying the code, we can free people to work on more productive pursuits — growing the economy, generating income and helping to close the deficit”  – USA Today 1/26/11

If we apply Lean principles and cut out half the waste (definitely achievable), we would cut 3 billion hours of waste out of Americans’ time, giving us more time to spend with families, and be more productive on value-added activities.

How many hours do YOU spend preparing your taxes?

Posted in Continuous Improvement, Pocket Change | 4 Comments »

2011 blogging goal – Not just ‘more’, but ‘more value’

January 2nd, 2011 by John Gallagher 4 Comments

Above is a Wordle, which generates a view of the ‘Theme’ for my 2010 blog posts.  I don’t believe there were any surprises.  I hope that you have found my posts valuable.

For 2011, I don’t want to get caught up in the urge to blog ‘more’.  For my blog in 2011:

  • I don’t want a goal to do more blog posts, I want to add more value to the posts I have
  • I don’t want a goal to gather more followers, I want to add more value to the followers I have
  • I don’t want a goal to get more comments, I want the comments to add more value to those who read.

So, for 2011, I want to add more value to you, the reader.  If I am doing that, I believe the result will be more followers, more comments, more posts that are born from your comments and questions.

So, how can I add more value for you in 2011 through this blog?

Posted in Continuous Improvement, Leadership | 4 Comments »

Building the Perfect Sandwich…I mean…Presentation

March 31st, 2010 by John Gallagher 2 Comments

I have often marveled at the ability and patience my 13-year old son Brendan has to put together a perfect sandwich.  He layers it perfectly and the order of ‘construction’ is very important. 

Today, I will share with you my son’s ability and some great advice from my coach, Raymond Gleason, to show you how to “Build the perfect presentation (sandwich) in 6 steps:

1) Tell them a story.

2) Tell them what you are going to tell them

3) Tell them

4)  Tell them what you told them

5) Call them to action

6) Bonus!

1)  Tell them a story is like the first piece of bread.  You need to set up the next step with a relevant experience or story.  If you are not a comedian, be careful not to try to be too funny and risk losing your audience, but a little humor to wake them up is nice.

2) Tell them what you are going to tell them is the first condiment like lettuce or a slice of cheese.  Let them know the points you are going to review

3) Tell them – now that you have told them what you are going to tell them, put the main ingredient (the meat!) on the sandwich. Summarize after a few points.

4)  Tell them what you told them – Time to add the dressing.  Summarize at the end the main points.  It will help them to remember what you just presented

5) Call them to action – Last slice of bread on top.  Holds it all together and makes it worthwhile.  If you are in a large group, challenge them to go out and make something happen.  If in a smaller group, actually work with them to write down what they are doing, but don’t let them leave without making a commitment to what they heard.

6) Bonus – This is the olive on the toothpick that decorates the sandwich (and yes, Brendan even adds this most of the time!).  If you have time, a Q&A session to clarify even further your points can be a great addition.

What presentation have you been stumped on how to get started?  Write down these 6 steps as an outline and fill in the blanks next to them.  It will help. 

Posted in Continuous Improvement, Leadership metaphors | 2 Comments »

Leadership and Shoveling Snow

February 11th, 2010 by John Gallagher No Comments

In the midst of one of the historic winters in Roanoke, VA, (with regards to snowfall) it has been a CHALLENGE to manage my attitude each time I have to go out and shovel the snow off of our driveway. Perspective is important. So, as I was shoveling our driveway for the 3rd time in a 24-hour period just the other day, I found myself thinking about how this could POSSIBLY relate to leadership and it actually was relatively easy.

Continuous improvement – I am always trying to find the ‘least waste way’ to do things and shoveling a 3,000 square foot driveway is no different. How can I improve upon my methods to reduce the time that it takes? Probably one of the many things that drives Chris crazy about me, but it is just how I am wired. (No comments from the Peanut gallery about buying a snow blower. That is another story in itself!)
Relationships – I was able invest time with Chris as we talked about a future vacation, sitting on the beach, and being WARM! We had about 3 hours of time with no TV, no distractions, except for the scraping of the shovel over the asphalt. It was almost peaceful.
Discipline- It was a great workout. Not a whole lot better core workout than shoveling about 4,5000 cubic feet(yes, I calculated it!) of heavy wet snow. Great cardio, too. Thus, I did not have to go to the gym (could not have gotten there, anyway!)
Attitude – Rather than it being WORK, it is time to reflect, think, be grateful…Grateful for the time with Chris, for the beauty of the snow falling, etc.

So, next time you get frustrated or angry with the shoveling of the snow (or some other project), view it as a time to grow personally….make a game out of it…consider it your exercise…It really helps to reduce the stress of it. (this DOESN’T mean that I am hoping for several more inches of show ;) )

So, what project do you think you HATE to do that if you were to take a different approach, would make it a positive experience?

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Posted in Continuous Improvement, Discipline, Leadership metaphors, Relationships | No Comments »

4 lessons learned about ATTITUDE

January 30th, 2010 by John Gallagher 3 Comments
This silly jump box (aka BLUE monster) taught me a few lessons this week about ‘ATTITUDE’.  First, the timeline leading to the lesson:
Tuesday – Working out at LifeWise Fitness, I point to the box and ask the owner, Che Torry , what that box was for and he said for folks to jump on.  I told him there was no way I could jump on that box. 
Wednesday – Participate in Basic Conditioning class with Che as the ‘coach’ for the class and he had us doing box jumps in increments on an aerobic step.  After class, I looked at the blue step above (you know, the one that I said I could not jump on!) and brought it over to the equipment we were jumping on.  Low and behold…the blue step was about 4″ LOWER than what we were working out with that night.  I just looked at Che and smiled, quite sheepishly.
Friday – Did my regular workout and then brough over the blue step.  I still found myself nervous, but did jump on it a few times.  I even wanted proof.  See video here:
If you cannot see this in your reader, CLICK HERE for the video.
So, what were the lessons learned:
1)  Attitude (Positive or Negative) is a CHOICE.  I chose on Monday to say that I could NOT jump on that blue box without even trying.  “If you think you can, or you think you can’t…you are probably right” – John Maxwell
2)  Most of our fears are unfounded - I was nervous to jump on the box.  The challenge is to funnel the energy we place in our fears into the task at hand.  We tend to fear the worst.  Rather, try to think of the best!
3)  Having a ‘coach’ is important – A good coach will push you just a little bit farther than you will go on your own.  (You can replace the word ‘coach’ with ‘friend’, ‘accountability partner’, ‘teacher’, ‘mentor’ etc.) 
4)  Practice what you preach – After I jumped on the boxes on Wednesday evening and saw that it was higher than the BLUE monster, I was disappointed in my negative ‘choice’ on Monday.
So, what is your current ‘BLUE monster’ and what is it going to take for you to CHOOSE to say that you CAN?!  Time for me to reflect on that…

Posted in Continuous Improvement, Discipline | 3 Comments »

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