PENsights

There are many articles and books written on the parallels between success in sports and success in business (including an article I wrote back in February on my Kansas City Chiefs winning the Super Bowl!).  And I imagine there will be many more articles and books written about how both sports and business had to […]

There have been many articles, blogs, and whitepapers written the last four months on navigating the current crisis (my March, April and May articles among them).  By no means are we finished with the current crisis; in fact, unfortunately, we may have to survive many more months of health-related, economic-related, and social-related challenges. But I’ve […]

In the wake of the George Floyd killing and on the heels of a reflective Juneteenth, leaders across the country are increasingly asking themselves what they can do to inspire and indeed ensure more diversity, inclusion, and true racial equity within their organizations and their communities.  The imperative is clear: racial inequity sub-optimizes organizational performance […]

PGC, a Minneapolis-based 25-year old OEM that produces gaskets, sealings, protection, and stabilizing solutions found itself in a challenging situation.  As COVID-19 started to impact the market for its products, its CEO made decision to begin manufacturing parts for face shields. “[We needed] to keep an eye on our legacy business, while listening [and responding] […]

Our world changed in what seems like just a blink of an eye: when COVID-19 arrived in the United States, it instantaneously changed our social habits, our lifestyles, our economy, and our organizations.  Indeed, the impact is being felt by our businesses, our hospitals and senior care facilities, our schools, our nonprofit and governmental agencies.  […]

Minneapolis, Minnesota  – The Performance Excellence Network (PEN) is pleased to announce a partnership with The Netherlands-based The Lean Six Sigma Company (TLSSC), which will bring TLSSC’s world class online portfolio of Lean Six Sigma training to PEN members in the Upper Midwest. “The need to improve organizational efficiency and productivity has never been greater,” […]

I’ve been doing some form of this column for nearly 20 years (how can that be?!), but this one was probably the hardest one to write.  A few weeks ago, I had an article ready on the topic of creating a winning culture – building an elite team or organization that would be successful in […]

If you don’t know it, I’m a diehard Chiefs fan.  I was born and raised in Kansas City, and I’m a third-generation season ticket holder (yes, while living 400 miles away in Minneapolis).  I was at both playoff games in Arrowhead last month (both of which required about three or four days to recover my […]

Last week, we all learned the extent of cheating by the Houston Astros on their way to the 2017 World Series title.  If you haven’t heard, the team apparently used a video camera in center field to steal opposing teams’ signs and then would relay the information to a staff member in the locker room […]