“Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence.” – Colin Powell, Former U.S. National Security Advisor, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired 4-star general Edinburgh, Scotland has founded a Library of Mistakes that has compiled a collection of 2,000 books that help the next generation avoid future mistakes.Continue reading “Looking In the Mirror: Learning from our past”
Author Archives: Charlene Aldridge
Looking in the Mirror: What is working well?
“Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives – choice, not chance, determines your destiny.” – Aristotle In January, we introduced this year’s theme of Looking in the Mirror (https://mailchi.mp/5f69c0941fc6/lookinginthemirror2024). Then in February, we summarized why LookingContinue reading “Looking in the Mirror: What is working well?”
Looking in the Mirror: Why Does It Matter?
“In business, the idea of measuring what you are doing, picking the measurements that count like customer satisfaction and performance… you thrive on that.” Bill Gates In January, we introduced this year’s theme of Looking in the Mirror (https://mailchi.mp/5f69c0941fc6/lookinginthemirror2024). As we begin our discussions on this, let’s initially focus on why this is so importantContinue reading “Looking in the Mirror: Why Does It Matter?”
Looking in the Mirror
“There is immense value in consistently examining the health of an organization.” Charlene Aldridge of Aldridge, Kerr & Associates, Inc. What do Eastman Kodak, Montgomery Wards, RadioShack, Borders, and Blockbuster have in common? They were thriving, successful companies that went out of business! How does this happen? What causes this to occur? We at AldridgeContinue reading “Looking in the Mirror”
Signs of Operational Insights in Review
“No man ever reached to excellence in any one art or profession without having passed through the slow and painful process of study and preparation.” – Horace, Roman poet and thought leader Throughout this year, we have explored the signs of operational effectiveness. These signs provide a benchmark to evaluate the effectiveness of your organization.Continue reading “Signs of Operational Insights in Review”
Consistent Quality
There are several notable quotes worth sharing: “Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected. Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple “Quality means doing it right even when no one is looking.” Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company “It is quality rather than quantity that matters.” LuciusContinue reading “Consistent Quality”
Knowledge and Skills
“You gotta build a team that is so talented, they almost make you uncomfortable.”– Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb For a short stint of my career, I worked on the Help Desk of a software consulting firm. The good news is that it was a great learning experience. The bad news is that initially almostContinue reading “Knowledge and Skills”
Effectively Executed Projects
“Planning without action is futile, action without planning is fatal.” – Cornelius Fitchner Would you build a house without a clearly defined plan that outlines the parameters of the size, shape, structure, and dimensions? Of course, not (or at least, hopefully not). That’s the purpose of a blueprint, to define the specifications of what willContinue reading “Effectively Executed Projects”
Mitigating Risks
“Don’t be fearful of risks. Understand them and manage and minimize them to an acceptable level.” ― Naved Abdali, Author of Investing Magazine Risk is defined as “the possibility of loss or injury.” Quite simply, risk is the possibility of something undesirable happening. We deal with risk every day…. We could be hit crossing theContinue reading “Mitigating Risks”
Happy Customers
“At the heart of a successful business strategy is a customer experience that is elegantly simple and positive, where consumers are likely to come away satisfied – and return.” – Andres Angelani, CEO of Softvision As we continue our discussions on signs of operational effectiveness, we need to include a significant indicator: happy Customers. Unfortunately,Continue reading “Happy Customers”