“Put it in writing” is some of the simplest, wisest advice I’ve been given. Here are several examples: – Putting her end of life wishes in writing, made the difficult decisions at the end of my mother’s life much easier. – Putting in writing what I want my legacy to be resulted in the publishing...

As a Baby Boomer, I believe my preference for brevity was influenced by a 1950’s TV show Name That Tune. The contestants who could identify a song listening to the fewest number of notes won money, i.e., “I can name the song in 3 notes.” Someone asked this week for a definition of leadership. My...

Who is responsible for strategic planning? Most people agree the answer is “the leader”. But most leaders … especially those of companies of less than 200 employees … don’t have a written strategic plan.
Written strategic plans provide numerous benefits. A written plan serves as a GPS for employees to use to arrive at the leader’s...

During my years at Johnson & Johnson, I had the opportunity to attend several board meetings. I noticed at most meetings, VP of Marketing Marty would often be the only board member to challenge proposals from our business unit president, Mr. Taylor. I asked my boss, the CFO, “Why does Marty always seem to question...

The mission of ICMS, Inc. is to make new things familiar and familiar things new. To make Activity Based Management more familiar, ICMS uses a simple spreadsheet format for our training, books and software. To make familiar things new for you, we use bi-weekly e-mail articles and onsite coaching sessions to challenge the status quo. Many...

“Grandpa, how do you get the corn rows so straight?” Even after more than forty years, I still remember his reply. “Tommy, I focus on something at the far end of the field and then plow straight at it.” People and organizations need fixed points of reference. For my grandfather, a tree on the horizon was...

An organization will never surpass the capabilities of its leaders. If your CEO cannot articulate the basic principles of Activity Based Management (ABM), employees will never achieve or sustain activity cost improvement. Leadership ability is always the lid on an organization or individual. “If the leadership is strong, the lid is high.” says John Maxwell....

Margin  =  Your Limit  –  Your Load Do you have any margin? Or are you in a deficit mode? If like most people, your load exceeds your limit. Dr. Richard Swenson, author of Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives, defines margin as “having breath left at the top of the staircase, money...

“Friends don’t let friends drive drunk,” was the most successful advertising campaign ever waged in the war against drunk driving. Some people suggest it worked because it appealed not to the drunk but to his or her sober friends. The message worked because it appealed to the power of friendship. Implementing Activity Based Management (ABM)...