The Operational Excellence Society is a “think tank” that creates and aggregates content for individuals who wish to be high-performance members of high-performance teams at high-performance organizations.
What is Operational Excellence?
We define Operational Excellence as; “a state of readiness that is attained as the efforts throughout the organization reach a state of alignment for achieving its strategies; and where the corporate culture is committed to the continuous and deliberate improvement of company performance AND the circumstances of those who work there – and is precursor to becoming a high-performance organization.“
STOP TEACHING TO THE TEST
Why AI Should Finally Finish the Argument the Calculator Started Somewhere in the mid-1970s, a math teacher stood in front of a classroom and banned the calculator. “You will not always have one of these with you,” she said, tapping the little plastic box like it was contraband. She was wrong. Not eventually wrong — immediately, structurally, permanently wrong. Forty years later, everyone in that classroom carries a calculator, a spreadsheet, a search engine, and a research assistant in their pocket at all times. It is called a phone. We didn’t just get the calculator back. We got Wolfram Alpha,…
Founders Desk Archive
featured articles
Be Prepared; You Can’t Bleed Your Way to Victory
In school, it might be the “3-R’s” of Readin’, Ritin’, and ‘Rithmatic that get you through, but in business its Robustness, Readiness, and Resiliency. And the order matters more than…
The Strategic HR Department
I have been in business, running a consultancy (XONITEK) since 1985. Besides it making me uniquely unemployable, I have had the opportunity to observe and interact with the many incarnations…
Considering the Entire Employee Lifecycle
I wrote an article entitled “The Strategic HR Department” where I shared my thoughts on the characteristics of a Human Resources Department that is strategic with a purpose of being…
Eulogy of a Continuous Improvement Program
When you were born, everyone could see the twinkle in your eyes for the fire and passion you held. As you grew, you became inspired by the reported accomplishments of…
Best Practices For Becoming a High-Performance Organization
I started XONITEK in August of 1985 in Endicott, New York. I still own its latest incarnation, now located in Sheridan, Wyoming. Having owned my own businesses for the last…
Scaling and Sustaining Your Education and Training Program
I have been helping companies design and deploy their Operational Excellence (“OpEx”) and Continuous Improvement (“CI”) programs for a very long time. Mind you, I was not born with this…
Expert Contributors
Biannual Supply Chain Report: Five Trends Shaping the Economic Landscape
From disruption to continual risk. After several years of disruptions, US supply chains are entering a new phase in which they are no longer fixed but expected to be in constant motion. Firms are operating in an environment where trade policy,…
Action items for AI decision makers in 2026
Expect a level-set year and a sharper focus on enterprise value. Artificial intelligence has dominated economic and business attention for the past several years. But the hype cycle is slowing…
The Best Manufacturers Build AI with Workers, Not for Them
Summary. Manufacturers are pushing ahead with AI, but workers often feel unprepared, uncertain, and distrustful. Research shows a clear gap between executive optimism and frontline experience, driven by unclear roles, weak…
Why We Love to Hate HR… and What HR Can Do About It
Five smart moves that will help, by Peter Cappelli Summary. Complaints against Human Resources (HR), which are nothing new, have a cyclical quality. They’re driven largely by the business context. When…
Applying Lean Six Sigma Methods to Litigation Practice
A growing number of law departments and law firms are exploring Lean Six Sigma and similar methodologies to continuously improve the way they deliver legal services. By tailoring these techniques…
Whatever happened to Six Sigma?
GE adopted Six Sigma from Motorola in 1995, and under Jack Welch it became corporate religion. But as GE began a long, slow decline, so did the popularity of Six…
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THOUGHT FOOD
the opex vault
Modern Business Models Will Drive the Post-Pandemic World
To remain relevant and resilient, companies and leaders must strive to build business models using three key components for growth. In the face of a global health and economic crisis,…
Revenge of the nerds
The Economist reports that Silicon Valley’s geeks are trying to turn themselves into jocks. In fact, none other than Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, for one, informed the world that his…
Disrupting Mr Disrupter
As the Economist would have it, Clay Christensen (Mr Disrupter) should not be given the last word on disruptive innovation by any means. Having established a company in his own right,…
The Government Needs Technology
What if the government ran more like Silicon Valley? Engineer Matt Cutts shares why he decided to leave Google (where he worked for nearly 17 years) for a career in…
