On My Mind
An Analytics Team (A Team) is often tasked with developing an organization’s analytics and big data capabilities, but “Where should team members start?” Here are three startup activities they might consider: 1) Create an analytics vision for the organization so the future state is clear; 2) Conduct an analytics assessment in the form of a SWOT analysis to identify the organization’s analytics strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats; and 3) Develop an analytics roadmap for the organization to structure and guide analytics activities. Getting off to a fast start is important because strong analytics and big data capabilities can possibly lead to a new source of competitive advantage and/or a new area of organizational competence. You can learn more about developing analytics and big data capabilities by reading my research report on Quality, Analytics, and Big Data. It is available on the RESEARCH Page of this website. Best wishes on your analytics and big data journey.

Interesting Stories
Sometimes going old school can defeat a new technology! The use of drones is becoming more popular — in some cases more dangerous around airports and more annoying around private weddings. Try doing a Google search for “eagle attacks drone Netherlands” and you will learn how the Dutch National Police Corps has launched a new initiative in partnership with a company named Guard from Above to train eagles to capture small drones. Who knows, it just might save some lives.

Company News
The ten day public Strategic Improvement Black Belt course starts July 11, 2016. Please contact me at charles@sisliedtke.com if you would like to receive a brochure. The Eighth Annual Advanced Strategic Improvement Practices Conference will be held in late September or early October. The schedule and brochure will be available soon.

Intriguing Reads
Here are six words that summarize where many world class organizations are allocating resources and efforts: platforms, IoT (internet of things), digital, mobile, cloud, and social (media). There is a new book by S. C. Moatti that nicely describes the mobile component of this new phenomenon. It is titled, Mobilized: An Insider’s Guide to the Business and Future of Connected Technology. I especially liked the author’s insights on how to design an effective mobile product from learning, meaning, and beauty perspectives.

On My Mind
Wisdom, humor, and “uncommon” common sense filled the open air of the packed Century Link Center in Omaha, Nebraska on April 30, 2016 at the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting. Warren Buffet, the 85 year old Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, and Charlie Munger, the 92 year old Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, fielded questions for five hours on a diverse set of topics including derivatives, railroads, float, catastrophic events, intrinsic value, negative interest rates, executive compensation, and numerous others. Their views often run contrary to convention and yet Berkshire Hathaway continues to generate outstanding results. The media sometimes refers to Buffet as an investor, but it is important to remember that he is the CEO of a company with 2015 total revenues of $210+ billion. The highly decentralized company is directed by a staff of 25 at the Corporate Headquarters in Omaha. I’ve been told by many people that “seeing Warren Buffet in person” is on their bucket list. If you can’t make next year’s annual meeting on May 6, 2017, then check out Warren Buffet and/or Charlie Munger on YouTube. Also, I highly recommend reading the 2015 Annual Report which is available at www.berkshirehathaway.com. Happy reading!

Interesting Stories
Warren Buffet has been getting questions regarding current health challenges including obesity and diabetes and the implications for Berkshire Hathaway since it owns such a large stake in The Coca-Cola Company. Buffet remarked at the shareholders meeting, “If you count calories, then I am ¼ Coca-Cola” because of his consumption of Coke products. He went on to add that drinking Coca-Cola products makes him happy and that is good for his health. Buffet also said something like “people are free to choose what they consume.” I could tell that not everyone was happy with his response, but it seemed honest.

Company News
The ten day public Strategic Improvement Black Belt course will start in July of 2016 and the nine day public Strategic Improvement Master Black Belt course will start in October of 2016. The brochure for both courses will be available by May 23. The Eighth Annual Advanced Strategic Improvement Practices Conference will be held in late September or early October.

Intriguing Reads
Many successful corporations today have a platform-type business model – Google, Amazon, Facebook, Airbnb, Uber, and LinkedIn to name a few. These organizations use networks and information to provide value-added goods and services to customers. If you want to learn more about strategy and platforms, then read the new book titled, Platform Revolution: How Networked Markets are Transforming the Economy and How to Make them Work for You by Parker, Van Alstyne, and Choudary. I especially liked Chapter 9 on Metrics.

On My Mind
Speed is sometimes essential when executing a task such as filling a critical open position, bringing a new product/service to market, or conducting a Lean Six Sigma project. How can we quickly get from Point A to Point B? Several factors can help make a difference: (1) Make sure there is at least one senior executive who cares about the task, (2) Recruit team members with speed in mind, (3) Develop a plan, (4) Keep the team laser-focused on the task, (5) Use data to measure progress, (6) Make sure the team has access to resources and experts, (7) Identify and solve problems that stand in your way, and (8) Enlist a couple of senior executives to conduct periodic progress reviews. We should always be aware that a blind focus on speed can adversely affect safety and quality. Here is the key question: “How can we move quickly while achieving superior quality and safety outcomes?” Although this balancing act is task-specific, the conversation should occur throughout the entire A to B journey. Best wishes the next time you feel the need to speed.

Interesting Stories
Two of the most highly-regarded tabletop games of strategy are Go and Chess. There has been some exciting news related to both games. AlphaGo, the computer program owned by Google DeepMind, recently defeated Lee Sedol four games to one. Sedol is the world Go champion from South Korea. The victory by AlphaGo is said to represent a breakthrough in artificial intelligence. On the chess side, Hou Yifan of China reclaimed the Women’s World Chess Champion title by defeating Mariya Muzychuk of Ukraine. Sergey Karjakin—the Russian chess grand master who was born in Ukraine—came out on top of the field of eight elite grand masters for the chance to challenge Magnus Carlsen of Norway for the Men’s World Chess Championship in New York in November. Learn more about elite grand master chess at www.fide.com.

Company News
The public seminar on “Quality, Analytics, and Big Data” will be held April 28, 2016 at the Crowne Plaza in Plymouth, MN. A brochure is available on this website on the PUBLIC SEMINARS page. The research report of the same title and other research items are available on the RESEARCH page of this website.

Intriguing Reads
Lou Schultz—the quality improvement consultant extraordinaire—recently had his book “Basic Business” published. It is aimed at leaders of small businesses, but leaders at all levels of an organization can benefit from the lessons contained in the book. The chapters are arranged around a five-component model: Leadership, Strategy, Process, Marketing, and Culture. If you are interested in content that has enduring substance instead of content that is momentarily trending, then give this book a try.

On My Mind
Komatsu is a global leader in the manufacture of heavy construction and mining equipment along with Caterpillar. I’ve studied Komatsu for over two decades because of the company’s continuous stream of innovative ideas – what follows are three. Corporate Value – Komatsu has a company-wide initiative to improve corporate value defined as “the total sum of trust given to us by society and all stakeholders.” The stakeholders include distributors, suppliers, employees, stockholders, customers, institutional investors and analysts, and the mass media. DANTOTSU – Komatsu strives to create DANTOTSU products, services, solutions, and management. DANTOTSU means “unique and unrivaled” with special emphases on the environment, safety, and information and communication technologies. KOMTRAX – Komatsu started to develop big data capabilities in the late 1990s with its KOMTRAX telematics system. The system helps Komatsu customers achieve their goals related to productivity and safety through remote monitoring, reporting, and focused interventions. There were more than 350,000 machines working with KOMTRAX as of August of 2014. Komatsu has also developed KOMTRAX Plus and KOMTRAX Parts. You can learn more about Komatsu at www.komatsu.com. In particular, follow this path on the company website: Investor Relations >>> Management Policy >>> Mid-range Management Plan. You can learn more about “Quality, Analytics, and Big Data” by visiting the RESEARCH page on the Strategic Improvement Systems website: www.strategicimprovementsystems.com.

Interesting Stories
Close your eyes and imagine a society living in space . . . that is actually happening now at the International Space Station (ISS). NASA astronaut Scott Kelly recently returned to earth after spending nearly a year aboard the ISS. Scott Kelly has a twin brother named Mark Kelly. One of the more interesting aspects of Scott Kelly’s recent space mission was the parallel twin study that was occurring involving Scott and Mark. NASA was especially interested in the effects on the human body (vision, bones, muscles, etc.) of spending an extended period of time in space. You can learn more about the study and NASA at www.nasa.gov. On another topic, Mariya Muzychuk of Ukraine is currently defending her Women’s World Chess Champion title against Hou Yifan of China. On the men’s side, eight elite grand masters compete in Moscow starting March 10 for the opportunity to challenge Magnus Carlsen of Norway for the Men’s World Chess Champion title. Learn more about elite grandmaster chess at www.fide.com.

Company News
The public seminar on “Quality, Analytics, and Big Data” will be held April 28, 2016 at the Crowne Plaza in Plymouth, MN. A brochure is available on this website on the PUBLIC SEMINARS page. The eight-day public “Continuous Improvement Green Belt” course will start in April of 2016. Details are being finalized and will be announced by March 9.

Intriguing Reads
What happens when you combine lean with data analysis and entrepreneurialism? Lean analytics! An excellent discussion of this integrative topic can be found in the book “Lean Analytics: Use Data to Build a Better Startup Faster” by Croll and Yoskovitz. I especially enjoyed Chapter 5 on Analytics Frameworks.

On My Mind
I’m happy to announce that my research report on “Quality, Analytics, and Big Data” is now available on this website on the RESEARCH page. Here is a summary of the report: “The integration of quality, analytics, and big data guided by the strategic direction of the organization can potentially result in new sources of customer value and a new source of competitive advantage. This research report describes some of the advances related to quality, analytics, and big data and explores the benefits of integrating them in practice. Analytics and big data techniques can help improve product and service quality by generating new customer insights and enhancing decision making. Also, it is argued that analytics and big data initiatives can be improved if quality principles are applied. It is explained that analytics is not just about numbers and big data doesn’t necessarily mean we need millions of data points. A new emergent definition of big data is introduced plus ten ideas for better integrated quality, analytics, and big data practices.” Feel free to pass along the report to others you think might be interested. Best wishes on your analytics journey.

Interesting Stories
World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen recently won the Tata Steel Chess 2016 Tournament out of a field of fourteen grandmasters. Chess is recognized as one of the leading games of strategy. Eight grandmasters will compete in Moscow in March to determine who will challenge Carlsen in November for the World Championship. If you want to enhance your strategic thinking skills, then study chess and follow the elite grandmaster chess tournaments.

Company News
The 2016 schedule for public seminars and courses sponsored by SIS will be finalized soon – here is a sneak peek at the offerings: Yellow Belt for Continuous Improvement Champions (will be held February 22, 2016); Japanese-Style Hoshin Kanri; Innovation Tools for Change Agents; Statistical Methods for Continuous Improvement; and Quality, Analytics, and Big Data. Also, three courses in the Lean Six Sigma Series will be offered: Continuous Improvement Green Belt; Continuous Improvement Black Belt; and Continuous Improvement Master Black Belt.

Intriguing Reads
One of the most comprehensive books on big data is “Big Data Beyond the Hype: A Guide to Conversations for Today’s Data Center” by Zikopoulos, DeRoos, Bienko, Buglio, and Andrews. The five authors are associated with IBM—which is a global leader in analytics. The book provides an easy-to-understand explanation of big data from business and technical perspectives.

On My Mind
Analytics is the collection and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data for decision making. All is well unless you are the decision maker and the datasets at your disposal contain a lot of errors. Some have suggested that messy data is almost inevitable in a big data context—messy means you have errors. This is troublesome in the digital age because of the propagation of errors. One data collection or data entry error—whether made by a human or a faulty sensor—can potentially spread as it moves from one log book/spreadsheet/system to another. Years ago an acquaintance of mine used various spellings of his name (e.g., John Doe, J. Doe, John Q. Doe) to better understand how information about him was being sold. Needless to say the information trails were quite interesting. Fast forward to today in the digital age and you can imagine how a piece of information like a misspelled name can spread. It is important to assure data accuracy when you have control over the data collection and data entry processes. If you don’t have control, then you should probably assume you have data errors and evaluate the risks inherent in your decision making process.

Interesting Stories
What good is poor eyesight? It might be a benefit in some situations. Sir Ronald Fisher was one of the greatest statisticians of all time and he would make my “Mount Rushmore” of statisticians. He unfortunately suffered from poor eyesight for much of his life (search for Wikipedia Sir Ronald Fisher). I remember a professor telling me once that Fisher had an amazing ability to visualize problems—and solutions—in geometrical terms because of his poor eyesight. This made it challenging for “equation-driven” statisticians because they could not “see” what he was talking about—they needed a theorem and its proof to be convinced which Fisher didn’t always provide. We should remember that—for whatever the reasons—people learn and communicate differently.

Company News
Strategic Improvement Systems can now officially be referred to as SIS for short. The 2016 schedule for public seminars and courses sponsored by SIS will be finalized soon – here is a sneak peek at the offerings: Yellow Belt for Continuous Improvement Champions (will be held February 22, 2016); Japanese-Style Hoshin Kanri; Innovation Tools for Change Agents; Statistical Methods for Continuous Improvement; and Quality, Analytics, and Big Data. Also, three courses in the Lean Six Sigma Series will be offered: Continuous Improvement Green Belt; Continuous Improvement Black Belt; and Continuous Improvement Master Black Belt.

Intriguing Reads
The 2015 book titled, Social Big Data Mining by Hiroshi Ishikawa of Tokyo Metropolitan University, nicely integrates big data and social media in a practical way. The diagrams—which include color plates in a special section at the end of the book—are very useful. I especially enjoyed the chapter on “Hypotheses in the Era of Big Data.”

On My Mind
Maybe it is because of my heightened awareness . . . but it seems like the media coverage of analytics and big data applications is increasing. The analytics movement and big data have captured the imagination of senior executives in nearly every major industry. A simple definition of analytics is that it is the collection and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data for decision making. Analytics is an innovative way to (1) provide value to customers and (2) create a unique competitive advantage. While big data is intriguing, zero data is an important starting point. Zero data relates to an organization’s vision, mission, values, and strategic objectives. The key is to develop an analytics vision and roadmap that will help senior executives achieve their strategic objectives. Senior executives have many questions: How can we use analytics to help us achieve our strategic objectives? Do we have the necessary talent? Who should lead our analytics team? How much should we invest in analytics? How can we create a data-oriented culture? Developing answers to these questions and gaining leadership team consensus may be challenging, but it is an important early step on the analytics journey.

Interesting Stories
The formidable task of Volkwagen’s leaders to restore the trust of its stakeholders continues to get more difficult as the scale and scope of the emissions problem expands. Meanwhile, the Paris Agreement was signed by representatives of 195 participating countries. The aim of the Paris Agreement is to reduce global carbon output. However, it is not binding until 55 countries who collectively produce more than 55% of the world’s greenhouse gases ratify the Agreement.

Company News
Strategic Improvement Systems can now officially be referred to as SIS for short. The 2016 schedule for public seminars and courses sponsored by SIS will be finalized soon – here is a sneak peek at the offerings: Yellow Belt for Champions; Japanese-Style Hoshin Kanri; Innovation Tools for Change Agents; Statistical Methods for Continuous Improvement; and Quality, Analytics, and Big Data. Also, three courses in the Lean Six Sigma Series will be offered: Continuous Improvement Green Belt; Continuous Improvement Black Belt; and Continuous Improvement Master Black Belt.

Intriguing Reads
Some people might think I’m kidding, but my 30+ year career as an applied statistician has been filled with many exciting projects. The new book “The Data Science Handbook: Advice and Insights from 25 Amazing Data Scientists” by Shan, Wang, Chen, and Song provides glimpses into the lives of many people currently at the heart of the analytics movement. Data scientists from AirBnB, Facebook, Palentir, Intuit, LinkedIn, Square, Uber, Cloudera, and other companies are featured.

On My Mind
It is no longer a matter of whether an organization should develop analytical capabilities, but how those analytical capabilities will be developed. Information has become one of the most valuable assets owned by organizations along with the employees who collect, store, analyze, package, and share the information. To be successful in the rapidly-evolving Big Data revolution, Quality Management and Analytics professionals will need at least some knowledge and skill in several areas: Business Acumen; Statistical Methods; Logic & Critical Thinking; Computer Hardware & Software; Search & Algorithms; Synthesis & Pattern Recognition; Modeling & Scenarios; and Social Media. What will be important from a leadership standpoint is to develop the Analytics Team comprised of individuals who—in the combined sum of their knowledge and skills—have advanced mastery in all eight areas. Such a team will position the organization on the “winning” side of the Digital Divide and give the organization a chance to make substantive contributions to society.

Interesting Stories
Thirty years is a long time . . . but I’m sure it was well worth the wait for the fans of the Kansas City Royals Major League Baseball team. The Royals recently won the World Series by defeating the New York Mets in dramatic fashion. The Royals were my favorite team as a young boy and so this was a special World Series for me. I can remember following the performance of John Mayberry—the tall first baseman for the Royals and my favorite player—starting in 1972. The Royals team this year was very balanced, enthusiastic, and hungry for the World Series title. It will be interesting to see if they can repeat next year. One of the amazing achievements during the postseason was the record-setting performance by Daniel Murphy of the New York Mets—he hit at least one home run in six consecutive games, but he didn’t hit one in the World Series.

Company News
Strategic Improvement Systems will offer several public seminars and course in 2016. There will be five one-day public seminars: Japanese-Style Hoshin Kanri; Innovation Tools for Change Agents; Statistical Methods for Continuous Improvement; Continuous Improvement for Project Champions, Sponsors, and Team Leaders; and Quality, Analytics, and Big Data. Also, three courses in the Lean Six Sigma Series will be offered: Continuous Improvement Green Belt; Continuous Improvement Black Belt; and Continuous Improvement Master Black Belt. The schedule of events will be available on this website in January of 2016.

Intriguing Reads
Arguably, the publication of the book Moneyball by Michael Lewis in 2003 and the subsequent movie featuring Brad Pitt marked the beginning of the Analytics Movement. The Financial Times newspaper has a section every Monday titled, The Baseline. I always look forward to reading The Baseline because there is an interesting sports article that displays innovative data analysis and data visualization. The latest article discusses an alternative predictor of future success for Chelsea—a Premier League soccer team. If you are ever in an airport on a Monday, then look for the Financial Times at newsstands so you can read The Baseline.

On My Mind
Many organizations today are pursuing a green strategy for a variety of reasons including regulatory compliance, bowing to customer pressure, being a good corporate citizen, achieving a competitive advantage, and even for increasing profitability. Innovation is sometimes a key ingredient for success – innovation of the business model itself (e.g., ride sharing) plus innovation of building designs (LEED), behaviors (reduce, reuse, recycle), supply chain logistics, processes, products, and packaging. The recent uncovered exploits of Volkswagen revealed a tragic tale and it reminded me of how some world class athletes use performance enhancing drugs. The new CEO of Volkswagen has the almost impossible task of restoring trust. Most of the major Volkswagen stakeholders are adversely affected by the emissions scandal: citizens at large, customers, shareholders, employees, dealers, suppliers, and regulators. It must have taken a lot of time, talent, energy, and money to create the culprit software. Everyone would have been further ahead if Volkswagen had put those resources to use on more noble green strategy projects.

Interesting Stories
“The game isn’t over until it’s over.” “It’s like déjà vu all over again.” “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” “You can observe a lot just by watching.” “I never said most of the things I said.” “The future ain’t what it used to be.” Those memorable quotes—and many others—were spoken by Yogi Berra. He continues to be one of the most beloved professional athletes of all time. What many people don’t realize is that in addition to being a humorous character, Yogi was an amazing baseball player. He won ten World Series titles while playing catcher for the New York Yankees during the team’s glory years; he was an 18-time All-Star; he was named the American League Most Valuable Player three times; and he was elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. Few people have transcended their profession to become such a positive public figure. The world will truly miss Yogi—and for the public memory of him—“it ain’t over.”

Company News
The Seventh Annual Advanced Strategic Improvement Practices Conference was held October 7 at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. There were five presentations on Innovation: Chris Malakapalli of Seagate; Dick Anderson of Stratasys; Dr. Andy Van de Ven of the Carlson School of Management; Matthew Moore of the Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation; and Dennis Power of the Opus Group. Mike Bunn from Fabcon Precast presented on a Lean Six Sigma project. There were five presentations in the afternoon on Sustainability (in the Environmental sense): Vern Campbell of Process Management; Marty Muenzmaier of Cargill Corn Milling; Cathy Moeger and Rick Patraw of the MN Pollution Control Agency; Kelly Braaten of Hormel Foods; and Judy Grew, Molly MacGregor, and Jason Moeckel of the MN Department of Natural Resources. Dr. Alfred Marcus from the Carlson School of Management provided some closing thoughts on Sustainability at the end of the conference. The conference will again be held in October in 2016.

Intriguing Reads
For those leaders of organizations seriously interested in Sustainability – there is an outstanding new book titled, “Leading Sustainable Change: An Organizational Perspective”, edited by Rebecca Henderson, Ranjay Gulati, and Michael Tushman. The book contains thirteen insightful chapters from different experts, but two in particular resonated with me: Chapter 2 on Making the Business Case for Environmental Sustainability and Chapter 8 on Chief Sustainability Officers: Who are They and what Do They Do? If you want leading-edge contemporary thoughts on Sustainability from a variety of experts, then this is the book for you.

On My Mind
Sometimes executives aren’t sure “how to start” when re-thinking the strategic direction of their organization, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. Here are eight “starter” questions you can use to get the ideas flowing: (1) What is our compelling vision of the future? (2) What is our process for consistently achieving our goals? (3) What are the future needs of our customers? (4) How fast do we go from concept to market? (5) How have we improved quality and safety in the last year? (6) How do we use analytics to improve our performance? (7) How will we either attain and/or sustain our competitive advantages? (8) How is our organization structured for future success? I’ve found it to be most effective to give these to the Leadership Team members in advance of the Strategy Review session so they have time to formulate their thoughts.  While not ideal – this is one relatively easy way to get executives thinking about the future of their organization.

Interesting Stories
Who is the best athlete in the world? Arguably, it is Ashton Eaton of the United States. He recently won the decathlon event at the World Track Championships in Beijing, China by breaking his own world record mark. The decathlon is composed of ten events: 100 Meters, Long Jump, Shot Put, High Jump, 400 Meters, 110 Meters Hurdles, Discuss Throw, Pole Vault, Javelin Throw, and 1500 Meters. Each athlete is awarded points for each event based upon his time/distance and then the points are summed for a total score. It will be interesting to see if Ashton Eaton breaks his world record again next year at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Company News
I presented on “Quality, Analytics, & the Big Data Revolution” at the Global Quality Futures Workshop in August. The accompanying paper bearing the same title will be available in December. The Seventh Annual Advanced Strategic Improvement Practices Conference will be held October 7 at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. There will be presentations under two major themes this year: Innovation and Organizational Sustainability (in the environmental) sense. There will also be a Lean Six Sigma project case study presented. The conference brochure is available on this web-site.

Intriguing Reads
If you want a glimpse into the future of business, then read the book by Tim Burt titled, “2020 Vision: Today’s Business Leaders on Tomorrow’s World.” I’ve been waiting patiently for this book and it is now available. There are twenty chapters about “the future of business” each featuring a prominent business leader – I especially enjoyed Chapter 12 authored by Beth Comstock of GE.