Standards? We Don’t Need No Stinking Standards

Wednesday, 10 July 2019 by James Kovacevic

How Your Organization Can Benefit from Standardization

Imagine if every day you had to relearn a process or use a different CMMS.  Chances are you would get virtually nothing accomplished, leaving your plant operating poorly.   Now we all know that we having to relearn a process every day or using a new CMMS is not practical nor is it rooted in reality (not to be confused with the Rooted in...

Staying Safe During the Summer Heat

Friday, 21 June 2019 by Ashley Larrimore

Today is the FIRST day of summer! During increased heat and humidity in many places, following these simple summer safety recommendations can help you ensure 

Distance, Direction, & Motivation: Win the Training Resource War the Army Way

Thursday, 12 July 2018 by Bill Leahy
At the beginning of every reliability course I poll my students. My favorite prompt, borrowed from Darrin Wikoff, is “In a word, capture the greatest constraint to achieving reliability?”. We go around the room and note each response onto a flipchart and add chicken scratches for duplicate answers. Over time I have found it typically looks like Figure 1. Thirteen out of eighteen responses (72%)...

Five Whys and Wishbone: Program and Training Sponsorship

Friday, 18 May 2018 by Shon Isenhour

Over the years I have seen many sponsors give great supporting speeches but I have also noted a few that failed miserably along the way. Lets learn from them. One in particular was the kick off of a new root cause analysis facilitators program in a facility with a history of " flavor of the month" programs and lack luster performance. The "leader" did not attend the workshop because he was...

Pro Tip For Delegation

Friday, 11 May 2018 by Brandon Weil

Chances are you stink at delegation and you’re either a task hoarder or a task dumper.

Graduate of the Month: February 2018

Monday, 26 February 2018 by Madelaine Hallman-Kenner

We are excited to announce our February Graduate of the Month, Clark Bond of Weyerhaeuser. Congratulations on your many accomplishments throughout your iBL journey, Clark!

Managing: You Might Be Doing It Wrong.

Tuesday, 20 February 2018 by Madelaine Hallman-Kenner

Let me ask you a question; what is the difference between someone who manages and someone who leads? Some would say that they are the same. “A manager is in charge of leading the team.” That is a valid statement, yet we have all had that manager that will delegate all jobs until there is none left for them and finish by saying, “I’ll be in my office if you need anything.” The better question for...

Facts and Statistics on Growth, Skills, Reliability, and Manufacturing

Monday, 23 October 2017 by Shon Isenhour
Today's blog post includes many facts and statistics that I have collected while preparing to present at the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufactures Reliability Conference this week. This is the group formally known as NPRA and if you are going to be their look me up. These tidbits are from various recent magazine articles and studies and will help you communicate the need for both education...

Leadership, Fast Cars, and Road Blocks: Three things leaders need to know about project roadblock removal.

Thursday, 14 September 2017 by Shon Isenhour

Leadership is about road block removal. Your team may be the best in the world at what they do but certain issues can stop them cold every time. They may be like a garage full of incredibly fast sports cars eager to get the job done, but someone has to open the garage door to get them started and remove the roadblocks along the way that prevent them from demonstrating their full potential. In the...

6 Questions About Your Reliability Vision That You Need To Answer.

Friday, 26 May 2017 by Shon Isenhour
Is your reliability vision driving you forward or is it just something you hang on the wall or put on the back of your business card? Here are six questions you might use to bring your vision to the forefront and driving effective change in your organization. 1. First have you created a reliability or asset management vision? Is it clear, concise, memorable, and easily explained to anyone in...
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