To really find the areas for cost improvement we must let go of our mental impediments to uncovering these opportunities. It is very probable that there are plenty of cost improvement possibilities. However, in our daily work execution we may not find the time to free our minds to consider these possibilities. A brainstorming exercise can go far to fuel the imagination, to open a “space” to think laterally at what may be possible. We have successfully employed this technique to:
We have written much on requirements in other blog posts. We have been maintaining this blog for years, admittedly sometimes more fervently than others. We have created a schedule for our blog posts and other events by Value Transformation personnel available either on the event location on the website or as a downloadable from the […]
Flip a coin, heads, or tails. The probability that it will come up heads is 50%; there are only two sides. Flip that same coin again, the same probability, 50%. However, if we say that success is two successive heads (or tails) that is different. The probability of two consecutive heads is the product of […]
CES 2018 Event I have never gone to CES 2018 Event (Consumer Electronics Show) and was taken aback by the size of the event. There was considerable to see, even with the minor discomfort of periodic electrical blackouts at various parts of the show. I have a great enthusiasm for creating new things (I have […]
Behavioral Extinction By: Shawn P Quigley and Jon M Quigley Extinction The Dodo, the Tasmanian Tiger and the Carolina Parakeet are extinct. Extinction; however, does not just apply to animals but can be applied to behavior as well. In the case of behavioral extinction we will be discussing things and/or actions that make motivation and […]
Verification and Validation The definition for verification and validation can be found at[1]: We must express some disagreement with the activities associated with the individual areas. For example, testing is not limited to Validation. Testing is also a function of verification as we will use these techniques to understand if the instantiation of the […]
In the development phase of the product development life cycle, we are generating ideas for the product. We see opportunities in the market place and wish to explore if we can capitalize (not a vulgar word) upon these opportunities. Perhaps a new technology has become available to us. Our organization will want to investigate the […]
By Shawn P. Quigley Maslow and Motivation In our previous discussions we have referred to Maslow’s Theory of Human Motivation (Hierarchy of Needs) and how this relates to work place motivation. To best continue our discussion we must first review some of the tenets of Maslow’s theory in more detail and dispel the misconception that […]
Schedule pressures can keep project managers up at night. Frequently the project schedule is not entirely driven by logistics from within the projects but by external pressures such as market or executive pressure. There are metrics that can be used to help predict, sometimes these are not created, gathered, maintained or have the appropriate follow […]
Many of you who have read our blog know we are fans of the show Aircraft Disaster on the Smithsonian Channel. We do not like the show for the disaster part, but the root-cause analysis aspects. These things are intriguing for engineers. Root cause analysis is an important skill for design engineers, process engineers, and […]