Insights
Over the years of my career, I’ve been able to learn a ton not just from studying things like Lean Six Sigma or PMP guides or in law school, but also from the countless people along the way who were generous enough with their time and knowledge to share it. In an attempt to pass that along, I’ll be sharing insights that I’ve learned about organizational operations and the law. I hope you find these insights useful in your own work and that they’re just the beginning of a two-way discussion.
Even if we don’t work together in a formal sense, if you have questions or thoughts about these insights, please reach out. I’d love to discuss them more with you.
The Band-Aid Tax: How Quick-Fixes Cause Untold Damage
Every operations leader has felt the pressure: "Just fix it now. We don't have time for a deep dive."
So, you apply a quick workaround, a temporary patch: a "Band-Aid fix." It solves the immediate problem, earns a momentary sigh of relief, and allows you to move on to the next fire. But what if that quick, inexpensive solution is actually the single most expensive mistake your organization makes all year?
This is The Band-Aid Tax. It’s the hidden, compounding operational cost you pay every time you solve a symptom instead of the system.
Q4 as a Strategic Asset: Making January 2nd Your Most Productive Day
As the final quarter begins, the focus in most organizations shifts entirely to hitting year-end targets. But Q4 shouldn't be purely a reactive sprint. It should also be seen as the most critical time for strategic operational closure and planning.
I believe the true test of a well-run operation isn't how well you recover from problems; it’s how effectively you prevent them from recurring. That requires a structured, formal process for capturing the knowledge gained over the last twelve months. The goal is simple: make sure you walk into the new year with a ready-to-execute plan, making January 2nd your most productive day, not a continuation of last year's operational deficiencies and a general “we all know what we need to be doing” attitude.
AI as Your Teammate: The Key to Operational Efficiency
I believe that in the next decade you’ll see the following strata emerge in the business world:
1) most organizations that refuse to adopt AI will just go away- they’ll simply be out-competed;
2) some of those orgs that get quick wins by out-competing the anti-AI crowd will use their AI to replace workforce and will see great short-term financial gain that will eventually dry up;
3) the real winners will be the ones who adopted AI early and used it to supplement their team- not replace it- and they will have turned their people toward more value-add work: pushing their foot on the accelerator rather than turning on cruise control.
Empowering Your People: Building a Culture of Operational Excellence
When I talk with business leaders about streamlining operations, the conversation often jumps straight to technology, new software, or charting out complex processes. Certainly, those elements are absolutely critical. But here's what I've learned, time and again, across different industries: the most powerful engine for operational excellence isn't some shiny new tool. It's your people. Their insights, their engagement, and their motivation are the real foundation for…