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Mind the (Skills) Gap

Harvard Business Review

A bachelor's degree used to provide enough basic training to last a career. And it's not only white-collar, college-driven careers that will suffer rapid skills obsolescence. Project Management and Lean Six Sigma certifications both center on hands-on learning. Encourage the development of talent ecosystems.

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The No. 1 Enemy of Creativity: Fear of Failure

Harvard Business Review

If you're an MBA-trained manager or executive, the odds are you were never, at any point in your educational or professional career given permission to fail, even on a "little bet." Similarly, modern industrial management is still predicated largely on mitigating risks and preventing errors, not innovating or inventing.

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What Cincinnati Could Teach New York about Hurricane Readiness

Harvard Business Review

But increasingly, at the local level, innovative approaches involving unlikely partners playing unlikely roles are disrupting the status quo and addressing seemingly unsolvable challenges like those posed by Sandy. Government must adopt innovation practices that mirror those used by leading entrepreneurial companies around the world.

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The 6 Most Common Innovation Mistakes Companies Make

Harvard Business Review

The executive team of a consumer healthcare company had concluded that the rise of new competitors meant the company needed to up its innovation game. The company had spent the past two decades focused on implementing Six Sigma processes across the enterprise and it was primed to execute on the best and smartest ideas.

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Diet and Exercise Tips from Process Fitness Fanatics

Harvard Business Review

The stories of how they have kept their processes fit are less well known than those of famous process fitness fanatics such as Toyota, with its Toyota Production System (also known as Lean), and GE, with its Six Sigma program. DuPont started with Six Sigma's classic focus on reducing product defects.

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The $300 House: The Corporate Challenge

Harvard Business Review

With the $300 House initiative, it's easy to see the potential to spark innovation that, with a single stroke, could ameliorate several quality-of-life-concerns at once: shelter, water purification, alternative energy, cooking fuel and information access. Our team put Six-Sigma thinking to work. Today, Stephanie A.

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A Transformation Is Underway at U.S. Veterans Affairs. We Got an Inside Look.

Harvard Business Review

Obama nominated Robert McDonald , an Army veteran and experienced executive who had honed his leadership skills during a 33-year career at Proctor and Gamble, to attempt the difficult turnaround. The fallout was dramatic: the Secretary of Veterans Affairs resigned and the FBI initiated a criminal investigation.