Pushing Beyond the Obvious Mukesh Gupta: Author, Blogger, Podcaster, Change Agent. Entreprenuer by Nature, Employee by Choice

This is the recording of a live conversation I had with Dr. Efrat Goldratt-Ashlag to explore how the principles from the Theory of Constraints can be applied to multi-project environments (Digital transformation efforts) to deliver projects on time, on budget and on spec.







She shared insights from her latest book (now available in Worldwide) Goldratt’s Rules of Flow to help us understand how to increase the velocity and throughputs of project deliveries within our organisation.







We covered the following topics in the conversation:







1. Introducing the work of Dr. Efrat Goldratt-Ashlag







2. Do 70% of projects really fail to achieve their goals? Why? And how can we address it?







3. The importance of triage in a multi-project environment instead of focusing on improving productivity







4. Whose job is it to identify the constraints in a multi-project environment?







5. Why is flow important in the Theory of Constraints? And what are the fundamental rules of flow?







6. How do organisations make the shift from their current operating model to the ToC model?







7. When you want to go farther, focus.







8. The psychological cost of the wrong assumptions that run multi-project environment







9. What is a Full kit? The importance of Full Kit.







10. How to deal with an external customer and run projects the ToC way and does this work for projects with no clear end date?







Here are the Rules of Flow that Efrat talks about in her book:







1. Avoid bad multitasking and control your work-in-progress.







2. If you don’t want to get stuck, verify full-kit before you get going.







3. Triage to ensure you are working on the right priorities.







4. Ensure synchronisation between tasks, people and resources.







5. If you keep going back to the same projects and you don’t get the desired results, look into the option to increase the dosage.







6. Avoid unnecessary rework by finding what causes it.







7. Standardization is recommended when improvising is costly.







8. Abolish local optimum, global optimum is what matters.







You can watch our entire conversation on YouTube here.



















You can watch the session delivered by Rami Goldratt that I mention in the conversation here.



















#TheoryOfConstraints #ToC #CriticalChain #ProjectManagement #ontime #onbudget #onspec #DigitalTransformation #EliyahuGoldratt #Goldratt 







You can connect with her @ https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-efrat-goldratt-ashlag-44046212a/







You can find Dr Efrat’s book: Goldratts Rules of Flow @ https://amzn.to/3Q6mqik







You can find Dr. Goldratt’s book, The Goal @ https://amzn.to/3MBsYEL







Connect with me at https://linkedin.com/in/rmukeshgupta







My books:

In this episode of the podcast, we host the inimitable and unapologetically ambitious, Sophie Krantz. We had a conversation about leadership and the need for economic growth and opportunity. We discussed the possibility of creating positive change in the world through frameworks like exponential organization (ExO) and coaching ordinary people to do extraordinary things.







In this wide ranging conversation, we discussed







– The importance of seeing the world as one and the need to overcome fears and limiting beliefs to achieve breakthrough growth.







– The value of immersive experiences and tapping into personal passions to create unapologetic ambition and confidence in tackling global problems.







– The difference between a limited and expanded worldview, with Sophie encouraging people to look for colour in the world and to tap into their potential to create something new.







– The power of generative AI and the importance of exploring the world and pushing outside of one’s comfort zone.







– The importance of expanding limitations and having ambition in leadership.







– The need for role models and the importance of creating a space for people to play and experiment in order to tap into their creativity







– The importance of expanding one’s perspective and mindset in order to succeed in a world surrounded by smart machines and intelligent algorithms.







– The importance of continuously learn and experiment, and to reach out to others for support and knowledge.







We had a conversation about experimentation with generative AI, the oneness of the world, and the importance of concrete stories in relating to ideas.







Books discussed in the video:







Exponential Organisations 2.0 by Salim Ismail: https://amzn.to/492yYzH







Connect with me – https://www.linkedin.com/in/rmukeshgupta







Connect with Sophie – https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiekrantz/







Sophie’s website – https://www.sophiekrantz.com







My books:







– Thrive: https://amzn.to/493brhZ







– Your startup Mentor: https://amzn.to/3FrBbHr







– Being Happy: https://amzn.to/3QsE4xO

In this conversation with @DrAlanBarnard, we explore how the principles of the Theory of Constraints (originally created by Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt) can be used to not only drive significant business results but also to help us make high stake decisions as leaders.







In this freewheeling conversation, we explore Dr Barnard’s story about how he met with Dr. Goldratt and his famous motto. We explore who is a true expert.







He shares how he got into an argument with Dr. Goldratt and how he then formed a life long connection with Dr. Goldratt.







He shares his most important lessons from all his interaction with Dr. Goldratt









What is a Life Goal? The definition of a Life goal is a “Dream taken seriously!

– Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt









I will not sacrifice my goal for anyone and I will not sacrifice anyone for my goal!

Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt







He also introduces the concept of Theory of Constraint then, shares what is a constraint and the different kinds of constraints that we might face in any given system (Market/demand (external), Capacity (internal), Supply (external), Cash (Internal), Management Attention (internal) and probably the most crucial in any business.







He also shares two ways to improve a constraint and therefore significantly improve your impact. He shares the importance of “Flow” or “Throughput” in any given system and how “Flow” is two-dimensional. He also shared the importance of understanding and increasing flow (time and velocity). He also shares different Ways to improve any given system.







He also shares the story of how Tata Steel UK went from 1 Million Pound loss per day to 1 Million pound profit per day using Theory of constraints







We constantly see good people make bad decisions. He explains why this happens and how to avoid them. He talks about what he calls as the agency equation.







We then move into the realm of individuals and he shares how to identify what constrains our belief systems? Really? The power of questions – Really or unless.







He also shares insights about how our minds work? He talks about the importance of learning prompt engineering to engage not just chatGPT but ourselves as well.







He also shares insight on how to ask good questions as a leader and the 2 steps to make a breakthrough in any field. He also shares insight on how to measure people’s performance and its impact on the business.







Dr. Goldratt had started a movement called “Viable Vision”. He shares more information about this viable vision and how can one go about achieving the same in their business.







We then understand his own learning process and the key people he learns from – Herbert Simon and Nassim Nicholas Taleb.







What is so obvious to him that all of us miss?









We don’t usually learn from experience but from Experiments

Dr. Alan Barnard







In Summary:







We need to remember the 4F’s – Flow, Focus, Finish and Fast Feedback to become influential and impactful leaders. This has been one of the most insightful conversations I have had in a long time on the show and I learnt a ton fr...

In this interesting conversation, an accomplished CEO and digital transformation leader, Damien Cummings shares his perspective on the art of leading in uncertain times.







He shares how leaders need to do to stay relevant in an ever changing context, specially the technology landscape.







Here are some things that we cover in this conversation: 









The impact that the proliferation of AI tools are having on leaders and how the lead







What does this ever changing landscape mean for leaders in terms of skills that they need to develop to remain relevant.







The importance of knowing and being open to creative destruction in order for the organisation can continue to remain relevant.







How can leaders make sense of all the changes around them.







What are some of the risks that we need to be aware of when outsourcing a lot of our tasks to AI tools. Figuring out where to leverage AI tools and where to use HI (Human Intelligence) will become a key differentiator or skill of an effective leader.







In this scenario, how should leaders go about putting together a strategy for their orgs and drive engagement within their teams.







The importance of understanding soft trends and hard trends and learning the skill of foresight.







How does Damien learn and continue to stay current.







One piece of advice that had a profound impact on him.







What is so obvious to Damien but people miss all the time and that frustrates him.









You can find more information about Damien here.







You can connect with him on LinkedIn here. 







Books discussed in the video: 









Flash Foresight: https://amzn.to/48S4GiF







Lean Startup: https://amzn.to/3w20XAr







Blue Ocean Strategy: https://amzn.to/3HzW0BF









If you would like to watch us have this conversation, you can do so here.

In this interesting conversation, Speaker, Author and Advisor (and Public speaking coach)  @ColFink  shares his perspective on the importance of clear and effective communication for leaders.







He also shares insights on how to get good at communication and specifically when speaking to an audience (internal or external).







He shares how leaders can learn to communicate to inform, inspire and connect. He also talks about how good communication can provide leaders the leverage they need in order to scale both – effectiveness and efficiency.







If you are a leader and want to work on your communication, this is a conversation worth listening to.







Here are some things that we cover in this conversation:









Most Common mistakes people make when trying to communicate







Questions to ask ourselves before planning our speech (People, Problem, Purpose, Plan, Prescription)







The cost of not having prepared our speech







How is communicating different when the goal is to Inform, Inspire or Connect people







The importance and the skill of telling stories using the concept of Pink Sheets developed by  @Matt.Church 







How to get good presenting in front of a camera?







How can leaders find leverage to increase their impact and influence







How does Col learn and continue to stay current







One piece of advice that had a profound impact on him







What is so obvious to Col but people miss all the time and that frustrates him









You can find more information about Col at https://www.ColFink.com.







You can connect with him on LinkedIn here.







Books discussed in the video:









Speakership: https://amzn.to/3Q9xo6q







Tribes of learning: https://www.colfink.com/store/p/tribe-of-learning







Kevin Kelly on Pushing Beyond the Obvious









If you would like to watch us have this conversation, you can do so here.

Premise:







In this first episode of a new series, which will be focused on leadership, we host a practicing leader – Pankaj Rusia. He currently works for SAP as the Head of Customer Success for the SAP HR Cloud business are and is based out of Singapore.







As the Head of Customer Success for SAP South East Asia, he is on a mission to make customers look great in front of their leadership, employees, and managers, and to help them get the best out of their SuccessFactors solutions.







Insights from the conversation:







In this wide ranging conversation, he shares his insights on leadership. WE cover many things including the following:







The leadership burden, which makes us be different person at work and while at home. We discuss some challenges that typically leaders in the middle management face. He talks about the importance of listening more than talking, understanding what drives your team members and having good conversations.







He shares the importance of developing people and letting your people outgrowing us as their leaders. He also shares the importance of finding mentors and sponsors for those we lead outside of their immediate circle within our organization.







We discuss the book – One minute manager and the key insights from the book. He talks about the 3 Seconds rule – to hold on to reacting to anything by at least 3 seconds to help our emotions settle down, it allows us to respond rather than react to situations and avoid embarrassment.







He also shares the importance of having a spiritual practice in becoming better leaders and seeking our purpose in life and how to measure the success of our journey. The importance of balance in the approach to leadership.







He shares one of the core challenge for leaders and their teams – the proliferation of meetings, specially virtual meetings, which leads to the paucity of time for deep thinking and improving our effectiveness.







He also shared the importance of learning and staying abreast of latest technology for leaders, as it helps connect with the younger and more tech savvy employees.







He talks about the importance of staying healthy and doing activities with teams outside of work and having a hobby is key for all leaders and how to find the time for these hobbies. The role that continuous improvement plays in our careers as in our sports life.







You don’t accept the results of yesterday, today.







In conclusion:







In conclusion, I believe that while leading a team as a middle manager in a large corporate is very different from leading the organisation itself, we still have enough agency and with some creativity, we can still exhibit all the capabilities of leaders. Hope you learnt from the conversation as much as I did.







You can find the video version of this conversation here.