The Cranky Middle Manager Show # 21 Focused Performance
The Cranky Middle Manager Show # 021 (MP3 11.4 MB 33:00 Min)
Listen Here
Today we welcome Frank Patrick from the Focused Performance Blog to talk about “The Theory of Constraints”, we salute a Celtic chiefette, and ask for more stories of The Worst Manager on the Planet.
0:00 This show is dedicated to Boadicea, also known as Boudicca. Jeez, a woman makes it in a man’s world and winds up dying for it. Le plus de choses change, le plus ils restent pareil. I have now exhausted my supply of Canadian high school French.
2:04The Quote of the Week…. is from Confucius. Yes there was a Confucius, yes he was a really smart guy, and yes, you know we’d have to quote him eventually. Still, he knew a thing or two about how we learn stuff…..
4:26 Don’t forget to tell us about “The Worst Manager on the Planet”. Tell us about the worst boss you ever had and you could win prizes from MindManager 6, Active Words, copies of my book and more. Email Me or if you’re a Skype user you can find me at wayneturmel and leave a voicemail. No names, no lawyers, just share your stories with us.
5:40 Welcome Frank Patrick. Why would anyone leave the Fortune 100 for the wilds of a cyber startup?
8:45 Who develops managers better and why?
14:00 Do new managers understand business better than they used to?
17:42 The Theory of Constraints is NOT a dirty movie…. other than that I don’t know much and Frank enlightens me
22:30 Normal budgeting practice won’t work… the whole company has to pull together
27:29 Frank has more links from his blog to interesting stuff than anyone I’ve met. Here are some of his favorites….
Theory of Constraints:
The Goal by Eli Goldratt
Critical Chain by Eli Goldratt
The Cash Machine - Using TOC for Sales Management by Richard Klapholz and Alex Klarman
aAblog he wanted to mention but didn’t…
A Guide to Implementing the Theory of Constraints
Other Stuff
Joe Ely’s Learning About Lean
Hal Macomber’s Reforming Project Management
Merlin Mann’s 43 Folders
That’s it for this week, don’t let the weasels get ya down.





November 5th, 2005 at 12:04 am
Thanks, Wayne. It was fun. Someday, we’ll have to do it again on the subject of multi-project organizations and the things they do that cause most projects to be late, or at best, on time, but almost never early.
Anyway — two things. A link to my current gig — http://www.digitalgrit.com — and to another book on TOC that I should have mentioned - Deming and Goldratt by Domenico Lepore and Oded Cohen — A great introduction to TOC concepts and thinking processes (www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0884271633/focusedperfor-20).
November 5th, 2005 at 12:04 am
Thanks, Wayne. It was fun. Someday, we’ll have to do it again on the subject of multi-project organizations and the things they do that cause most projects to be late, or at best, on time, but almost never early.
Anyway — two things. A link to my current gig — http://www.digitalgrit.com — and to another book on TOC that I should have mentioned - Deming and Goldratt by Domenico Lepore and Oded Cohen — A great introduction to TOC concepts and thinking processes - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0884271633/focusedperfor-20
November 5th, 2005 at 12:06 am
Wayne — since you’re moderating, use the second comment that makes the book link live.
November 6th, 2005 at 2:05 pm
The Goal is an awesome read. I wish more authors would write in this way. It seems easier to understand the concepts when their written in a “novel” format.