A public utility is a classic application of synergy concepts which we experience in our daily lives, and which can influence the mental models of many stakeholders on synergy initiatives. Utilities typically provide universal service by aggregating the needs of many users, and servicing those needs through the products and services which the utility offers. These products and services themselves are typically provided from many different sources, and often trade off cost and demand in determining which sources to use over time. Read more »

In the Harvard Business Review, Sep / Oct98, Vol. 76, Issue 5, p131-143, Michael Goold and Andrew Campbell describe 5 underlying characteristics which successful synergy efforts have been succesfully built upon. They include: Read more »

The term health care reform has diverse meanings for the many stakeholders involved in the US health care system. The underlying issues associated with implementing such reforms are quite complex, but pressures for reform are high. In this context, such reforms are similar in nature to many large improvement initiatives which are pursued within large businesses (though these are each dramatically different in scale).

In 2005 alone, the United States spent more than two trillion dollars on health care, or over $7,100 per person, and are growing at over twice the rate of growth of our overall economy. Government and private insurance fund about 80 percent of those costs, and the rest largely comes directly (rather than indirectly) out of our pockets. About a third of these expenditures occur within hospitals; clinicians get another third, and the rest is spread across nursing homes, prescription drugs, and the costs of administering our insurance system. Read more »

In The Future of Management, Gary Hamel challenges traditional thinking on the practice of management. He argues that management innovation is needed since more traditional approaches - centered on control and efficiency - no longer work in a world where adaptability and creativity are increasingly crucial to business success. He argues that current management challenges most frequently are focused around how to accelerate change, get everyone involved in innovation, and engaged to give their best - and none of these goals can be achieved very effectively (or sustainably) in a command and control-oriented environment. I couldn't agree more.

Hamel offers a somewhat traditionalist job description for a manager, which is to:

• Set and program objectives
• Motivate and align effort
• Coordinate and control activities
• Develop and assign talent 
• Accumulate and apply knowledge 
• Amass and allocate resources 
• Build and nurture relationships
• Balance and meet stakeholder demands

He then explains how these goals are in fact most likely to be achieved when everyone in the organization is engaged in their pursuit; it's not just the manager's job, but everyone's job. The manager can only be the catalyst. Read more »

I had a chance to tour the Kennedy Space Center just before Thanksgiving, and was able to provide input and ideas in pursuit of an updated CAPPS contract for NASA's new Constellation program. The completion of the $130B International Space Station's construction is in sight, and is expected by 2010. Unfortunately, the originally planned life of the station only envisioned operational support through 2016, so the ISS's long-term role and cost-effectiveness for scientific research is uncertain, and has been significantly reduced from original plans. Read more »