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Continue reading →: How Quality Makes You Recession-Proof
A couple days ago, Sonia Simone presented an article entitled “Four Old-School Reasons Why You Can Thrive in this Recession”. The general philosophy of her insights is straightforward: It’s impossible to really see massive change when we’re still in the middle of it. But there are a handful of things…
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Continue reading →: The Quality and Innovation Attitude
Ryan Adams (@RyanSAdams; Blog) tweeted about another blog post this morning entitled “Looking for Yes” by Seth Godin. Ryan suggested that perhaps this is the reason, as described by Godin, that Obama got elected: I don’t think it should matter whether or not you’re trying to make a profit. If…
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Continue reading →: Quality, Continuous Improvement, and the Expert Mind
Are you an expert? According to tradition and research, it takes 10,000 hours of focused effort and a dedication to continuous improvement to become one. On October 2, 2007, Bill Harrison described the phenomenon well: I’ve been immersed in a fascinating book called This Is Your Brain On Music. The…
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Continue reading →: The Genius of Asking Dumb Questions
Two days ago I commented on how technical jargon can either enhance or impede communications. I ran across this quote today from the 1987 book Thriving on Chaos by Tom Peters along the same thread, and thought I’d share: Mostly, it’s the dumb, elementary questions followed up by a dozen…
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Continue reading →: The ITEA Criteria for Software Process & Performance Improvement
(I originally wrote this article for the ASQ Software Division Newsletter compiled in the first quarter of 2009. I’m reproducing it here because I’ve found the ITEA criteria to be remarkably useful for all kinds of planning since I was introduced to it last year.) For software professionals, particularly those…
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Overcoming Jargon
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Continue reading →: Overcoming JargonI was talking to a group of professors from James Madison University yesterday, when the topic shifted to “discrete event simulation”. They asked me if I knew anything about it – I said no. I don’t think I had ever heard of those words strung together in the same phrase,…
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Continue reading →: Free Wireless for All
The California Zephyr, Amtrak train 6 out of Denver, stopped for about 5 minutes this morning at the tiny little station of Osceola, Iowa. It was just enough time for me to turn my wireless on, surf around for an unsecured network with a good signal, and check my email,…
Hello,
I’m Nicole
Since 2008, I’ve been sharing insights and expertise on Digital Transformation & Data Science for Performance Excellence here. As a CxO, I’ve helped orgs build empowered teams, robust programs, and elegant strategies bridging data, analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML)… while building models in R and Python on the side. In 2025, I help leaders drive Quality-Driven Data & AI Strategies and navigate the complex market of data/AI vendors & professional services. Need help sifting through it all? Reach out to inquire – check out my new book that reveal the one thing EVERY organization has been neglecting – Data, Strategy, Culture & Power.
Quality and Innovation 