Blog – iBsing

Financial Reconciliation in S&OP

19.10.2021

“When we give ourselves permission to fail…we at the same time, give ourselves permission to excel.” (Eloise Ristad) In yesterday’s iBsing pioneers call we discussed the 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐒&𝐎𝐏 between commercial and operations. Here some highlights from our discussion. 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬: 𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒂: must be comparable, units of measure need to be clear, average selling […] more

It’s a magical moment in S&OP…

12.10.2021

…when the right person is taking the right decision at the right time! In 97% of the cases, employees are not satisfied with organisational decision-making. That is the surprising result after 40 interviews with Supply Chain professionals at different levels in the organisation from 10 different companies. A strong S&OP / S&OE can be the […] more

Evolutionary decision-making is driving engagement and performance!

05.10.2021

97% of business tensions are related to suboptimal decision-making[1] This is due to many organisations relying solely on an analytical decision-making approach, which may work well in orderly and highly predictable environments, but not so well in a more complex business landscape. iBsing leverages existing business processes and business transformation initiatives to embed evolutionary decision-making into the organisation A direct way to short and […] more

Human skills – learning by doing!?

29.09.2021

In yesterday’s iBsing pioneers call we focused on decision-making in S&OP. The decision-making process can be described in 5 steps: 1. 𝐈𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 – typically the change is triggered by a “tension”, when the current perception of the business situation is not aligned with the expectation. We talk about the “Human Sensor Network”, because each […] more

The human sensor network is the most under-utilized business asset

21.09.2021

Humans have the gift to feel 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 between the personal perception of a current business situation and the personal expectation of the same situation. Employees in an organisation can be regarded as “𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 (𝐇𝐒𝐍)” responding to business triggers. The HSN is an underutilized web with huge potential to drive in your organisation 𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐞 […] more

Don’t develop other people – develop the organisation!

14.09.2021

Where to start with behavioural 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕? ☞ Personal Development? ☞ Organisational Development? In my view, the catch is the 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚. Whilst the organisational leadership team is accountable for organisational development, each 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒚𝒆𝒆 is accountable for the own personal development. As an organisational leader, you can work on organisational development, you can work on your […] more

What happened with your S&OP?

07.09.2021

Sometimes the initial 𝑺&𝑶𝑷 𝑽𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 and the 𝑺&𝑶𝑷 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 look quite different! In the 21st iBsing pioneers discussion S&OP/IBP practitioners from different industries investigated the key reasons for the 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑺&𝑶𝑷. The list is long! Three Top tips to make your process sustainable arising from the session: 1. Secure top 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 2. Clear […] more

About bicycles and supply chain planning solutions…

30.08.2021

Why walk a long distance, when you can ride a bicycle? Why run S&OP in Excel, when we can use better tools? The 𝐛𝐢𝐜𝐲𝐜𝐥𝐞 is a brilliant human invention, of which we can make the most if we… ⇨understand the requirements ⇨select the appropriate one ⇨learn how to ride it ⇨keep on improving our fitness […] more

Supply Chain – the most exciting function in the business!

18.08.2021

…and not to forget: Supply Chain professionals know a lot about 𝐏𝐄𝐎𝐏𝐋𝐄, because they are… – connecting departments, – communicating at all levels of the organisation, – resolving issues in a fact based manner. Do your S&OP-, S&OE-, and IBP-processes already drive maximum 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 and 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞? LinkedIn Post more

Remaining proactive towards year-end

10.08.2021

What can we do to avoid a shift from a 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 S&OP to 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 S&OP towards the second half of the year? I am curious about your experience and suggestions! The 𝐭𝐨𝐩 5 𝐢𝐁𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 to achieve the financial targets 2021 whilst remaining proactive and focused on the organisational purpose: 😱 𝐂𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 issues […] more

It’s hard to control the soft side of business!

03.08.2021

𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 “𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘮, 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯, 𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨.” (W. Edwards Deming, American Engineer, Statistician, Professor) 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 “𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴: 𝘈 “𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦?” 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦-𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵” (Mark Samuel, CEO, Author)How can organisations fully leverage the people […] more

A story about “entrepreneurship”…

28.07.2021

…and about an Austrian Olympic 🥇 winner, who… – 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒅 her academic career over her athletic career – is resolving 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 as a researcher and lecturer at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne and practises 𝒄𝒚𝒄𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 “𝒉𝒐𝒃𝒃𝒚” – nevertheless 𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒅 as a 30 year old Olympic debutant – leverages her […] more

Supply Chain has the Facts!

20.07.2021

“You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.” Daniel Patrick Moynihan Once I conducted an S&OP audit at a country organisation that was 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞. I was wondering what it was that they were doing differently than the other S&OP teams. At the Executive S&OP board meeting,... more

Before focusing on the Customer, focus on your Sales Rep!

29.06.2021

In yesterday’s iBsing pioneers call we discussed the collaboration between 𝑺𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒔 and the 𝑺𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝑹𝒆𝒑 during a 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐬 🔥. ✰The Sales Rep is the 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 to the customer and wants to build a relationship of 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 with the customer. ✰The Sales Rep is directly confronted with the customer’s 𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 and is highly […] more

Too many heroes – business is in trouble!

24.06.2021

Your leaders behave like heroes? Your business may be in trouble! The Cynefin framework distinguishes five contexts which are defined by the nature of the cause-and-effect relationship between business challenges and appropriate solutions. From my perspective each context requires a different leadership style. Typical organisations seem to have too many HEROES, and too few GARDENERS […] more

20th iBsing pioneers meeting

22.06.2021

iBsing pioneers call Customer Focus Next week we will have our 20𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝑩𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍! I would like to thank the S&OP/IBP practitioners for the 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓲𝓬𝓲𝓹𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷, support in 𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 of content, 𝓮𝓷𝓰𝓪𝓰𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽 during break-out sessions and 𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼 and 𝓲𝓷𝓼𝓹𝓲𝓻𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷! Looking forward to the next session with an excellent guest speaker: 𝐎𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐨𝐥𝐛𝐞𝐫, 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘋𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘵 […] more

Put yourself into the shoes of a sales rep!

16.06.2021

The best way to drive Supply Chain improvement is to put your self into the shoes of a sales rep. The 20th iBsing pioneers call will be special: we invite our 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓶𝓮𝓻𝓬𝓲𝓪𝓵 colleagues to celebrate & learn with us! I am delighted that Olivier Wolber, Managing Director at Smith & Nephew, will kick off our next […] more

How to get out of chaos back into order?

14.06.2021

I am grateful that I had the opportunity to share the framework of “𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 (𝐢𝐁𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠)” at the 17th 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒖𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒔 S&OP conference and the 5th 𝑪𝑺𝑪𝑴𝑷 Europe conference last week. Many companies have been challenged recently with complex external business issues such as 𝓰𝓵𝓸𝓫𝓪𝓵 𝓻𝓪𝔀 𝓶𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓪𝓵 𝓸𝓻 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓹𝓸𝓷𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝓼𝓱𝓸𝓻𝓽𝓪𝓰𝓮𝓼. Remaining too long in […] more

Diversity is driving performance

08.06.2021

Strength lies in differences, not in similarities. (Stephen R. Covey) 𝓓𝓲𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓲𝓽𝔂 𝓲𝓼 𝓭𝓻𝓲𝓿𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓸𝓻𝓰𝓪𝓷𝓲𝓼𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓵 𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓶𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮! ⇨ Traditional organisations with a “predict and control” approach recognize (and sometimes overestimate) the importance of “𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲”, more

S&OE in turbulent times

01.06.2021

The Sales & Operations Execution (S&OE) process has been especially critical to manage the pandemic crisis and for some companies the focus shifted excessively to short term firefighting. One interesting insight: The 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐝 the 𝐂-𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 board is in the operational execution, the better. A solid S&OE process is run 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐦 𝐮𝐩 – escalation to […] more

S&OE – The “ugly duckling”

27.05.2021

S&OE – the “ugly duckling” is becoming “the most beautiful bird”. 𝐒&𝐎𝐏 and 𝐈𝐁𝐏 are core business processes in many organisations and we love to be 𝓈𝓉𝓇𝒶𝓉𝓮𝓰𝒾𝒸 and 𝓅𝓇𝓸𝒶𝒸𝓉𝒾𝓋𝓮. What about 𝐒&𝐎𝐄, where it seems to be all about 𝓇𝓮𝒶𝒸𝓉𝒾𝓃𝓰 on current challenges? Many companies focus mainly on day to day operational activities in their […] more

Business Organisations and Natural Ecosystems

25.05.2021

The extermination of Yellowstone’s gray wolf provides an example of the consequences of a “𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭” approach, where a change is imposed onto a complex system from outside. 𝑩𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 and 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒔𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒔 have a few things in common: ⇨ Complex systems are in a 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐨𝐮𝐬 state of 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐱. ⇨ Cause and effect relationships […] more

The Magic Formula for Customer Centricity

19.05.2021

In our IBSing pioneers call we discussed “Customer Centricity” with nearly 20 S&OP experts from different industries. Pierre Mille provided a great introduction speech with storytelling around 3 simple steps to drive customer centricity: 👉 #1 – Address the right number: manage the metrics and KPIs which matters to your Customer 👉 #2 – Address the […] more

Measure the metrics and KPIs in the way your Customer does!

14.05.2021

👉 #2 – Address the number right: measure the metrics and KPIs in the way your Customer does That is one of three steps proposed by Pierre Mille in his recent LinkedIn Article https://lnkd.in/dXtQyQu Looking forward to the IBSing pioneers call today on Monday, 17th May from 16:00 to 17:00 CET with Pierre Mille as guest! Please let […] more

Star Performance vs. Team Performance

06.05.2021

Traditional 𝐇𝐑 Performance Management is about 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬, 𝐒&𝐎𝐏 Performance Management is about 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤. A whole new ball game… Collaboration in S&OP is often hampered by contradicting financial 𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬. The 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝 ranking of high, medium & low performers can be a painful exercise, that also undermines S&OP teamwork. Personal performance targets, that are based on 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 […] more

Performance Management Challenges

05.05.2021

“PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES” was the topic of Monday’s IBSing Pioneers call. PERFORMANCE refers to how well an activity or job is done. On discussing the topic “HIGH-PERFORMERS” and what we admired most, we came to the conclusion that “INTRINSIC MOTIVATION” is the key to excellent performance. The traditional “carrot and stick” approach that is still being used […] more

A conscious decision how to take decisions

29.04.2021

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧-𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 has traditionally been the most popular way to resolve business challenges in large corporations. Especially in functional areas like NPD, Operations and Business Planning . While consensus decision making has its merits in allowing all stakeholders a voice and it fosters a climate of engagement, there is sometimes a cost associated with this […] more

Action is the foundational key to success! (P. Picasso) …

26.04.2021

but….No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it. (A. Einstein) Reflecting on the evolution of SC Management, it was initially focused on storage of products and its 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 flow. Planning systems then shifted its focus towards mastering the E2E 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 flow. With the implementation of S&OP and IBP, SC […] more

Artificial Intelligence will not replace S&OP Teamwork

20.04.2021

In yesterday’s IBSing pioneers call, S&OP leaders from different industries talked about “Artificial Intelligence (AI) in S&OP”. It took us about 2 minutes to come up with > 20 examples of AI in private life. However we struggled to come up with really exciting AI examples as part of our S&OP. Do you have examples? […] more

What I dream of is an art of balance (H. Matisse)

14.04.2021

Running a big corporate business is an 𝓐𝓡𝓣! The 𝓐𝓡𝓣𝓘𝓢𝓣𝓢 are the S&OP and IBP leads who balance “Standard Work”, “S&OE” and “IBP”. Thanks to participants of last week’s IBSing pioneers group meeting for sharing practical insights on that topic! On Monday at 16:00-17:00 CET we will talk about how to bring 𝓐𝓡𝓣𝓕𝓘𝓒𝓘𝓐𝓛 Intelligence into […] more

“7 Habits of Highly Effective People”

12.04.2021

𝐊𝐔𝐃𝐎𝐒 to Nathalie Tu 🙏 for that awesome visualization of the book “7 𝐇𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞” from 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒑𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑹. 𝑪𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒚. That book had a profound impact on my 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 life & new 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 venture ( www.IBSing.com ). Many other insightful books fit nicely into the frame of the “7 HABITS”: ✰ 1) BE PROACTIVE ⇨ Full Catastrophe […] more

30% success rate is no longer good enough!

07.04.2021

“70% 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥 to achieve their goals, largely due to employee resistance and lack of management support.“ (𝘉. 𝘌𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘪𝘯, 𝘔𝘤𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘺, 2015) McKinsey article The journey towards success in change programs is never a direct one. We always encounter 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬, and 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐭. When a team’s potential is fully exploited in overcoming a challenge […] more

I am so 🥚-cited!

31.03.2021

🥚-cellent Easter! Run 🥚-strashifts in the hen house Build 🥚-cess inventory to cover the 🥚-ceptional seasonal demand Prevent inventory 🥚-spiry issues Secure 🥚-sternal supplier capacity Strengthen 🥚-schange of information Ask your IBSIng 🥚-sperts for 🥚-samples and always 🥚-spect the un-🥚-spected You are an 𝐒&𝐎𝐏/𝐈𝐁𝐏 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐫 in a corporate company? You are passionate about the 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 […] more

“Machine Learning” and “Consciousness in Business”

29.03.2021

“𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠” and “𝓒𝓸𝓷𝓼𝓬𝓲𝓸𝓾𝓼𝓷𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝓲𝓷 𝓑𝓾𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓼𝓼” in combination have the potential to make our workplace ̳a̳w̳e̳s̳o̳m̳e̳! 𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 is an important trend to master the 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 activities in organisations. That insightful article more

“People say, you are a wimp!”

25.03.2021

“All the things which you don’t like about yourself are your greatest assets. They are simply overamplified.” Debbie Ford. Dark Side of the Light Chasers (Hodder & Stoughton) More than 20 years ago, in the early stage of my career, I was leading a production team. One day, the most senior leader on the site provided […] more

Is your S&OP fit for a global raw material shortage?

23.03.2021

Yesterday 12 S&OP experts from different industries discussed how to address a global RM shortage. Instead of jumping directly onto solutions, we first identified underlying changes in fixed, governing and enabling constraints. The excellent EU field guide “managing complexity (and chaos) in times of crisis” (Dave Snowden and Alessandro Rancati) more

My Customer is out of stock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

18.03.2021

“ALLOCATION BY DECIBEL” is a chaotic way of reacting to sudden product shortage. “ALLOCATION BY DECIBEL” may damage relationships and overall business results. Without robust processes, that’s a natural way of behaving. Commercial teams are doing everything possible to protect supply for key customers, and supply chain professionals want the same and feel overwhelmed by […] more

From Chaos to Order – IBSing Sensemaking

16.03.2021

Even the best OPERATING SYSTEM and the best S&OP PROCESS will not bring ORDER out of sudden CHAOS! Imagine your organisation is confronted with a sudden global raw material shortage affecting a critical ingredient of your product: The “operating system” does not provide a standard solution. Balancing demand and supply in S&OP does not resolve […] more

Looking forward to shaking hands and exchanging business cards!

11.03.2021

What you get is the "HELIBLICK"? consciousness about what's going on with yourself in an emotional moment consciousness about what's going on with your team during a conflict situation consciousness about what's going on with your team during conflicting organisational priorities, more

David Essenopee and Laura Ibsing

09.03.2021

On the “INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY” a group of IBSing pioneers came together to discuss competencies of the future S&OP leader. We looked at the profile of DAVID: An excellent traditional S&OP leader, but not fully prepared for an increasingly complex business environment. LAURA Ibsing was born: A MINDFUL and RELAXED leader, with a BENEVOLENT collaboration […] more

Departmental Silos? – Activating “Human Sensor Networks”!

02.03.2021

Why do matrix organisations experience departmental silos especially in moments of crisis? Dave Snowden and Alessandro Rancati have published a valuable field guide*, that proposes a four-stage approach to improve decision-making in crisis situations. Two actions that I find personally especially powerful more

Focus on Team Well-Being and Collaboration!

23.02.2021

How can you HELP YOUR TEAM during the pandemic crisis and strengthen well-being & collaboration & performance in your organisation? The Why of you Powered by PRINT® is a breakthrough model of human motivation and behaviour that was developed by The Paul Hertz Group. This motivational model is the ideal starting point for your IBSing […] more

IBSing Sense-Making – You will be surprised!

16.02.2021

Are you a leader of a big department or cross-functional team and would you like to help YOUR TEAM TO THRIVE in the context of a SPECIFIC CHALLENGE? I will offer an IBSing SENSEMAKING diagnosis, that will reveal the potential for transformational improvement of your organisation. I will offer that to three companies – AT […] more

Leadership Trainings and Kids’ Birthday Parties

11.02.2021

Fifteen years ago we organised our son’s birthday party. Everything under control, I thought. I had already done a lot of corporate leadership trainings and prepared accordingly! A project plan with milestones, learning objectives, a competition game between yellow, green and black belts, and incentives linked to targets. The picture says more than 1000 words! […] more

Influencing Stakeholders II

09.02.2021

Difficult question in yesterday’s IBSing pioneers call. However one thing seems clear: The MAPE of our Forecast will not be good – impossible to predict such a complex issue with high accuracy. In our discussion about “influencing stakeholders” I captured the following insights from the breakout sessions: -CONTEXT is important: A change that may seem […] more

Which book has broadened your horizon?

03.02.2021

The power of diversity: At first glance the following books and authors seem quite different. However all of them have been a source of inspiration and valuable perspectives in the development of the www.IBSing.com framework to increase “consciousness in business”. The 7 Habits of highly effective people – Stephen R. Covey Full Catastrophe Living – Jon Kabat-Zinn […] more

“INFLUENCING” versus “MANIPULATING”

26.01.2021

The choice to see another as either a person or an object is a choice between whether we will see and experience ourselves and others truthfully or erroneously. The Arbinger Institute: Leadership and Self-Deception In cross-functional processes like S&OP and IBP, we often talk about the importance of “INFLUENCING STAKEHOLDERS”. I felt some resistance when […] more

Conscious Leadership “A leader is best when people barely know he exists”

19.01.2021

Which leader comes to mind, when you read the following phrase? “A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.” Laozi I was lucky to get to know several awesome leaders during my career. One of them is Bill […] more

9 Learnings from the IBSing Pioneers Group

12.01.2021

Yesterday’s 8th IBSing pioneers network group meeting was about “Learning – from top down strategy to self-correction”. Thanks to my colleagues from the IBSing pioneers group for a lot of fun, inspiration and learnings! 1 – Sense-Making: Forget about capability assessments in complex environments! 2 – Identity: Storytelling is a powerful way to sense the […] more

Most important business priority in 2021?

04.01.2021

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2021! What is the most important business priority in 2021? Physical Health? Environment? Social Peace? Mindfulness? Education? A bit of everything? Any answer is right, if we take action. 2020 was a challenging year, teaching us a lot about what is important in life. 2021 is an ideal opportunity to make some […] more

“Santa Claus” or “Christkind?” – Who is bringing theses gifts?

23.12.2020

That question will not be answered on our new website! Merry Christmas! The IBSing website is live, what an awesome Christmas gift for me after so much work! WHO is bringing us such wonderful gifts? ST. NICHOLAS became the patron saint of children and the poor, giving small presents since the 4th century. Promulgated by […] more

Coaching myself through a conflict….

14.12.2020

😤 Calm down and take a breath 🥴 Avoid personal judgements and wild interpretations 😳 Connect to your feelings and personal needs 🙄 Listen empathetically and be curious about the other person’s needs 🤗 Start a dialogue to define a strategy based on needs 🤩 Welcome the emerging solution openly 🤓 Capture the learning 🙃 […] more

Real Entrepreneurship = No Fingerpointing

07.12.2020

Key highlights from IBSing pioneer call on 7th Dec 2020 (Topic: Organisational Alignment) ACCOUNTABILITY: Organisations with a high level of self-organisation and entrepreneurship are disciplined and structured in defining accountabilities of functions and roles at a granular level GOVERNANCE: Organisational alignment is more

Firefighting

23.11.2020

Thanks to the IBSing pioneers for the inspiring session! Here are key take away’s: 🔥 UNDERSTAND THE CONTEXT -simple – sense, categorize, respond to fire -complicated – sense, analyse with expertise, respond to fire -complex – probe with experiments, sense if you see improvements, and respond accordingly -chaotic – act, sense if you see improvements, […] more

The unknown unknowns in your business

17.11.2020

Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don't know we don't... more

Consent Decision-Making and Systemic Consensus

09.11.2020

CONSENT DECISION-MAKING and SYSTEMIC CONSENSUS have huge potential to improve efficiency and effectiveness of decision-making by LEVERAGING THE DIVERSITY & POWER OF THE TEAM! That is our main conclusion from yesterday's IBSing call, where we reflected on decision-making in business. TOP DOWN DECISION more

Holding Space for Consciousness…

05.11.2020

"There were contentious discussions and clashes of opinion, and it sometimes seemed that misunderstanding would doom the negotiations. But they ended in success, because the parties to this complex diplomatic process showed foresight as well courage and a sense of high responsibility." Mikhail Gorbachev, more

Feelings in Business?

26.10.2020

❤️Feelings in business? No way, I hate feelings and emojis! Absolutely unprofessional! 😡 Many of the most compelling love stories are unfortunately tragic ones like ROMEO❤️JULIET In business, tragic love stories also exist between RESULTS❤️BEHAVIOURS: “LOST REVENUES”❤️“SILO-THINKING” “EXPLODING INVENTORIES”❤️“DRIVING OWN AGENDA” more

Full Transparency

19.10.2020

HOW TO ACHIEVE FULL TRANSPARENCY IN BUSINESS? (summing up an Integrated Business Sensing (IBSing) meeting) 1) BARRIERS: Lack of trust, not aligned goals, gap denial culture, fiscal setup, organisational structure, unclear roles and responsibilities, fear culture, missing ground-rules, different data sets, information overload, confidentiality, too much detail, missing system access, more

Artful Participation

12.10.2020

My personal key take-away from an inspiring S3 workshop in Winterthur? Be mindful during interactions asking yourself the question regarding artful participation: “Is my behaviour in this moment the greatest contribution I can make to the effectiveness of this collaboration?” (Sociocracy 3.0) Less small talk, less debating, less ego, more consciousness about organisational drivers and […] more

Supply Chain Man

04.10.2020

Expectations towards Supply Chain colleagues are skyrocketing, especially now during the time of the COVID pandemic. No automated SC Management could ever have predicted the impact on consumer demand, supply, and business. Reflecting on the evolution of SC Management, it was initially focused on storage of products and its material flow. Planning systems then shifted […] more

The Glass is Half Full

23.09.2020

LinkedIn Article The Glass is Half Full Traditional Corporate companies are behaving like machines and follow a “predict and control” approach. Issues are addressed, assuming that everything can be fixed as soon as the “cause and effect” relationship is understood. This approach works fine to master complicated issues, but that is not good enough to […] more

Which New Paradigms Are Most Critical in a Complex Environment?

07.09.2020

WHAT IS YOUR OPINION? How can traditional organisations, who are behaving like “machines”, get ready for the future, and behave like “living organisms”. On which new paradigms should those organisations focus first? On Monday, 14th Sep from 16:00-17:00 CET, we will kick off the “IBSing Practitioner” group to foster attainment of consciousness in business and […] more

How to Boost Employee Engagement and Sustainable Business Growth

09.12.2019

LinkedIn Article Dec 9, 2019 50th birthday – time to start something new On Sunday the 7th December 1969, my humble self, called “Heli”, was born. Nomen est omen – the name is program – 50 years later, I increasingly take a helicopter-perspective in my private and professional life. On my 50th birthday, I am […] more