Entries by Jeff Schilling

Capital Part 6: Implementation (It’s all in the Details)

Margins, and the capital investment pools they enable, are gradually recovering for some organizations. For most though, these funds are still scarce, so capital investments must be selected more carefully than ever. In this series we've been describing evaluation criteria that can be used to select the best investment opportunities. In this post, we focus […]

December Tips for a Great New Year

As the calendar draws to a close it's a great time to look forward by looking back. What do I mean? You can use data from past performance to identify opportunities for future improvement. And none of this requires a lot of time, which probably sounds especially good during this holiday-infused, busy time of year. […]

Capital Part 5: Risk Assessment

The concept of a Risk Assessment is not new, however incorporating a few tools and concepts can strengthen the reliability of the assessment. With these tools, the assessment can be more thorough and consider circumstances that might otherwise be overlooked. The fourth criterion, Risk Assessment, is intentionally positioned last so useful data gained from examining […]

Capital Part 4: Organizational / System Impact

In an era of limited capital, and slowly recovering margins, organizations must exercise more caution and scrutiny than ever in deciding what will be funded.  The changing landscapes of competition and consumer expectations can further complicate these decisions.  In this series, we describe four types of criteria, and then some additional considerations, all designed to […]

Capital Part 3: Financial Feasibility

Many organizations are working through an era of tight capital, reducing the margin for error on investment decisions to just about zero.  And the current market volatility is only adding to the stress level surrounding these decisions.  In this series, we describe how leadership teams can select the “best” projects to fund with limited capital […]

Capital Part 2: Strategic Alignment

When capital is limited and the possible investment opportunities are numerous, how can organizations select the “best” ones for funding? This is the current environment for most health and human service organizations.  The starting point might seem obvious – apply selection criteria and see which projects “score” the best!  With tight capital and lower margins, […]

What I learned (again) at 151 MPH

Five years ago this month, I had a chance to do something I had always wanted to do, but never thought I would.  The previous Christmas, my family surprised me with a paid pass to the NASCAR Racing Experience: a chance to drive a real race car on one of the championship series tracks.  Having […]

Benchmarking: A “Better Way” Probably Already Exists

More Innovation - Yes Please!  In my last post, I talked about the resurgence of interest in innovation.  The Covid19 Pandemic, as well as some other factors, contributed to this interest as individuals and organizations who had never worked together before pooled their knowledge and skills to respond to some urgent needs.  This “next level” […]