Adam McLane

Category: management

  • How we got here is not how we get out of here

    In 1995, I got a job running some machinery on nights and weekends for a large health care company. I was a college student and it was a perfect job for me. It was boring and I could do my homework.  I had free reign to the 29th floor of a Chicago skyscraper until 6:00…

  • The Trampoline Effect

    Myth: It matters who you know. I couldn’t be more of a nobody. When I showed up as a 17 year old kid on the campus of Moody Bible Institute I couldn’t have been more aware that I’d stepped into a world I knew nothing about, knew not a soul, and had no claim to…

  • Bottlenecks, rubberneckers, and other people who slow you down

    Every commuter in Chicago is familiar with the Hillside Strangler. Prior to the early 2000s, this section of interstate where two major 6-lanes of highway merged onto a 3-lane onramp to a 5-lane city-bound highway doubled the commute of everyone. 11 lanes of traffic don’t merge into 5 lanes very well. The Hillside Strangler was…

  • Manage Acceleration or Acceleration Manages You

    Back in college I had a job managing a group of machine operators. Part of my job was to make sure that the materials for the equipment were easily available to my team so that they could keep the machines running as much as possible. I taught my team to think of the machine as a cash…

  • The Innovation Gap

    “The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” ~ William Arthur Ward “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” ~ Sir Winston Churchill “Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly,…

  • Team Meeting Strategy

    The team meeting. It’s one of those necessary evils of most organizations. No one truly enjoys them but it’s also critical for teammates to get an idea of where you are at regularly. Whether you are a start-up with 3 employees or a conglomerate with thousands of employees across multiple offices and departments, this is one…

  • Right turns only

    According to this video, UPS truck drivers avoid turning left to save money. Turns out that it’s true. How do I know that? Because Mythbusters tested it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppCz4f1L9iU What does this have to do with anything? It always pays to measure things and test theories, no matter how crazy they seem. The shortest route isn’t…

  • You need clarity and focus

    Paul’s teacher has been on us for a few months to get his eyes checked out. She’d tell us, “He squints to see the board” or “He says he has to sit up front. I think he needs glasses.” I assumed, just like his big sister, that he’d need glasses eventually. Everyone in my family…

  • 3 Qualities of Successful People

    I have a lifelong obsession with golf. It started in 2nd grade when my parents scraped together enough money for a starter set and a series of playing lessons at a local par 3 course. Even though neither of them were serious players– I guess they thought I’d enjoy it. And I did. A lot.…

  • 5 Sources of Creative Inspiration

    Getting stuck is a big deal. In my world it means progress stops. So getting from an uncreative space to a creative space is integral to thriving. One thing I’ve learned about myself is that restarting the creative process is typically a matter of moving in one of two directions. I refind my mojo by…