Leveling Mothers Day?

Wall St. Journal (free via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Here is an interesting article on the very manual efforts at AT&T to balance supply (phone circuit capacity) with calling demand. Mothers Day, this Sunday, is the traditional busiest calling day of the year. This isn't AT&T's suggestion, but maybe some of us can call our Mothers on Saturday, instead of Sunday, to help level demand? Nah, probably not a good idea. The AT&T example is one where, even if they wanted to implement lean practices, they're pretty hampered against the idea of “leveling” demand.

If you’re working to build a culture where people feel safe to speak up, solve problems, and improve every day, I’d be glad to help. Let’s talk about how to strengthen Psychological Safety and Continuous Improvement in your organization.