Episode Links:

LinkedIn: Mark Jehning - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-jehning-mba-a397851a1

Acuity Dynamics - www.acuitydynamics.com

Book: Blue Ocean Strategy - https://www.blueoceanstrategy.com

The Connective - https://www.theconnective.me

Summary:

In this episode of The Corvus Effect, I sit down with Mark Jehning, founder and CEO of Acuity Dynamics. With over 35 years of experience spanning aerospace and defense at McDonnell Douglas to Fortune 500 consulting at Arthur Andersen and Applied Materials, Mark brings a unique perspective on business process optimization. He shares his metric-driven framework that quickly identifies the constraints inhibiting order to cash and product development, his performance-based engagement model where he bets on results rather than billable hours, and why most organizations are buried in tribal knowledge they have never documented. Mark explains the difference between leading and lagging indicators, what founders should see on their Monday morning dashboard, and how to help organizations see the forest from the trees.

Show Notes:

00:32 Meet Mark Jehning

02:07 Lessons from Aerospace and Defense

03:16 Seeing the Bigger Picture

05:52 Performance-Based Engagement

07:23 Measuring Process Differently

08:38 Operational Assessment and Tribal Knowledge

09:39 The Monday Morning Dashboard

12:06 Change Management

14:10 The Applied Materials Story

16:18 You Can't Fix What You Can't See

21:49 Leading vs. Lagging Indicators

24:29 Advice for Small Businesses

30:29 Legacy and Final Thoughts