Harry Hertz

Advisor, author, and speaker

Harry Hertz retired in June 2013 from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where he had served as director of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program since 1995. For more than 15 years he was the primary architect of the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence, responsible for expansion of the Baldrige Program and Award to healthcare, education, and nonprofits, including government. Hertz serves on the advisory group for the U.S. Veterans Health Administration’s Center for Applied Healthcare Studies, and on the adjunct faculty of American University. He has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, and a Ph.D. from MIT.

Mon, 06/24/2024 - 12:34
SignsRules of the road for your organization
Thu, 10/24/2024 - 12:02
How do you treat signs when you’re driving your car? Are you a strict rule follower? Does a stop sign cause you to come to a full stop, or a rolling stop, or no stop at all if you see no traffic? What about that intersection you go through every day…
Implement a Systems Perspective by Accelerating the Speed of TrustIt’s 2024’s CEO challenge
Wed, 10/02/2024 - 12:01
It’s been two years since I last examined the challenges facing CEOs and other senior leaders. I developed my thoughts on the current challenges without checking my insights from two years ago. Once I had this year’s themes identified, I looked back…
Baldrige Executive Fellows, Capstone Projects, and the A3 Problem-Solving ToolValuable to all organizations with problems to solve
Mon, 07/01/2024 - 12:02
The Baldrige Executive Fellows is an annual cohort of executives learning about leading their organizations using the Baldrige Excellence Framework as a guide. As part of the collaborative experience, each executive fellow undertakes a capstone…
Senior Leadership Succession Planning: Who Cares?What is your organization doing to ensure its sustainability?
Tue, 05/07/2024 - 12:02
Who cares about succession planning? As an organization or an aspiring senior leader, you must care. Proper succession planning by an organization and its senior leaders is one of the keys to organizational resilience and long-term success. I know…
Meet the Five ‘Al’ Siblings and Their Young CousinBuilding a healthy family of organizational traits
Thu, 01/18/2024 - 12:03
Let me introduce the five “Al” siblings: informational, aspirational, foundational, directional, and decisional. Also, meet their young cousin, survival. In my years of learning about organizations and teaching graduate students about strategy and…
PuzzlementCollaborations can provide additional answers
Mon, 11/06/2023 - 11:03
I enjoy solving puzzles! I start each morning by doing at least two New York Times puzzles, Wordle, and Connections. My wife and sons and their spouses do the same, although not necessarily as part of their early-morning routine (except on weekends…
Hey, Noah Webster, I Am Still AroundNew contributions to the lexicon of work
Mon, 05/08/2023 - 12:03
On two prior occasions, I was motivated by additions to the Oxford English Dictionary and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary to create and update the Hertz Lexicon of Creative Leadership Terminology. As luck would have it, in late 2022, Merriam-Webster…
Do You Really Want Employees to Stay?Right now, organizations have a unique opportunity to reconsider their work environment
Wed, 03/29/2023 - 12:03
The factors affecting employee engagement have changed dramatically during the last few years. Considering off-site employees returning to the work site, baby boomers retiring in growing numbers, and the increasingly younger workforce, I was…
My Life As a PlumberTo DIY or not to DIY—ask the question
Wed, 02/15/2023 - 12:03
It all started with my bathroom sink. I noticed that it was draining slowly, and that I could pull out the pop-up stopper. It was no longer attached to the lever that raised and lowered it. A look into the cabinet below the sink revealed that the…
I Have a Wicked DreamNo, not that kind of wicked
Tue, 01/10/2023 - 12:03
Yes, I have a wicked dream. No, not that definition of wicked—I mean wicked in the sense meant by scientists when they discuss “wicked problems.” Wicked problems are those that typically involve a combination of technical, social, and economic…