COO Forum® - Blog , UncategorizedCOO Forum® - Blog , Uncategorizedhttps://www.cooforum.net/blogs/UncategorizedSun, 19 Apr 2026 07:44:51 -0700http://zoho.com/sites/<![CDATA[2025 COO Forum Year In Review]]>https://www.cooforum.net/blogs/post/2025-coo-forum-year-in-review2025 was a year that tested operations leaders in new ways. As organizations navigated economic uncertainty, accelerating AI adoption, shifting workforce dynamics, and increasing pressure to do more with less, one thing became clear: strong operations leadership mattered more than ever.]]>

Celebrating Over 20 years of Serving Operations Executives

2025 was a year that tested operations leaders in new ways - and elevated the role of the COO in the process. As organizations navigated economic uncertainty, accelerating AI adoption, shifting workforce dynamics, and increasing pressure to do more with less, one thing became clear: strong operations leadership mattered more than ever.


At COO Forum, this year was defined by candid conversations, practical insights, and a growing community of COOs committed to learning from one another. From in-person chapter sessions to national discussions and shared resources, 2025 reinforced why peer-based perspective is such a powerful advantage for operations leaders. This year-in-review looks back at the moments, themes, and progress that shaped our community - and sets the stage for what’s ahead.


Yet alongside that progress, the year also carried a bittersweet note for COO Forum. While we celebrate our member successes, we also mourn the loss of our founder and Director Emeritus, William E. "Bill" Shepard.

Bill founded COO Forum more than 21 years ago, driven by a simple but powerful insight, that chief operating officers lacked a peer-based community where they could connect in confidence and learn from one another. Drawing on more than three decades of executive leadership experience, including roles as CEO, Divisional President, and COO, Bill created a trusted space for operations executives to grow, share, and lead more effectively.


Bill’s vision continues to live on in the COO Forum community he built—one that remains committed to the spirit of connection, learning, and support he embodied so well.

We miss you and will forever be thankful for all you have done.


Bill's spirit of operational excellence and supporting others can be found in the actions of each of our members, Directors and staff here at COO Forum. Let's take a moment to look back at a year of accomplishments and more importantly, giving back to the community.


Member Accomplishments:



  • Named as one of The Change Makers 2025 by Austin Woman Magazine

  • Featured in an article by Pulse 2
  • Ranked on the Inc. Magazine 2025 Female Founders 500 list
  • Spotlighted on a podcast
  • Listed as a Distinguished Engineer by The University of Texas at Austin
  • Interviewed on a LinkedIn Live event
  • Served as a mentor at at the Kansas City Business Journal's 12th Annual Mentoring Monday event
  • Recognized by the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Business Journal, and the San Diego Business Journal for leadership and impact across Southern California communities
  • Named a qualified nominee for the LA Times Studios 2025 Inspirational Women Forum & Leadership Award
  • Moderated a discussion focused on employee advocacy in recruitment practices alongside leaders from various industries
  • Highlighted by Women We Admire as one of The Top 50 Women Chief Operating Officers of 2025
  • Recognized as a 2025 Woman You Need to Know
  • Selected to Chair the E2D - Eliminate the Digital Divide Board
  • Participated in The Torchbearers Event
  • Named one of Albany Business Review’s 40 Under 40 honorees
  • Honored for 35 years at their company
  • Promoted to CEO at American Red Cross of Wisconsin

Member Company Accomplishments:


  • Recognized by Computerworld as one of the Best Places to Work in IT
  • Ranked #7 among large organizations on the new list of top ten employers for retention and engagement
  • Named an Achievers on the Rise by NGLCC and Partners in the National Business Inclusion Consortium
  • Honored as one of Built In’s 2025 Best Places to Work
  • Celebrated their 10th anniversary
  • Acquired 33 additional pharmacies across Canada in multiple transactions, expanding their national footprint to 325+ locations
  • Named one of Canada’s Top Growing Companies by The Globe and Mail’s Report on Business for the sixth consecutive year
  • Recognized as one of Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures in the prestigious enterprise category for 2025
  • Celebrated their 60th anniversary
  • Earned the "IoT Security Product of the Year" in the 9th annual IoT Breakthrough Awards
  • Certified by Great Place To Work US for the seventh year in a row
  • Recognized by the Georgia Department of Education as a CSI Progress School
  • Completed their 500th transaction
  • Played a key role in advancing the data center industry on a groundbreaking hyperscale project
  • Honored at the 2025 NECA Project Excellence Awards for their work on the SCB Headquarters project
  • Named a World's Most Admired Company by Fortune
  • Featured on the premiere episode of The Fixer a new reality series
  • Recognized as a Global Winner for Small Office: PepsiCo Africa; Global Winner for Large Office: FWD Bangkok in the SBID International Design Awards 2025
  • Named Mid-Atlantic Partner of the Year by Juniper Networks
  • Recognized as the OutSystems Partner 2024 of the Year in the New Logo ARR AMER category

  • Selected as a USA TODAY TopWorkplace for 2025, for the third consecutive year

  • Honored as one of The Washington Post Top Workplaces for the third year in a row

  • Obtained the Department of Defense Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification Level 2

  • Ranked #16 on the 2025 Alaska Business Top 49ers list

  • Named one of the Vet100 - a list celebrating the fastest-growing veteran-owned businesses

  • Designated a Data Privacy Week 2025 Champion by the National Cybersecurity Alliance

  • Voted Large Business of the Year by The Chamber of the Iowa Great Lakes

  • Named Partner of the Year at the AHLA HotelPAC Luncheon

  • Featured on an episode of The American Dream

  • Recognized as one of the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2025

  • Honored as one of Fortune’s Best Workplaces in Chicago 2025

  • Earned a Silver Stevie Award in the 2025 International Business Awards for Achievement in Customer Satisfaction

  • Received the Best Customer Experience Insight award at the 2025 Esomar Awards

  • Celebrated their 7th anniversary

  • Inaugurated their new Bangalore office

  • Recognized as a USA Today Top Workplace

  • Made the 2025 Inc Regionals Midwest list for the 4th year in a row

  • Earned a spot on Spring Culture Excellence Top Workplaces

  • Named Snowflake's 2025 Americas Data Cloud Services Growth Partner of the Year

  • Celebrated as one of Consulting Magazine's 2025 Best Firms to Work For for the seventh year in a row

  • Ranked as one of Crain's Best Places to Work in Chicago 2025

  • Recognized as one of Greater Toronto's Top Employers for the third year in a row

  • Highlighted on the 2025 Inc. 5000 list for America’s fastest-growing companies

  • Recognized 25 attorneys as Super Lawyers or Rising Stars in Thomson Reuters 2025 list of Illinois Super Lawyers

  • Named three practice groups and twelve attorneys in the Chambers and Partners Global 2025 rankings

  • Made The Legal 500 United States 2025 list

  • Honored in Bloomberg Law's Leading Law Firms

  • Named 47 attorneys to the 2026 edition of the Best Lawyers in America

  • Selected for inclusion in the International Employment Lawyer’s 2026 IEL Elite list

  • Celebrated 25 years

  • Made the USA Today 2025 Top Workplace list

  • Participated in the Crain’s Chicago Business webcast, "Keeping Current: How to Stay Compliant in Maintaining Existing and New Electrical Technologies”

  • Recognized as one of the Top 100 Staffing Companies to Work For at the 2025 World Staffing Summit

  • Named one of Staffing Industry Analysts' 2025 Best Staffing Firms to Work For

  • Appointed to the Inc. Regionals Southwest list

  • Selected as one of Inc. Magazine’s Best Workplaces of 2025

  • Named one of Austin Business Journal’s Fastest Growing Companies of 2025 for the third year in a row

  • Recognized by the National Association for Business Resources as one of the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in multiple categories, including Iconic, Brilliance, and Top 101 in the Nation

  • Acknowledged at the 2025 Nonprofit and Corporate Citizenship awards for introducing The Achievery, an online learning platform offering curricula in STEM, digital literacy, social-emotional learning, college and career readiness

  • Won an Emmy for Outstanding Interactive for Cousin Hodie Playdate

  • Nominated for TCA Awards in “Outstanding Achievement in Children’s Programming” for Odd Squad, Donkey Hodie, and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood

  •  Recognized with awards at the Serious Play Conference for four games

  • Received NINE Children’s & Family Emmy Awards nominations

  • Named one of the Best Places to Work in Virginia for the 12th time

  • Acknowledged by Inc. Magazine as one of the Fastest-Growing Companies in the Mid-Atlantic for 2025

  • Celebrated 25 years

  • Attained the Workplace Culture Leader Award at the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce’s 2025 We Mean Business Awards

  • Achieved the Department of Defense’s CMMC Level 2 Certification

  • Recognized for several Partner Awards: 2024 Rising Star Partner of the Year; Vendor Award; 2024 Q4 Gold Partner; 2025 Rising Star Partner

  • Celebrated their 6 year anniversary

  • Named one of Inc. Magazine’s Best Workplaces of 2025

  • Highlighted by The Channel Company on the 2025 MES Midmarket 100 List

  • Earned the top 10 in Charlotte Business Journal's Fast 50

  • Recognized as a 2025 Top Workplace by the Albany Times Union, marking the eighth consecutive year receiving this award

  • Celebrated 9 years

  • Achieved ISO 13485:2016 certification

  • Received 16 Telly Awards across a variety of categories, including Education, Animation, Editing, Social Impact, and Not-for-Profit

  • Earned the title Best and Brightest Company to Work For in Detroit, Chicago, Dallas, and across the Nation

  • Named the “The Best of the Best Medium Business” at the 2025 Metropolitan Detroit’s Best and Brightest Companies to Work For awards

  • Won an AI Breakthrough Award - for the third year running

  • Opened an office in New York City to better serve their growing East Coast customer base

  • Received the Auto Sensor Innovation of the Year award from the 2025 Merit Automotive Awards

  • Named to TIME's list of America's best midsize companies for the second year in a row

  • Voted 2025’s Best Mobile Phone Company in Avery County

  • Moved up the Qualified Remodeler Top 500 list - from #399 to #307 in just one year

  • Recognized as a 2025 best practices agency

  • Celebrated their 7 year anniversary

  • Earned the 56th spot on the 2025 MEP Giants list

  • Named one of the Best Places to Work by the North Bay Business Journal for the 7th year in a row

  • Received the Best of Bloomingdale Community Choice Award in Banking Services

  • Recognized as one of the Best Banks to Work For in the entire country by American Banker Magazine

  • Announced the opening of their new headquarters and manufacturing facility in the heart of Silicon Valley

  • Made Inc. Magazine's 2025 PowerPartner Awards list

  • Earned two Silver wins at the 2025 The Stevie Awards for Women in Business:  Achievement in Developing and Promoting Women; Achievement in Customer Satisfaction

  • Awarded CyberVadis Gold 2025 for cybersecurity and data protection

  • Celebrated 30 years

  • Named a 2025 Iowa Top Workplace by the The Des Moines Register


Member Community Service:


  • Helped California residents fleeing from the massive and fast-moving wildfires that destroyed thousands of homes 
  • Supported families displaced by home fires
  • Collected 2,800 units of blood in the 2025 Greater Chicago Blood Drive
  • Provided critical relief and recovery/clean-up assistance to those affected by wildfires, severe weather and floods
  • Supported an Honor Flight in Quincy, Illinois
  • Collected and delivered over 1,500 pairs of socks to the Marion VA Medical Center
  • Cleaned cots used at a shelter welcoming residents impacted by a home fire

  • Worked with Rise Against Hunger to fight hunger and package food for those in need

  • Organized initiatives to raise funds and collect food donations for the Okoboji and Spirit Lake Schools Backpack Programs

  • Delivered trays of fruit, vegetables, meat, and cheese to show appreciation to the Spencer Fire Department and Clay County Sheriff's Office

  • Raised funds and collected food and personal care item donations to benefit the Estherville Lincoln Central Community School's Backpack Program

  • Donated $1,042 to People for Pets, a local animal rescue that provides food, medical care, and shelter for animals in need

  • Raised $1,036 to support the families caring for community youths 

  • Delivered 88 fully-stocked backpacks to Abide

  • Contributed $500 each to the Le Mars and ELC Backpack Programs, helping provide food to local youth and families in need

  • Awarded $12,000 to the Le Mars Community Music Boosters in support of local music education and student opportunities

  • Donated $500 to the Sioux City Public School System to help fund: STEM, Arts, and Career Education as well as essential needs like warm coats, school supplies, and graduation gowns

  • Provided $995 of “Jeans Day” money raised throughout the year to the Emmet County Community Christmas Project

  • Supported Iowa Lakes Community College with a $12,000 donation to enhance fine arts and culture experiences for students

  • Championed two Giving Tree programs

  • Hosted a blood drive, collecting 38 units of blood helping save up to 114 lives

  • Delivered care baskets and donated hats and gloves to support local programs

  • Packed meals for Families Forward Charlotte

  • Organized Tiger Town Takeover, volunteering at THOMPSON Child & Family Focus

  • Volunteered for a variety of activities - from building houses in Uruguay to organizing food donations in Atlanta

  • Supported the planting of 1,000 trees at BAIF’s Wagholi campus, promoting community well-being

  • Processed thrift store donations, stocked shelves at a food pantry

  • Partnered with the non-profit organization Helping Mamas to support their Mommy & Baby Supply Drive, packing nearly 400 essential kits for families in need

  • Collaborated with the Saratoga Senior Center to assist with spring lawn care for local seniors

  • Gave time to fight hunger and care for the planet - volunteering with DC Central Kitchen, Greater Chicago Food Depository, Second Harvest Food Bank, and joining Gaylord Opryland for an Earth Day clean-up in Nashville

  • Packed school supply kits

  • Supported Wreaths Across America by sponsoring more than 270 wreaths to honor fallen U.S. veterans

  • Assisted homeowners in need by tackling everything from repairing code violations and correcting faulty electrical installs to lighting upgrades, fixture replacements, and garage and porch work in Rebuilding Together Metro Chicago for National Rebuilding Day

  • Volunteered for the 2025 Illinois Prairie Path Annual Trail Cleanup

  • Raised $45,000 to support the American Cancer Society

  • Provided bags of rice, warm packed lunches, backpacks with school supplies to support the children’s learning, and pre-loved clothes and toys for Unified Gives Back outreach program

  • Celebrated its 11th Annual Day of Service across Virginia - volunteering to support local nonprofits

  • Volunteered at Feed My Starving Children, packing 306 boxes, bagged 66,096 meals, and provided 181 children meals for an entire year

  • Packed meal bags for 100 Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Iowa families

  • Filled 2,000 bags and sorted 10,000 pounds of red potatoes in a single shift, setting a new record at Food Bank of Iowa

  • Assisted Polk County veterans at the Food Bank of Iowa veterans’ mobile food pantry

  • Participated in holiday food distribution, home repairs, Habitat builds, gift wrapping and hands-on volunteering across the country

  • Adopted holiday families through Children & Family Urban Movement and Volunteers of America Michigan

  • Supported local communities and holiday programs by sorting clothing, stocking food shelves and packaging groceries

  • Provided free breast cancer screenings through the partnership between the Kentucky Primary Care Association and United Healthcare

  • Teamed up with Secret Santa, Inc to give a classroom of students some holiday magic

  • Partnered with CityTeam to help provide meals for individuals and families in need

  • Supported the YMCA of San Diego County Giving Tree by adopting 41 angels and providing gifts for children and families in need

  • Volunteered time at the Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child donation center, helping pack and scan donation boxes

  • Collaborated with Atrium Health’s Project Pink, raising over $2,100 for breast cancer awareness screenings in our community


Looking Forward to 2026

As we close out 2025, we are excited to kick off year 22 at COO Forum! We will continue to bring innovation to how we deliver on being the #1 Peer Community for Operations Executives. Watch out for exciting new developments in the months to come.

Everyone at COO Forum wishes you a healthy, prosperous, and peer-filled new year!

]]>Wed, 31 Dec 2025 17:47:55 +0000<![CDATA[The Problem Paradox: How Leaders Make Problem Solving Too Difficult]]>https://www.cooforum.net/blogs/post/the-problem-paradox-How-leaders-make-problem-solving-too-difficultAs leaders, we are expected to solve problems. Big problems. And sometimes, we get those pesky little problems too. Whether big or small, these proble ]]>

Learn how you, as a leader, can adopt a simple approach to 
​solve any type of problem, whether simple or complex.

As leaders, we are expected to solve problems. Big problems. And sometimes, we get those pesky little problems too. Whether big or small, these problems are often handed to us soon after we step (or are dragged) into our first leadership role. For some of us, this could have occurred as early as our teenage years when given a supervisory position in an after-school job. We were thrown into the fire, armed only with our best English Lit or Geometry problem-solving skills which, for the record, are not the skills you need to solve an employee issue on the fry line!


So, very early on in our “careers”, we might face issues with little knowledge of the problem-solving process other than our own experience. The process, up to this point, is a little bit like the diagram below. When encountering a problem for the first time, we enter into the maze, bounce around trying out a variety of approaches until something sticks and we exit. Problem solved!

                                                    

Then, when a new problem arises, we look for a repeatable pattern. We say to ourselves, "Is this problem similar to one I’ve encountered before?" If so, jackpot! We coolly apply the same solution. Like a good shampoo, we lather, rinse & repeat…


Another thing that happens in our brains, besides problem pattern recognition, is that we start to short-circuit our thinking by generating solutions without fully understanding the problem. Our organizations might even reward this behavior as being “quick, decisive…always has good answers or solutions”. You know - management material!


And so it continues. Organizational behavior rewards leaders with bigger and more complex problems as you “climb the ladder”. We are conditioned to think and behave this way.


Now, I am not arguing that pattern recognition and experience have no role in problem solving. They absolutely do. I would argue, however, that we begin to adopt a mindset that tells us simple problems have simple solutions and complex problems have complex solutions. It is this very mindset, I believe, that can put us at a significant disadvantage. 


Take these examples of two very different problems:


Problem A: You are informed that an employee on your production line has been producing low-quality parts for the first half of his                         shift.


Problem B: Customers from all over the country have complained about your rubber seal failing during service. The seal is                         delaminating along a metal insert that is meant to grip onto a pipe, forming a bond. This delamination has                                                  reduced contact pressure by 50%. Ultimately, the seal has or will fail, causing thousands of dollars of damage to                         customers’ facilities.


Question: Which is the more complex problem?


Problem B, of course. Right? And which is the simpler problem to solve? Problem A?


Well, both are actual problems that I experienced early in my career.


Given Problem A, I was instructed that I needed to go and “have a word” with the employee producing the low-quality parts. I was to have him read the work instructions then give him a "warning". If there were any additional problems, I would have to increase the disciplinary measure.


Problem B turned into a Six Sigma Black Belt project which included an exhaustive review of returned service-failure parts, a complete measurement systems analysis and multi-factorial, Plackett-Burman experimental design trials across three shifts of molding equipment. All told, this was a six-month project with nearly $50,000 spent in time and labor to wrap our arms around the problem.


Now that I have set the stage (and perhaps showed my hand…), which problem was solved with a simple solution?


Problem B!


You see, Problem A involved an employee who had just left the hospital after spending all day with a dying parent. He had rushed into work, his mind frazzled. He hadn't told anyone; he'd simply gotten to work. But the problem didn't end there. Unbeknownst to anyone, the employee from the previous shift had failed to set up the machine properly for the upcoming shift. The employee making the low-quality parts had assumed the machine was ready to run, just as it always had been. Added to that, the quality inspector had not made it to the employee's machine to inspect parts at start-up, so the employee had run half the shift before they caught the problem. It hadn’t helped that, during this particular week, the company had been pressuring everyone to increase output. So many moving pieces here! Not to mention an employee who then felt even worse. Now that is a complex problem to fix.


The solution to Problem B? Simple. A blasting machine had not received the required maintenance it had needed - for years! In fact, the operator had complained to his supervisor that something wasn’t right. He'd noticed the metal finish wasn’t as rough as it had once been (and was supposed to be). However, after a few years, he had stopped complaining. Ultimately, the lack of maintenance had begun to slowly affect the quality of the product. 


The solution: simple maintenance that required about $500 worth of repair parts and a couple hours of downtime. The problems immediately went away. No more service failures.


Thanks to that Black Belt project years ago, I now follow a simple rule I call The Problem Paradox:


                                                            If confronted with a “complex problem”, look for the simple solution.

                                                            If confronted with a “simple problem”, prepare for a complex solution.


                                                       


My rule runs counter to all we’ve been taught and conditioned to expect. In fact, if I were to admit it, the problems don’t actually become more difficult as we climb the ladder. At least, they don't have to be. As long as we develop a fundamental problem-solving approach, apply some rules and use our past experiences to guide us into new ways of thinking, problems can actually become easier to solve!


As Albert Einstein famously said:

                                        “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking 

                                        about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.”


Here's a simple approach to solving the most complex (and simple) problems:


First (and also the number one rule of problem solving): Understand the problem BEFORE attempting to solve it. 


Some effective tools to use:


        a.) Ask questions. When did it first happen? What are some other factors that might be contributing to the problem? Who’s         involved in the problem? What is the effect of the problem? At COO Forum, we use a tool called the COO Arena™ process.         This first step is called “Framing the Issue".


        b.) Apply the 5 Why question technique. This is another tool that can help you to understand a problem’s “root cause".


        c.) Look internally. If the problem involves a communication or behavioral issue with another person (employee, peer, manager             or other) ask, “How might I be contributing to the problem?” Sometimes a problem might simply be a misperception and                       not accurate at all.


        d.) Create a visual. Sometimes visually mapping the process or sketching the problem using tools such as a Mind Map or a                   Fishbone Diagram triggers a solution.


Second, apply the “Eat the Elephant One Bite at a Time” approach. In other words, break down a larger problem into smaller, “bite-sized” pieces. This approach helps us to mentally wrap our heads around a problem by simplifying it. In reality, even the most complex problems, when broken down, will yield opportunities for taking some level of action, resulting in progress.


                                                   


Third, seek out different viewpoints. This may seem like an obvious thing to do. However, as busy leaders, we often find ourselves feeling the need for quick solutions and avoid asking for help. Sometimes our own experiences can even create blind spots that prevent us from seeing a problem clearly.


Finally, continue to learn new techniques for problem solving. There are a wide variety of approaches that we can master. New advances in technology allow for greater data analysis, visualization and even AI-generated solutions. Stay current and practice. And remember, do not be fooled by either complexity or simplicity. 


Remember this: a good problem always fights back!

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