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Capacity & Demand

Retro black-and-white illustration of a woman in a 1950s suit pointing with a stick at a whiteboard process flow of five boxes joined by arrows. A tall stack of papers piles up on the middle box, marking it as the bottleneck. A silver robot holding a wrench and toolbox stands beside her while two men in suits watch, one taking notes. The setting is a vintage office with filing cabinets and a wall clock.

3 min read

Six Things AI Can Do in Your Process Right Now

Craig Szelestowski: September 17, 2026

Most of the AI conversation I hear in government and large companies is either far too abstract ("AI will transform everything") or far too narrow...

Black-and-white retro-style photograph of a Department of Motor Vehicles office. Seven employees stand in a line packed inside an oversized glass bottle, passing paperwork hand to hand toward the narrow neck, where a bored, heavyset older clerk sits at a desk labeled 'Document Review & Approval,' resting his chin on his hand while holding a rubber stamp. A wall sign reads 'All documents subject to review, verification and rubber stamp. Please be patient. Your paperwork matters,' a clock hangs on the wall, and a small desk sign reads 'NEXT!' A caption across the bottom reads: 'Are you opening up the bottleneck step?'

2 min read

AI at the Bottleneck vs. AI Everywhere Else

Ken Eakin: August 19, 2026

Imagine you’ve been charged with improving the performance of a sluggish granting process that has been backlogged for years. Clients have been...

AI & Automation AI Strategy & Investment Backlogs Capacity & Demand Practical AI Harnessing AI

A man in a shirt and tie stands resigned in a vintage 1970s government office, ankle-deep in an inflatable pool overflowing with papers and files. A pipe above the pool with a sign reading 'New Requests' pours in a steady stream of water, while a 'Capacity' label sits on the pool's side, surrounded by filing cabinets, a rotary phone, and stacks of paperwork..

1 min read

How Backlogs Are Born and How to Make Sure They Never Come Back

Craig Szelestowski: February 12, 2026

The backlog is the great shame of the public service. It fills staff with dread, leaders with pressure and clients with frustration. Every team that...

Lean White Belt Lean Yellow Belt Lean Green Belt Productivity Backlogs Capacity & Demand

Photograph of a woman in business attire spraying a fire extinguisher at a small fire on a folder on her desk, while two more small fires burn unattended on stacks of paper on desks behind her, in a cluttered vintage office. A whiteboard on the wall tallies four categories:

2 min read

Failure Demand: The Work That Should Never Exist

Craig Szelestowski: February 4, 2026

If you asked most managers where their team's capacity is going, they'd tell you: answering emails, processing requests, attending meetings,...

Lean White Belt Lean Yellow Belt Lean Green Belt Time Management Eliminating Waste Preventable Work (Failure Demand) Capacity & Demand