In the last year, I’ve heard the phrase “Smoke Testing,” used by many teams that I’ve worked with. It is used to cover a nebulous…
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Systems Thinking, and why lean tools don’t work on their own
We all know about the “5 Whys”.But how do you know how many times to ask “Why?” if you don’t fully appreciate the system in which you are working? (Clue: it’s not always 5 times…)
Can a senior management team use systems thinking for strategic planning?
Of course the answer is yes. As long as you can get into a position to see the organisation as a system, including the context in which it operates. One of the fundamental concepts of Lean and Systems Thinking is taking an outside-in perspective – typically from the customers’ perspective.
How Apple Mastered the Online Customer Experience
What is Apple’s customer service number if your 69p app fails to download?
Or perhaps another questions for anyone that owns an iPod, iPad or iPhone: when was the last time you pressed “Buy” in the app store and it didn’t work?
Is encouraging the UK’s Local Authorities to share and/or merge the right thing to do?
For years (centuries?) there have been boundary issues, discussions and disputes between parishes, districts, boroughs and counties. Where are the lines to be drawn, and who takes responsibility? Each political area then has its own structure of management – and in most cases consists of: unpaid political leaders and members to give the strategic direction as voted for by the population, and a paid CEO, directors and managers to lead the staff.
Cost exist to be reduced.
I was reminded of this great quote from the master of the Toyota Production System today: “Costs do not exist to be calculated. Costs exist to be reduced.”
As a Chartered Accountant, I am well trained to understand cost – especially with respect to Activity Based Costing. Understanding the cost of every element of the process is clearly important. However, it is all too easy to then assume that these activities are actually necessary.
Check the Management System
Business issues can often feel either complicated or complex – and sometimes both. And yet I regularly see senior management trying to find a simple solution. If only life were that easy! I’m frequently asked to help diagnose serious business situations spanning hundreds of employees doing their job, together with their team leaders, managers and directors…
Characteristics of Emotional Intelligence
In the change management arena, people interactions are key, especially for those in the consultant’s role. I continuously refer to Daniel Goleman’s work, an American psychologist who developed a framework of five elements that define emotional intelligence.
From A to B – The difference between Change Management and Work Design.
When I explain to people what it is that I do, the end result is often “Ah, you’re a change consultant.” The conversation rarely begins with “What are you actually changing to?”. It’s a bit like talking about a journey from A to B – and focusing solely on the car you’re driving, without ever considering where you’re actually going, or asking what’s wrong with where you are?
What is ‘Good’?
Fans of Only Fools & Horses will remember Dell-Boy’s great line to the supermarket check-out girl, “Did you sue them?” When asked who, he replied “The Charm School!” And many of us will have found ourselves in circumstances when we would have loved to use the same sarcastic wit.