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What Can You Learn From a Murderer?

2 March, 2014 by James Lawther 6 Comments

Cleudo

I’ve just spent an hour playing Cluedo with my children (it felt much longer). Admit it, you’ve played it, the detective game.  The idea is to work out who committed a murder, where they did it and how. I think it was Miss Scarlet in the Hall with the Lead Pipe I think it was […]

Filed Under: Blog, Operations Analysis Tagged With: learning, test and learn, W. Edwards Deming

What are You Working On?

28 February, 2014 by James Lawther 5 Comments

pride in the job

What are you working on right now? What is occupying your time? Is it revolutionary? Will it set you head and shoulders above your competition? Is it new, innovative, exciting and exhilarating? Is it brilliant? Does it matter? What are you working on that makes you proud? Something or nothing? If the answer is nothing… Why […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: bitching and moaning, motivation, pride in the job

Are You in Control?

23 February, 2014 by James Lawther 4 Comments

Bird Brain

Simple Birds It was half term last week. I took my children to North Norfolk. We explored sandy beaches, rolling countryside and panoramic skies.  It was as beautiful. The highlight was a walk across the salt marshes and the sight of a flock of startled geese scurrying across the sky.   How do the birds […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: complexity, incentives, process control, service design, tampering, targets

The Problem with Protectionism

21 February, 2014 by James Lawther 8 Comments

roller skate

When I was a teenager… The gadget to be seen with was a Walkman. Modelled by tall blondes on roller-skates cruising along sun-kissed Californian beaches Desired — in my case — by a spotty youth sitting in a bush shelter in rain-swept North Yorkshire The Walkman was so popular it even lead to social scientists coining […]

Filed Under: Blog, Wild Cards Tagged With: Apple, customer focus, innovation, protectionism, service design

Target Setting, Cause and Effect

16 February, 2014 by James Lawther 10 Comments

During the 1990s and early 2000s, the UK government relied heavily on target setting to manage the public sector. We had: Targets for education Targets for Healthcare Targets for policing Targets for fire brigades Targets for the tax office Targets for dustbin men No doubt we had targets for the target setters as well. UK […]

Filed Under: Blog, Operations Analysis Tagged With: cheating, government, management style, medicine, targets

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