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Should You Punish Mistakes?

2 January, 2014 by James Lawther 22 Comments

Should You Punish Mistakes? Bob Hoover's plane

If somebody made a mistake that nearly killed you, would you punish the mistake? In 1989 there was an air show at Brown Field in San Diego. The test pilot Bob Hoover was taking thrill-seekers for flights in his Shrike Commander, a small, piston-powered, passenger plane.  The passengers were known as “Hoover’s Heavers” — more often […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: aviation, blame, error proofing, video

Simple is the New Clever

30 December, 2013 by James Lawther 10 Comments

Management is about clarity But clarity is a rare gift… Most of us like to be more strategic in our communication… We love to look serious and feel clever… Nobody likes to sound simple We must penetrate the customer base vertically and horizontally If we reallocate our assets we can achieve synergy and benefit from […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: communication, complexity, Dilbert, management style, simplicity

4 Ways to Change Behaviour

26 December, 2013 by James Lawther 11 Comments

There are 4 ways to change people’s behaviour: The first is the stick: Beat people until they do what you want. The stick works, but people hate being controlled, they will rebel — sooner or later.  Repression is not a great strategy. The second is the carrot: Provide an incentive.  Incentives work beautifully, until you remove […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement, Tools & Techniques Tagged With: conformity, customer behaviour, group think, human nature, incentives, motivation, political will, reinforcing behaviour, video

Are You Missing out on the Next Big Thing?

22 December, 2013 by James Lawther 18 Comments

Pumpkin Carving Tool Set

Consultants always have a tool kit, a fancy method and a book that you can use to improve performance. There is always something new: Systems Thinking Total Quality Management Theory of Constraints Lean Thinking That is just for the process improvement guys, let us not forget that Numbers and acronyms always sell books You really […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: assumptions, human nature, problem solving

The SMART Goal Myth

19 December, 2013 by James Lawther 20 Comments

I have been on a leadership course. I’ve learnt that if I want to improve my team’s performance I must set them all SMART goals.  A goal that is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time bound — I bet you’ve been on the same course. A good SMART goal is something like: “increase sales rates from 15% to 22% by […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: assumptions, management style, objective setting, SMART goals

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