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For the Lack of a Nail

23 November, 2013 by James Lawther 3 Comments

Efficiency and effectiveness

Old Clichés For the lack of a nail, the horseshoe was lost For the lack of a horseshoe, the horse was lost For the lack of a horse the rider was lost For the lack of a rider the battle was lost With the loss of the battle the war was lost On losing the […]

Filed Under: Blog, Wild Cards Tagged With: efficiency versus effectiveness, purpose

The Big Problem With Systems Thinking

21 November, 2013 by James Lawther 22 Comments

The problem with Systems Thinking

There is lots of talk about systems thinking.  The talk sounds a little like this: Organisations are a system of connected parts It is the connections in the system that dictate performance If we improve the system we can improve performance It is a fascinating conversation — no really it is. But there is a […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: back to the floor, performance management, systems thinking, targets

Scientific Proof – Politicians are Stupid

17 November, 2013 by James Lawther 14 Comments

politicians are stupid

The power of belief Have you ever wondered why people hold onto their beliefs despite statistical proof that they are wrong? Is it that we don’t understand what the numbers are telling us? Or is it that we just chose to ignore them? Dan Kahan is the professor of Law and Politics at Yale University. […]

Filed Under: Blog, Operations Analysis Tagged With: assumptions, beliefs, clarity, data is not information, human nature, statistics, video

The Princess and the Library Book

14 November, 2013 by James Lawther 7 Comments

Children's Library

My youngest daughter is five She is enthusiastic in the way that only a five-year-old can be. She is also hopeless in the way that only a five-year-old can be. The other day I took her to the library, she loves books, particularly if they have lots of pictures of fairy princesses with long blonde […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: clarity, local government, purpose, service design

Management: Can You Have Too Much of a Good Thing?

10 November, 2013 by James Lawther 14 Comments

class room size

Good management is a good thing and organisations have a shortage of “talent”.  Having more and better managers is critical to success. So you should put all your effort into hiring and developing breadth and depth of leadership. Really, is more always more? In his book David and Goliath Malcolm Gladwell discusses school class sizes. Conventional […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: beliefs, management style, organisation, silo management, spans of control

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