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Innovation Constraints and Lateral Thinking

29 September, 2012 by James Lawther 3 Comments

Innovation Constraints

In the third world, 4 million children die every year within a month of birth. It’s an avoidable tragedy If half of those children were simply kept warm and clean they would survive. In the developed world we have incubators that do exactly that.  I spent the first week of my life in one.  And […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: bitching and moaning, bottleneck, constraints, innovation, Toyota

Saying Yes When the Computer Says No

25 September, 2012 by James Lawther 3 Comments

It’s a poor joke… The computer says “No”. It wouldn’t be funny if it wasn’t true.  But the computer does say “No” with alarming regularity. Well not the computer, but the bloke who programmed the computer.  The same bloke who created all the policies, rules and red tape. The demoralising computer The computer is demoralising, […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement, Tools & Techniques Tagged With: back to the floor, beliefs, bureaucracy, video

Is Less Really More?

18 September, 2012 by James Lawther 2 Comments

My 9-year-old daughter is lovely… Most of the time… But if you really want to see her wind me up, come with us to order a pizza.  She will not make a decision.  How hard can it be? Hawaiian, or Mighty Meaty, or Volcano Supreme?  It isn’t as if she even likes the spicy ones. […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: complexity, customer requirements, less is more

Process Controls or Commandments?

4 September, 2012 by James Lawther 3 Comments

Though Shalt Not Park

The other day I phoned my IT “help” desk.  They were polite, calm and pleasant but totally useless. They wouldn’t do the one thing I asked them to do.  My request wasn’t unreasonable.  In fact the man on the other end of the line agreed with me, it was the obvious way forward.  But.. The […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: beliefs, bureaucracy, process control, work instructions

The Best Way to Spend Friday Afternoon

28 August, 2012 by James Lawther 3 Comments

Hack Week

What is important to you at work?  What is the thing that you are really bothered about, the thing that needs fixing?  What is the one issue that you could work on that would really make things better? What is your big idea? If your boss gave you Friday afternoon to do whatever you wanted […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: fedex day, Google, hack day, innovation, twenty percent time, Twitter

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