Here is a list of everything I have sent you. There are also links to related blog posts, videos, internet pages and books if you want to delve a little deeper into each topic. As you scan through you will see how it all links together and with luck something will catch your interest.
Purpose — Lesson 1: Rows of Ducks
The first and most important issue is to create focus. How do you target your activities on the things that matter? If you do that then you can get everybody pulling in the same direction. Read more here.
Related Posts:
- Clarity of purpose is greatly overrated: How engaging is your purpose?
- The princess and the library book: The organisation that got it right.
- Do you know where you are going?: Organisational versus departmental purpose.
More Information:
- Start With Why: Simon Sinek’s book on leadership and great organisations.
- How great leaders inspire everyone to take action: Simon Sinek on the TED stage.
- Hemingway App: Will help you write your mission clearly.
- The comfy chair mission statement generator: How not to do it.
Measurement — Lesson 2: A Blizzard of Numbers
Once you have your purpose, how do you measure performance against it? Which of the myriad of possible measures and metrics are important and how to set about defining them unambiguously? Read more here.
Related Posts:
- Measuring employee performance (a shortcut): What would your employees measure?
- Measure anything the Sesame Street way: Linking measures to purpose.
- Is your boss really that stupid?: Are you measuring things to look good or improve performance?
More Information:
- KPI Checklists: Bernie Smith’s practical guide on how to put a KPI framework in place.
- Measure up blog: Stacey Barr writes about “practical performance measurement”.
Presenting Information — Lesson 3: Paint and Pretty Pictures
How do you provide performance data in a clear, consistent and easy to understand format? This lesson shows you how to deliver unambiguous messages that are so “smack in the face” obvious that people have to sit back and take notice. Read more here.
Related Posts:
- How to make a point: What can a tax collector teach you about getting your message over?
- Avoiding death by powerpoint: How to make assertions and use evidence.
- If you must write on your slides: The golden rule.
More Information:
- Say it with charts: Gene Zelazny’s excellent guide on drawing charts for business.
- Good examples of bad charts: How not to do it.
- The secret structure of great talks: Nancy Duarte on the Ted stage.
- Data Visualisation: Edward Tufte’s key-note speech on YouTube, only for the hard-core.
Honesty — Lesson 4: Fessing up
How to set up an improvement conversation in your organisation? Create a repeatable rhythm that will drive performance by reviewing progress regularly and honestly. Read more here.
Related Posts:
- Discuss the work: The big difference between “who caused that?” and “what caused that?”
- Red is good green is bad: How do you declare your RAG status?
- Continental management reviews: What can driving on the continent teach you about management?
- How to improve at just about anything: An introduction to plan, do, check, act.
More Information:
- The scientific method: The Khan Academy explanation. The basic mechanism behind performance reviews.
- Plan Do Study Act 101: British Medical Journal video that explains the improvement process.
Building Capability — Lesson 5: Alchemy
Quality costs money, or so many people believe but is that true? Learn about the real relationship between cost and quality and how you can have both if you focus on the right things. Read more here.
Related Posts:
- What can a lilo teach you about costs control?: A simple analogy to show how cost flows through your organisation.
- How to calculate the cost of poor quality: A fairly self-explanatory title.
- The productivity equation: The two ways to improve productivity.
More Information:
- The cost of poor quality: An A.S.Q. video on YouTube..
- Learn about the cost of quality: An overview of the different costs of poor quality.
- Poor-Quality Cost: James Harrington’s book that boosted people’s understanding of poor quality costs way back in 1987.
Lean Thinking — Lesson 6: What an Awful Waste
An introduction to the big idea behind “Lean Thinking”. Why it is so important and how you can use it to improve the way your business processes perform. Read more here.
Related Posts:
- Did process improvement really destroy Starbucks? Only a customer can tell if you have improved the process.
- Remove the waste: A game you can play with your staff. Follow the link at the bottom of the post
- Clear desks and other management claptrap: What happens if you interpret lean too dogmatically.
More Information:
- Lean enterprise institute: The lean thinking hub on the web.
- The great process improvement secret: A slideshare to help you remember the different types of waste.
- The machine that changed the world: Womack and Jones book that introduced the idea of lean thinking.
Problem Definition — Lesson 7: What Exactly is Your Problem?
An introduction to the problem solving technique that NASA used to rescue Apollo 13 and bring the crew home safely. The “Is Not” approach helps define problems and find route causes. Read more here.
Related Posts:
- Problem solving – all bang and no buck: The difference between first and second order problem solving.
- The solution for everything: Why the latest management fad is unlikely to solve your problems
- Why were you late for work?: An introduction to logic trees
More Information:
- Powerful problem solving: Arnaud Chevallier’s problem solving blog.
- Kepner Trego consulting services: They do a fabulous course if you would like to learn more
- The New Rational Manager: Charles Kepner’s original book. If something goes wrong, something else must have caused it…
Process Management — Lesson 8: Let’s be Clear
Once you have fixed the process, how do you make sure it stays fixed? Is it enough to just tell people what to do? Documenting your processes may not be sexy but it is the right thing to do. Read more here.
Related Posts:
- Business process management – it will never work: The arguments against business process management.
- Boring but deadly: The case for clarity of roles and responsibilities.
- Accountability, not all it is cracked up to be: Is clear accountability always a good thing?
More Information:
- Six Simple Rules: Tollman and Morieux explain how to manage with appropriate levels of process and control.
- The E-Myth Revisited: Michael Gerber explains the value of process management to small businesses. Take the assessment and see how you do.
Employee Engagement — Lesson 9: It is Just a Job
Employee engagement is central to your business improvement efforts. What can you do to unlock the enthusiasm of your staff and engage them in continuous improvement? Read more here.
Related Posts:
- Good boss, bad boss: You can never do enough for a good guv’nor.
- Why do you have a boss?: What is your manager’s job?
- Forced fun, is it working yet?: How do you define fun at work?
- Employee recognition, bragging rights and bling: There is more to engagement than recognition, but don’t hold back.
More Information:
- Employees first customers second: Vineet Nayar’s TEDx talk.
- The Three Signs of a Miserable Job: Patrick Lencioni explains why millions of employees dread going to work.
- Work Rules!: Laszlo Bock, Google’s head of HR explains why 2 million people apply to work at Google every year.
Trust — Lesson 10: Go On, Trust Me
Trust is all important in driving improvement. What prevents trust from developing in your organisation and how should you address it? Read more here.
Related Posts:
- 92 people die for lack of trust: What happens when your staff don’t trust you.
- The ultimate business constraint: What happens when your customers don’t trust you?
- If somebody made a mistake that nearly killed you: How should you respond when things go wrong?
- Go on trust me: It is all about aptitude and benevolence, apparently.
More Information:
- The speed of trust: Stephen Covey’s book explains how trust changes everything.
- Trust building activities: A list of games and activities.
- What we don’t understand about trust: Onora O’Neill’s TED talk on the difference between trust and trustworthiness.
Targets and Incentives — Lesson 11: Off Target
We use targets everywhere in organisations, but how do they work and their impact on motivation and performance. What are the side effects and how do you avoid them? Read more here.
Related Posts:
- Do targets work or not?: The cases for and against setting targets and an attempt to reconcile them.
- What gets measured gets done: Should you measure goals on a micro or macro level?
- What can your mother teach you about incentives?: Targets and incentives go hand in hand. Should they?
More information:
- Drive: Dan Pink explains the surprising truth of what motivates us. If you only read one book make it this one.
- The puzzle of motivation: Dan Pink’s Ted talk. An introduction to the book “Drive”.
- Gaming in target world: A study of the impact of target setting in the UK public sector.
Employee Led Improvement — Lesson 12: Take the “Work Out”
How do you create a virtuous spiral of engagement and improvement so that your staff members attack problems in a sustainable way? General Electric’s work out programme sets your employees up to improve their own business processes. Read more here.
Related posts:
- Ignorance and the hippo: Why Italian aid workers failed in Sub-Saharan Africa.
- An extraordinary system: The logistics system built by the illiterate.
- A management fable: The story of Frank and the spanner.
More information:
- The GE Work-Out: David Ulrich’s original “how to” manual.
- Audio-tech business book summaries: A pdf summary of the original book.
- I pencil: Leanord E Read’s essay from the 1950’s explains why you should “Leave all creative energies uninhibited.” and listen to your workforce.
The Gemba — Lesson 13: Butterfly Collecting
What do your staff spend their time doing? How can you understand the demands your customers place on your shop floor? Read more here.
Related posts:
- Go, look and understand: Data is great, but it isn’t enough.
- What can you see?: The Ohno circle and why you need one.
- Are you doing what’s important?: The difference between management and customer work.
More information:
- Go to the Gemba: Deborah Adler’s TEDx talk explaining why innovation requires a deep understanding of work.
- Eleven steps: KaiNexus’ guide to an effective gemba walk.
- Gemba walk dont’s: Slideshare that explains what not to do.
Innovation — Lesson 14: Is Innovation Perspiration or Innovation?
How does innovation help business improvement. Can you be creative when you haven’t an inventive bone in your body? Discover the 4 components of an innovation process and learn how to build one in your organisation. Read more here.
Related posts:
- Jack of all trades master of non: What makes a nobel prize winning scientist?
- Not invented here: Why nothing comes from nothing and culture is so important.
- How to push your big idea: The power of the prototype.
- One hundred bad ideas: To be successful you have to fail.
More information:
- When ideas have sex: Matt Ridley’s Ted talk shows how it’s not important how clever individuals are.
- The Medici Effect: Frans Johansson’s book explains why so many world-changing insights come from people with little or no experience.
- The board of innovation: My favourite innovation blog.
Variation — Lesson 15: Treat That Nasty Infection
Variation is the infection that is present in every business. How can you learn to see it and what could you do to eradicate it? Read more here.
Related posts:
- Process noise and coffee sticks: What does variation look like?
- The stick is mightier than the carrot: What does variation do for your management style?
- Standardisation and climbing ladders: Why a standard way of doing things is so important.
More information:
- The germ theory of management: Myron Tribus’ original article.
- The pit stop #1: A video that shows why reducing variation is so important.
- The pit stop #2: Another video that makes the same point in a subtly different way.
- Understanding variation: a 1990 Quality Progress article that explains some of the technicalities.
The Pygmalion Effect — Lesson 16: Show a Little Respect
An introduction to the Pygmalion Effect. It helps explain the true impact of “performance management” on organisations. Read more here.
Related posts:
- Performance appraisals, you wouldn’t do it at home: The Pygmalion Effect in the domestic environment.
- Performance management best practice: Research from the corporate leadership council.
- The stick is mightier than the carrot: The statistical reason why a good bawling out works.
More information:
- Pygmalion in Management: The Harvard Business Review’s classic book.
- Change your mindset, change the game: Alia Crum’s TEDx talk on the effect of mindset.
- Use the Pygmalion Effect to Create a High Performing Team: Tips from the awesome culture blog.
Other Bits and Pieces
As well as the material included in the course there are other resources for you to use:
- The five step improvement plan – A short video that pulls together some of the core ideas.
- 10 things you really should know – A short e-book.
I hope you found something interesting. Thank you for reading.