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Trial, Error and the God Complex

26 July, 2018 by James Lawther Leave a Comment

Now I can describe the symptoms of the God complex very, very easily.

TED Talk Tim Harford The “God Complex” is the overwhelming belief that, no matter how complicated the problem, we are infallibly right in our solution. Economist and journalist Tim Harford explains why we are deluding ourself and shows us the only problem solving technique that is guaranteed to work. It’s the Second World War. A German prison […]

Filed Under: Best of the Web, Blog Tagged With: beliefs, complexity, innovation, TED talks, test and learn, Tim Harford, video

Specialists Kill Innovation

7 February, 2018 by James Lawther 1 Comment

The Odd One Out

Organisations want innovation I’m not sure that statement is strictly true. Organisations say they want innovation, but the status quo is a very comfortable, unthreatening place to be. Organisations need innovation Maybe that is more realistic. If you don’t evolve and adapt whilst those around you are, then you are unlikely to survive. Innovation comes […]

Filed Under: Blog, Wild Cards Tagged With: beliefs, command and control, innovation

Management Heresy

10 November, 2017 by James Lawther 2 Comments

Heresy — noun (ˈhɛrəsɪ ) An opinion or doctrine contrary to the beliefs of an organisation The act of maintaining such an opinion or doctrine An interesting word And an interesting activity. I often wonder about heretics. Are they a bunch of loony tunes who can’t see how wrong they are? Or are they perfectly […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: beliefs, conformity, human nature

Poor Behaviour

5 September, 2017 by James Lawther Leave a Comment

Dysfunctional situations It is easy to blame other people’s behaviour for poor performance: He is uncooperative She is selfish He is incompetent She is a bully He is power crazed She is rude Poor behaviour causes all sorts of dysfunctional situations.  Doesn’t it? The experiment In 1971 Phillipe Zimbardo set up the Stanford prison experiment. […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: beliefs, management style, reinforcing behaviour, systems thinking, video

Tool Hire

1 September, 2017 by James Lawther 3 Comments

tool hire

There are lots of tools out there I don’t mean that in a derogatory way.  I mean process improvement tools: 5S, control charts, swim lanes… those sort of tools. There are also lots of people who know how to use those tools. It is easy to recruit staff who can bring a toolbox stuffed with approaches […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: beliefs, lean thinking, six sigma, training

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