I used to make sweets in a factory for a living. We obsessed about “set up time”. The amount of time it takes to switch from one product to another. Just think about it for a second, every time we switched from making a product with nuts to one without, maybe Snickers to Mars bars […]
Are Your Project Managers Killing all the Canaries?
Managing projects is a little like keeping canaries: One canary will flutter about quite happily in a cage Add a second canary and they will sing to each other If you have a nice big cage you may well be able to keep 5, 6, 7 or 8 canaries There is a limit though. Try […]
The Easiest Way to Lose all Momentum
We all juggle time We make an art of getting every second’s worth of value out of every quarter of an hour. We employ secretaries and personal assistants to schedule our work (and they are busy people) If you have a diary that looks like a deranged zebra you will know exactly what I mean […]
What Can You Learn from Your New Year’s Resolutions?
The biggest obstacle… To any new improvement programme is the phrase “Been there done that” Been there done Lean Been there done Voice of the Customer Been there done 6 Sigma Been there done Work Out Been there done Business Process Management Been there done Complexity Reduction Self delusion If I told you that I had Been there done going to […]
Success is All About Being World Class at the Basics
Imagine you run a burger van. What do you need to do to make sure it is a success? How will you get customers to keep coming back? If you grab a pen and paper and start to write a list it will probably look a little like this: Stall must look spotless Burgers must […]