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The World’s Most Useless Document

27 November, 2017 by James Lawther 2 Comments

The org chart When you join a new business the people in H.R. will give you something like this: As good corporate citizens we all seize this as one of the most important pieces of paper we will be given. It tells us how the concern works. It is critical information, it tells us how […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: bureaucracy, command and control, communication, culture, customer focus, human nature, organisation

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

Thou Shalt Not Delay, Distort or Withhold Information

15 August, 2017 by James Lawther 2 Comments

Delay and Distort

Systems need information They use that information to control the way they act. In a system of cells (like your body) that information flows along nerves and via hormones. In a system of animals (like a colony of ants) that information flows via pheromones and signals. In a system of people (like your business) it […]

Filed Under: Blog, Operations Analysis Tagged With: bureaucracy, communication, fessing up, human nature, key performance indicators, management style, service design, systems thinking

Not Invented Here

29 June, 2017 by James Lawther Leave a Comment

Mixing Ideas

Nothing comes from nothing I sat in a meeting the other day, it was a nightmare… Two guys were trying to extol the benefits of automation to a team of sales managers.  The tension was palpable.  In one corner stood a bunch of consultants trying to explain the latest and greatest thinking in operational improvement.  […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: culture, human nature, innovation

Human Error

18 May, 2017 by James Lawther 4 Comments

B-17 Cockpit

World War 2 During the second world war, over 60 million people were killed.  That was roughly 3% of the worldwide population.  It was a hazardous time. Amongst the hardest hit were the bomber crews.  The Eighth Air Force suffered half of all the U.S. Air Force’s casualties.  The British fared as badly.  The chances of surviving the […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: accident prevention, error proofing, human nature

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