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The Two Faces of Accountability

1 January, 2018 by James Lawther 7 Comments

Accountability When things go wrong there is a simple solution. Politicians do it, journalists do it, managers do it and even my children do it.   When things go wrong we search for somebody to blame “hold accountable”.  It’s in our nature. Fortunately it is more nuanced than that. There are two ways we can […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: accountability, blame, learning, management style, reinforcing behaviour, root cause analysis

One Hundred Bad Ideas

21 August, 2017 by James Lawther 3 Comments

Bad Idea

Notable failures Even the most successful people have failures: James Dyson built 5,127 prototypes before he perfected one vacuum cleaner. Mozart wrote over 64 symphonies.  How many have you heard? Richard Branson has launched over 400 business ventures, remember Virgin Vodka?  Nope, nor do I. Over 30 years Albert Einstein published ~ 345 scientific papers but his major work […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: blame, innovation, learning

Prove Me Wrong!

15 August, 2016 by James Lawther 1 Comment

Patterns in numbers

Confirmation bias A scientist has asked you to take part in a test.  It is a simple test, all you have to do is work out a pattern of numbers. He gives you three numbers to start with and then asks you to give him another set of three numbers.  In return he will let you […]

Filed Under: Blog, Operations Analysis Tagged With: assumptions, beliefs, confirmation bias, human nature, learning, test and learn

Sex and Soap Powder, Trial and Error

4 July, 2016 by James Lawther 4 Comments

An interesting story: Steve Jones is a geneticist, a well-known one, if you move in those circles.  He tells an interesting story about failure.  You can skip my version and watch it below if you wish. The problem There is a soap powder factory near Liverpool.  It makes Persil and Surf and things like that. In […]

Filed Under: Blog, Operations Analysis Tagged With: culture, evolution, innovation, learning, test and learn

When Does Real Learning Happen?

9 March, 2016 by Tanmay Vora 3 Comments

Learning… The real learning, happens when: You are driven by an intrinsic need to advance and not only by external rewards You ask more questions to get to the why of things — and then to what and how When you look for process and patterns in discrete situations And when you use your understanding to […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: human nature, learning

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