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Quantum Mechanics and Customer Service

29 June, 2014 by Bernie Smith 7 Comments

Customer Service

This is a guest post Quantum mechanics poses an interesting problem. Measuring a system tells us it’s current state, but the act of measurement also changes it. This isn’t just a problem for scientists This problem was going through my mind as I collected my Ford family wagon from it’s trip to my local dealership.  It […]

Filed Under: Blog, Operations Analysis Tagged With: customer satisfaction, key performance indicators, measurement, net promoter score

The Elephant Problem

3 June, 2014 by James Lawther 5 Comments

Elephant

Manage the numbers We love to manage by targets and numbers.  We divide our organisations up and target managers with very specific goals: Reduce waiting times Increase top line Minimise operational cost Maximise market penetration And off we go, convinced that our number is the most important number, striving to make it go the right […]

Filed Under: Blog, Operations Analysis Tagged With: measurement, point optimisation, silo management, SMART goals, targets

Counting Mushy Peas

10 January, 2014 by James Lawther 5 Comments

Mushy Peas

Operational definition In the movie East is East there is a great line Crude… But great… And what d’you think I do in there morning till night? Counting mushy fuckin’ peas? Can you think of anything more futile than counting mushy peas? In his book The Tiger That Isn’t (which is also great) Andrew Dilnot picks up on […]

Filed Under: Blog, Operations Analysis, Tools & Techniques Tagged With: measurement, operational definition

Are You Above Average?

5 January, 2014 by James Lawther 12 Comments

We love averages They let us know how we are doing, we run our businesses on averages, we judge ourselves against averages, average headlines even sell newspapers: £2m: average pay award for JP Morgan’s top staff 2013 Weather Summary: Sunnier than average Average woman will kiss 15 men and be heartbroken twice before … (Which link […]

Filed Under: Blog, Operations Analysis Tagged With: average, key performance indicators, measurement, statistics

God-Awful Art and Operational Measurement

3 November, 2013 by James Lawther 4 Comments

stand back and look

I can’t draw I am not bestowed with an artistic talent. That is not a defeatist attitude, just (another) realisation that I am less than perfect. At school I took art lessons.  They were possibly the most painful hours in my life; my school friends would sketch away with alacrity creating images of great beauty […]

Filed Under: Blog, Operations Analysis, Tools & Techniques Tagged With: clarity, key performance indicators, measurement, monitoring, service improvement

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