The Squawk Point

Organisational Mechanics

  • Home
  • Blog
    • People
    • Data
    • Process
    • Wild Cards
    • Index
  • Podcast
  • Book

The Daily Grind

22 January, 2020 by James Lawther 1 Comment

How do you cope? I run (maybe it would be more accurate to say am loosely responsible for) a back office.  It provides a service to an organisation.  It doesn’t talk to customers It doesn’t make sales It doesn’t drive revenue It is one big cost.  A lonely place to sit on any profit and […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: continuous improvement, nothing new under the sun, operational excellence, systems thinking

Pride and Ignorance

29 June, 2016 by James Lawther 5 Comments

Scurvy isn’t nice If you are unfortunate enough to contract it you will start to feel tired. Then you will develop spots on your skin and your gums will turn spongy. A week or so later you will start to bleed from your mucous membranes and your skin will turn yellow.  Eventually sufferers develop open […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: command and control, gemba, group think, human nature, ignorance, innovation, no substitute for experience, nothing new under the sun, political will

Rule 20: Persistence Pays

15 September, 2015 by James Lawther 3 Comments

Stick at it I know how to run a marathon Walk out of your front door and start running.  When you can’t run any more stop.  The next day try again.  Run a little further.  Stick at it. I know how to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger Go to the gym and lift something heavy.  When you can’t […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: continuous improvement, nothing new under the sun

Why Reinvent the Wheel?

28 April, 2014 by James Lawther 5 Comments

Somebody has had your problem before Sometimes we get stuck, sometimes we need to know… How to be a better manager? How to estimate? What should we do about our H.R. policies? Is there a good restaurant in Mansfield? If you don’t know what to do next, rest assured, somebody has had the problem before. […]

Filed Under: Blog, Operations Analysis Tagged With: data is not information, knowledge management, nothing new under the sun

Snakes, Rats and Your H.R. Policies

26 March, 2014 by James Lawther 3 Comments

Unintended Consequences

Have you heard of the Cobra Effect? In Victorian times, at the height of the British Empire, the governors of Colonial India were very worried about the number of cobras in Delhi — no self-respecting bureaucrat has a liking of venomous snakes. The governors came up with a plan.  They offered a reward for every […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: bad process, cheating, cobra effect, employee performance measures, human nature, incentives, nothing new under the sun, performance management, reinforcing behaviour, systems thinking

  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page »

Explore

accountability assumptions beliefs best practice blame bureaucracy capability clarity command and control communication complexity continuous improvement cost saving culture customer focus data is not information decisions employee performance measures empowerment error proofing fessing up gemba human nature incentives information technology innovation key performance indicators learning management style measurement motivation performance management poor service process control purpose reinforcing behaviour service design silo management systems thinking targets teamwork test and learn trust video waste

Receive Posts by e-Mail

Get the next post delivered straight to your inbox

Creative Commons

This information from The Squawk Point is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Creative Commons Licence
Customer Experience Update

Try This:

  • Regression to The Mean

  • Glory Lasts Forever

  • Fish Bone Diagrams – Helpful or Not?

  • Should You Punish Mistakes?

Connect

  • E-mail
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • YouTube
  • Cookies
  • Contact Me

Copyright © 2025 · Enterprise Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in