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The Pandora’s Box of Service Improvement, Dare You Open it?

2 May, 2011 by James Lawther Leave a Comment

At the heart of Lean Thinking is a beautifully simple idea, it is that you should only do things that a customer is prepared to pay for.  Anything else you do is “waste”. I prefer the word “stupid”.  It is harsher and blunter than waste but gets the point over.  (I didn’t graduate form a […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement, Tools & Techniques Tagged With: innovation, lean thinking, purpose, service improvement, teamwork, work out

The Stretch

9 November, 2010 by James Lawther Leave a Comment

How should you manage a stretch?  We all have them.  A whopping great big number forced in on top of our budgets. A couple of options: 1.  Divide and conquer:  split the two or twenty million up between departments and set them up against each other, Mano a Mano.  See who succeeds and who fails. […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: cost saving, silo management, teamwork, video

Stand Up Meetings

13 September, 2010 by James Lawther Leave a Comment

Instead of sitting, how about trying  stand up meetings?  They have a lot going for them: The heart keeps pumping Nobody falls asleep There is an incentive to get to the point and stay on it Unfortunately there is a down side; because you will finish early, some people will  go and have a sit […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: bitching and moaning, stand up meetings, teamwork

A Week’s Worth of Quotes

19 August, 2010 by James Lawther Leave a Comment

Andy Rooney: “Making duplicate copies and computer printouts of things no one wanted even one of in the first place is giving America a new sense of purpose.” Doug Larson: “Accomplishing the impossible means only that the boss will add it to your regular duties.” Edward Abbey:  “One man alone can be pretty dumb sometimes, […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: continuous improvement, learning, purpose, teamwork

Stupid Suppliers

17 August, 2010 by James Lawther 1 Comment

suppliers

Are your suppliers a bunch of wasters who are just after your money and not to be trusted? Do you spend your whole life beating them up over late orders and poor performance? What would life be like if: You ran a risk/reward share with them? You held a party for them each year to […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: supply chain, teamwork, trust

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