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Rule 6: Standardise the Work

29 June, 2015 by James Lawther 6 Comments

Heresy! You can’t standardise a service. You can standardise work in manufacturing.  A computer is a computer is a computer. They should all look the same, weigh the same, feel the same and work the same.   Nobody will disagree that you should standardise computer manufacturing. But that is manufacturing… The service industry is different The logic […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: best practice, gemba, service design, standardisation, video

Rule 5:  Understand how the Work Works

26 June, 2015 by James Lawther 2 Comments

It sounds a bit smug doesn’t it? It isn’t enough to study the work, you also need to know how the work works. What does it mean? Let me give you a couple of examples: 1. How do you drive a car? It is one thing to know how to drive; mirror, signal, manoeuvre.  That […]

Filed Under: Blog, Operations Analysis Tagged With: back to the floor, gemba, systems thinking, video

The Problem With Education

7 June, 2015 by James Lawther 3 Comments

F for Fail

What was your time at school like? The Organisational Development Consultant Peter Block gives a rather disarming view of his own experience: When I went to school we competed. When I got my “B” I needed somebody to get a “D” or an “F” or I was in trouble. If I had any integrity — which I don’t […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: employee performance measures, performance management, video

Glory Lasts Forever

9 May, 2015 by James Lawther 7 Comments

I have a problem with motivational speeches I watched “The Replacements” last night.  I can’t urge you strongly enough to avoid it.  The plot went something like this (and I am not spoiling it, the director did that). Shane Falco (Keanu Reeves) flunks it as an Ohio State University quarterback. A national team “The Washington Sentinels” go […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: communication, motivation, rhetoric, systems thinking, video

How to Improve (At Just About Anything)

3 May, 2015 by James Lawther 15 Comments

There are two ways to improve: 1. The classic way: Do – make an improvement Do – change a process Do – implement some training Do – install a system When you have been through the 4 do’s keep right on doing. 2. The recommended way: Plan – develop an idea or innovation, work out how […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement, Tools & Techniques Tagged With: continuous improvement, plan do check act, video, W. Edwards Deming

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