Feb
23
2016
The title line is something that I heard & said hundreds of times while serving in the USMC. We were always praised for taking the initiative, but always corrected when our decisions were misguided or lead to something other than […]
Feb
16
2016
I recently read “The Gold Mine” by Freddy & Michael Ballé. It is a reasonable attempt to do with Lean what Eli Goldratt had done with “The Goal”, i.e. explain the concept of an improvement methodology by encapsulating it in a […]
Jan
19
2016
Ever hear someone say “once this whatever is over, things will relax & we can put more focus on whatever” – you can insert all manner of things into either “whatever” in that phrase. I hear it all the time […]
Jan
12
2016
I’ve written before on leadership and challenging others. Last time was about having the courage to challenge anyone when things are not right. Today I write about challenging peers. I remember once when I was the Materials, Planning & Logistics Manager […]
Nov
18
2014
Several discussions over the last few days have centred around standards and more specifically, enforcing them. One of the issues that is repeatedly discussed is to what extent. There are all sorts of standards that exist in any organisation. Most […]
Oct
14
2014
I’m not sure when it happened, I’m sure it was over a period of years. Over the last few decades probably, leadership seems to have become the “answer” and management has become a bad word. I like leadership; I do […]
Sep
10
2013
Robert Peston is currently presenting a programme on shopping in which he looks at, amongst other stores, Tesco. The founder of Tesco Jack Cohen started out selling fish paste out of barrels in a London market. His business grew to […]
Jul
09
2013
Just as the soaring heat from the sun can scorch and damage your skin, the culture of your organisation can destroy the value created by your staff. I suppose this is nothing new, everybody knows this. I just wonder how […]
Mar
26
2013
Managing is maintaining the status quo, leading is taking people somewhere new, which one are you doing?
March 26, 2013 - 2 Comments - Leadership
Sep
21
2011
I had an interesting discussion today with an old friend & former colleague. We were discussing one of the managers of one of his business units and it turns out this particular manager is very competent at ordering bits, filling […]
September 21, 2011 - (0) comments - Leadership