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 […]
Aug
26
2014
I couldn’t count the number of organisations I have worked in/with where they have been a bit upset when I have said that they have to establish a baseline (a standard) before they can improve. In one I was working […]
Jan
14
2014
The Hawthorne Effect – we’ve probably all heard about it at some point, a training course some years ago or some consultant mentions it after you show him the dramatic improvement in results after adjusting focus. I’m not going to […]
Dec
17
2013
We’ve probably all worked for a tyrant at one point or another, the one who likes confrontation, in fact thrives on the fear it instills in the rest of us who don’t. We probably looked forward to another time, when […]
Dec
10
2013
I wrote last week about the 3 root causes of pretty much all problems; lack of a standard, a standard that exists but is not followed and a standard that exists & is followed, but is insufficient in detail to […]
Dec
03
2013
What is the standard? Do you have a standard? When drilling down to the root cause of any problem, this is probably THE key question to ask. Arguably, any root cause will be related to either a lack of a […]
Jun
04
2013
Struggling with the balance between standards & flexibility?