I can't tell you the number of companies I have seen who list speed or "responsiveness" in some form as a core value in their organisation. They claim it's the way of working in their business but when you really look it's just not there. It's listed because the leadership knows that moving at speed in the right areas is critical to getting things ...

When it comes to describing the LEAN Wastes I like the DOWNTIME acronym, it gives the added hint that these aren't good things. Most people know and attack the popular ones in the group, the loud ones if you like, Defects - it's out there big, bold, brash and hard to ignore. Inventory, it's in your face, always demanding more valuable (and costly)&...

Daily work life can be busy, meetings, phone calls, paperwork, emails, more meetings. It just never stops. By lunchtime, your head hurts and your thinking I just need 5 minutes to get things in an orderly list, then I'll be on top of it. The reality is that the rest of your organisation is probably having the same issues and as a result ultimately ...

We don't want managers, we want leaders! We hear and see that phrase or something similar to that a lot. In fact, so often it's now one of those throwaway lines that it's now just seen as spin, something that organisations say to sound good. But what if an organisation really meant it, what would that look like? What if, Leader was an actual title ...

How do you feel when you hit the situation when you have to say those dreaded words... "I Don't Know"? and why are they dreaded words in the first place, what makes it hard for some to say "I Don't Know" while others seem to manage it quite well?Don't get me wrong if you are saying "I don't know" every day while doing your job and it's about things...

"What If?" are magical words, they are the first words of endless possibilities and adventures. If people in history had never asked "What If?" we wouldn't have achieved so many things, no discovery of different continents, no flying in planes round the globe or setting foot on the moon. We would not have radio, computers, phones, electricity, mobi...

When people talk about lean there are so many areas that are discussed, there are of course all the tools – 5s, Kanban, load balancing (Heijunka), mistake proofing (poka-yoke) Root Cause analysis with things like fishbone diagrams, A3 problem solving, Andon systems, Gemba walks, Kaizen and so the list goes on, there is the history of it and what it...

People never seem to pay attention or understand what's being said, why do I have to keep repeating myself? We have said that our culture is X or that our priority is Y it was perfectly clear! I hear this time and again from leaders at all levels in organisations so often I'm losing count. Frequently it's backed up with I've told people this, we me...

Martin looked at the calendar on his wall and back to the invite on the screen to the off-site review. That can't be right he thought, we only just had an off-site to figure out this strategy stuff. He cast his mind back to the 2 days they had spent at the Hermitage Hotel in Mt Cook Village, it had become one of his favourite places on earth, the w...

A month ago I caught up with some friends for a drink and a chat to set the worlds to rights. I should explain that means we had a really good chat about everything that was bugging us and shared our various opinions on how to go about fixing it. Back home in Scotland, it's a great pastime, in part I think as a way of venting and letting off steam ...