ByMatthew Arnold
The ability to really change organisations lays with the senior team. We’ve all heard of the need for a “burning platform” as an ignition for change – put who at the top will “admit to failure” if a burning platform exists. We’re immediately into a conundrum, which locks most management teams into continuing with what…
ByMatthew Arnold
Toyota may well train their employees, but the real investment is allowing these employees to engage their brains at work – giving them time and space to make continuous improvements. And yes, they may well need a little help in learning how to do this. The “investment” here is time away from immediate productive work…
ByMatthew Arnold
There is always more to learn – and when it comes to understanding the work place from a Lean Systems Thinking perspective, new learning seems to change the learning of yesterday. May be because there are always new ways to improve, and each situation has it’s own unique set of circumstances. This is a good…
ByMatthew Arnold
You’ve decided you need to change – there’s a problem, and it’s got to stop. You now understand the true purpose of the organisation – so you know where you’re aiming and why. You’ve understood the end-to-end process – and realise it’s broken. You now have two decisions: What method do you use to design…
ByMatthew Arnold
It’s easy to get stuck in a rut, or “turn native” when faced with a problem, a way of working, or when a decision is needed. And when working in groups, you may also sometimes wonder where others’ viewpoints are and where their suggestions (which may not always appear helpful) are coming from. Edward do…
ByMatthew Arnold
A few weeks ago I attended a conference where one of the speakers (a charismatic and knowledgeable young man) spoke about the need to engage the workforce in the change process. All good, sensible stuff. During the presentation one of the attendees asked “but what if we can’t get the senior managers to agree to…
ByMatthew Arnold
I was talking to a colleague recently, and began discussing some of the transformation work that I had undertaken to help improve customer service at a local authority. (See my blog entry here.) Not for the first time, an assumption was very quickly made that an improvement to service, and a dramatic reduction in the…
ByMatthew Arnold
So, you post your form off to the post office/tax office/council/insurance company/bank/cable company (* delete applicable). What happens next – from your perspective? “They” are busy getting on with it – right? Two weeks go by – so you give them a call? You spend a while on the phone as they track down your…
ByMatthew Arnold
A great deal has been written about Steve Jobs in the last few days – and my favourite was written by Horace Dediu on the asymco site (see links below). If ever there was a Systems Thinker, he was the man – making great business his way, and not getting sucked into “this is the…
ByMatthew Arnold
So why do these thing happen? In the office, in the factory, in the customer service centre? If you really want to find out why we do things, ask why 5 times – who knows what you might find… Check this funny little video : A Funny “Whys” Video from the Lean Blog And a…