Taking the customers’ journey to the boardroom. Hands-on operational review. Rapid diagnosis. Sustainable results.
ByMatthew Arnold
For years (centuries?) there have been boundary issues, discussions and disputes between parishes, districts, boroughs and counties. Where are the lines to be drawn, and who takes responsibility? Each political area then has its own structure of management – and in most cases consists of: unpaid political leaders and members to give the strategic direction…
ByMatthew Arnold
Do you ever think that some of the management books and technical jargon are far more complicated than they really need to be? A recent podcast by the Freakonomics team reminded me of some simple service “production line” stuff that seems to get forgotten. Over the years, I have worked in many claims processing systems,…
ByMatthew Arnold
Or perhaps another questions for anyone that owns an iPod, iPad or iPhone: when was the last time you pressed “Buy” in the app store and it didn’t work? For me, this is at the heart of Systems Thinking.What does the customer want? –then design a process that delivers it right-first-time as quickly and as…
ByMatthew Arnold
I was reminded of this great quote from the master of the Toyota Production System today: Costs do not exist to be calculated. Costs exist to be reduced. – Taiichi Ohno As a Chartered Accountant, I am well trained to understand cost – especially with respect to Activity…
ByMatthew Arnold
“Do we need to understand Psychology in the business environment?” – yes. But we probably don’t all need degrees in it. What I think is essential for leadership, whether in operations or change management, is basic emotional intelligence – some understanding and empathy with those you work with. From my experience, these aspects can very…
ByMatthew Arnold
Of course the answer is yes. As long as you can get into a position to see the organisation as a system, including the context in which it operates. One of the fundamental concepts of Lean and Systems Thinking is taking an outside-in perspective – typically from the customers’ perspective. At a strategic level, this…
ByMatthew Arnold
When I explain to people what it is that I do, the end result is often “Ah, you’re a change consultant.” The conversation rarely begins with “What are you actually changing to?” It’s a bit like talking about a journey from A to B – and focusing solely on the car you’re driving, without ever…
ByMatthew Arnold
I recently travelled to the Czech Republic to visit a training organisation, Centrum Andragogiky. Lean and Systems Thinking is well embedded in the Czech Rebublic and Centrum Andragogiky currently train many organisations both in service and manufacturing. They know their stuff, both theory and practice. Working with Laurie Denton and Paul Thomas from LD Associates we…
ByMatthew Arnold
Business issues can often feel either complicated or complex – and sometimes both. And yet I regularly see senior management trying to find a simple solution. If only life were that easy! I’m frequently asked to help diagnose serious business situations spanning 100s of employees doing their job, together with their team leaders, managers and…
ByMatthew Arnold
If “customer service” is a department you are probably missing the point… What does this mean to you? Are all of your employees in ‘Customer Services’? Have they got permission to take control of customer situations and resolve the issue completely? Do you learn from these issues and work to make sure that they are resolved at…