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…
ByMatthew Arnold
If you can’t describe what you’re doing as a process, you don’t know what you’re doing. A fantastic quote from the man who helped design practical work flow based on customer demand. He certainly helped Toyota in both: – designing cars based on what the customer actually wanted; and a – production process that was…
ByMatthew Arnold
595or is delighted to be sponsoring VODA Summer of a Lifetime in North Tyneside. Summer of a Lifetime is an exciting pilot project delivered by VODA in partnership with the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust and our national network of voluntary sector, Local Authority and Further Education Colleges, as part Government’s National Citizen Service…
ByMatthew Arnold
Rational behavior requires theory. Reactive behavior requires only reflex action. @demingSoS
ByMatthew Arnold
Arguing for an end to back offices and target driven approaches, John Seddon outlines theories that could permanently alter management approaches. When I was a young man the term ‘back office’ did not exist. Today it is in common parlance; it is considered axiomatic that back offices are a feature of efficiency; Whitehall extols their…
ByMatthew Arnold
Fans of Only Fools & Horses will remember Dell-Boy’s great line to the supermarket check-out girl, “Did you sue them?” When asked who, he replied “The Charm School!” And many of us will have found ourselves in circumstances when we would have loved to use the same sarcastic wit. Good customer service is one of…