Why do people keep pretending that useful things have not been invented For example, I keep seeing waiting staff in restaurants struggling to carry more than a couple of plates and IK want to shout 'There is such a thing as a tray" but some unwritten convention decrees the tray to an 'object non grata'.
When we are young and inexperienced, we tend to think that if we work harder we will be more productive. As we gain experience (and age), we start to realise that this is not true. Too much of our effort is unproductive. We slowly learn to work smarter, to prioritise, to eliminate waste, to think our way to
I was back in China last week. The economic miracle of China is well know but many people still think it was, and is, built on cheap labour and ‘copycat’ products. These people have never been too a modern Chinese gigafactory - lots of automation, just in time manufacturing, good use of AI - all
I watch quite a bit of sport on TV, including American football. Those of you who know the game will know that each side has virtually 3 teams playing in a match - the offence, the defence and what are called ‘special teams’ who handle kick off, kickoff reception and other isolated events. Each of
Recently I got caught up in a great commute ... I had to travel into the city centre at the same time as all the other unfortunates that do so at the sane time every day. It is clear (or it should be) that we need a new model of work, of workplaces, of team
At a Board meeting in Beijing, China, a number of changes were made to the officers of WCPS. Peter Watkins was named President of WCPS, replacing John Heap who resigned from the role. Mike Dillon was named as Chairman of WCPS. Chen Shengchang was named as President of the World Academy of Productivity
Does your organisation practise 5S? The answer Is probably ‘No’. It is a much misunderstood and little used approach., regarded by many as ‘mere housekeeping’. It is, of course, housekeeping but absolutely not ‘mere’ housekeeping. It improves engagement, productivity and safety ... who doesn’t want to do that? As an example, think of your home desk.
Healthy workers are productive workers. it is hard to argue with that statement. However, we might argue about what makes a healthy worker. Unlike the darkest day’s of the industrial revolution, nowadays, there are not many jobs - in developed countries- that are physically damaging or dangerous. There are, though, many jobs which create anxiety,
Many companies now encourage staff to get involved in charitable work. Some even organise it and provide resources, especially time. The motivation is usually to improve the company image amongst the local community. However there is a much more important reason for engaging with charitable work. We want our employees to engage with us, to
I am not immune from careless or overhasty thinking. Recently I read a report on new developments for air conditioning making devices more energy efficient. My immediate thought was that we should just get rid of air conditioning and, for example, stop living in places where cooling is necessary. Of course, at the time, I