Politicians are binary creatures. They view important issuers as black and white,.  They are right and everyone else is wrong.  They rarely listen to conflicting views because they KNOW those holding contrary views cannot be

Do we want to design processes that are ‘good’? Well, we first have to define ‘good’. I would suggest that ‘good’ processes are consistent processes. If a process is consistent, we can observe it, measure

Sometimes, very small parts of a process can have a massive impact on overall performance. Take Formula 1 racing. Quite often, the winner is determined by when tyre changes are carried out .., or the

Many of us are about to celebrate the start of a new year. It is traditional to make resolutions or promises to oneself that should make us a better person in some way. Those of

Six Sigma is based on consistency - on reducing variation so that processes run smoothly and consistently, to their specification. Most processes have some variation - due to inconsistency of raw materials, variations in machine

What will a group of productivity experts do for you if you want to improve productivity. Well, the best you can expect is to gain wisdom about best current practice.  That’s the job of an expert

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

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

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

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,

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

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

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 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

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

There are great hopes for autonomous vehicles - though some worry about whether the technology is ‘up to the job’. There are some driving situations and conditions where autonomy is relatively easy and others (driving

I have been doing quite a bit of work with Lean approaches and techniques recently. I like Lean ... not because of the tools and techniques (which are excellent on the whole) ... but because

The benefits of workforce diversity are well documented. Usually, however, these relate to diversity in race, gender and sexuality. There are also benefits in an age-diverse workforce where the different attitudes and skills that come

It is difficult to change the behaviour of a child who is a fussy eater. If you try to punish, you reinforce the negative associations of the food they don’t like. If you try to

Many people look to famous entrepreneurs as role models. They see people driven by success, working hard over long hours and completely focused. However, they fail to realise that such people might be ‘wired’ differently

One of things we do, as productivity professionals, is to examine the evidence - the performance data - to identify where problems and Improvement opportunities exist.  Indeed, we often go further to investigate the root

Many firms believe that technology will make them more productive - technology in their main processes and in their communication/administrative processes. Technology, of course, can be an aid to productivity. But it is only really

A few weeks ago I wrote about the need to take some time away from the pressures of work to recharge your body and mind and come back stronger.  Here is little tip (hack?) complementary

I have been reading and writing about Lean quite a bit recently. It is one if those topics where the more you know and the more you read, the more you realise you don’t know.