Its a Learning Problem
Behind many productivity problems is a learning problem. It is astonishing how often employees are poorly trained ... and in many cases, completely untrained, to do the job they are supposed to do. We then
Small is beautiful
In 2007, the state of Iowa in the USA hired Mike Rohlf, a black belt in Six Sigma, to apply 'Lean' to the various processes and procedures of state government. Mike is still there ...
Spend wisely
A recent report from IDC Manufacturing Insights suggests that the IT spend in Indian manufacturing organisations will double by 2016. Will this give them a rise in productivity? Almost certainly. Not necessarily as a direct
They’re not to blame
I'm writing this in Pakistan ... whilst taking a look at some aspects of Pakistan's horticultural sector. If you take a look at 'the figures' they suggest that this sector is quite 'inefficient', yet when
… and Jerk
Did you see what I did there. Possibly too clever for my own good but I carried on the title of this post from the title of my last one. How often have you felt
Clean!
Anyone who has practiced 5S will know the value of tidiness and cleanliness. Yet, all too often we see dirty, untidy workplaces ... creating inefficiency. Wherever you see untidiness, think "This is costing me money"
Where are you?
Imagine for a moment that you are in charge of the country. Your country needs you to increase its competitiveness… you know the best way to do this is to improve its productivity. Of course,
Less is sometimes more
Sometimes we want output to go down .. sometimes we even want people doing as little work as possible. Think of maintenance engineers ... we want them efficiently and effectively involved in preventative maintenance. We
More food, please
Food inflation combined with inadequate gains in productivity are clear indicators that our ability to feed a rapidly growing population is at serious risk without swift action. Example 1 Eggs are one of the most
Unintended consequences
Governments (bless them!) often do things with good intentions.. but often fail to think through the unintended consequences of their actions. Take energy subsidies as an example. Quite a few governments subsidise energy prices ...
8,000 years
I've talked in the past about the need to improve agricultural productivity to keep the world fed. This was brought home to me this week when I read an astonishing fact. (Assuming, of course, that
Convergent Thinking
At the recent Rio summit (the less than spectacular one) there was some discussion about whether GDP is the best measure of a nation's well-being ... in an age where we are increasingly looking at
Efficiency, Effectiveness and Productivity
You will recognise the 3 word in the title to this post as being .... well, what, exactly? related terms? or synonyms? If you do a search for these terms online, you can find lots
Standing in the shoes of others
Business seems to have lost its ethical context. Business decisions are taken according to whether they are within or outside of legal and regulatory frameworks ... not whether they are within or outside of prevailing