If you create an appropriate framework, people can understand what to do when you haven’t told them the details. All too often, organisations define rules that do not need defining. They may choose to set criteria for approvals, or host panels in order to evaluate submissions. A better approach in many cases is to create…
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Treating your customer as valuable could be the first step to understanding what your customer values. I went shopping in my local supermarket. It was eventful for the number of things that went wrong for me, all of which could have been prevented with some foresight and some real-world gemba. It was early…
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I’m writing a new book, this will be my second*. I’d written a couple of chapters last week, one of which focussed on how organisations leave problems for the customers to resolve, but that they don’t think of it that way. In one chapter, I used the example of “Warning. Hot Water.” signs, stipulating that…
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I read Vim‘s article on What Does Failure Mean for Public Services and I wanted to respond. I wanted to build upon Vim’s thoughts from my own perspective. I’ve developed that perspective over a couple of decades working across front-line teams and supporting teams, transforming workforces across public and private sector. This results in me…
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I’m divided in this, but lean towards only brief training, just enough to inform them, rather than enough to practice. On one hand, it pays to understand why change in general is necessary and specifically, why the change that you’re about to implement is necessary. Often I see professionals who spend time with the…
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Testing is not just for software, but for the business processes, organisation or service that you’re implementing? I’ve seen many test routines that are too artificial, too removed from the reality of what the users will go through. Fortunately this factor has improved over time, especially with more focus on user stories. Let’s consider one…
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Downloadable template in Excel and pdf for use with the forthcoming book Running with Knickers on Your Head covering change and service improvement in front-line services. Objectives PDF Objectives Excel Template
I heard this quote the other day, but I didn’t catch who originally said it. Art requires rigour, science requires creativity The first point is that it’s contrary to the standard view. The second point is that both perspectives are valid and that there shouldn’t be that much of a difference. It then made me…
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There are times when the cheap and nasty solution is so economically efficient that it can preclude doing it properly later on. Background – The Fax Just under a decade ago, I was working with a local authority client and their NHS hospital partner. The interpretation of the law at that time was that email was…
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Following the theme of moulding different modelling languages, methodologies and toolsets together, I want to take a look at how to model OKRs in Archimate. Once again, I’m using Archi (or ArchimateTool) with the Archimate modelling language. OKRs do not cascade Just because the diagram depicts a hierarchy, doesn’t mean that the objectives cascade down…
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