Owning what you create. There’s a lot to be said for feeling real sense of ‘ownership’ of the things you build, manufacture, write, create or the service you provide. Ultimately it’s all about quality. If you care about what you are doing you should be prepared to put your name to it. By ‘signing’ whatever […]
5 Reasons Why Posters are a Great Knowledge Exchange Method
I’ve seen poster displays many times, in many places, but it never really struck me that not only are they are a very effective method of sharing knowledge, they also support staff engagement. Poster displays as part of Kaizen and Continuous Improvement processes in places like Ricoh Telford and the IdeasUK annual conference have always attracted me, but I’ve not seen […]
Meetings are the symptom of bad organisation. Yes, but no, but maybe?
For anyone who works in a large organisation this will resonate. You can back it up with comments you might have heard over the years, like; “meetings suck the life-force out of me”, “that’s two hours of my life I will never get back” and “that was a big waste tax payers / shareholders money”. Top […]
Guilt Free Continuous Improvement with Cardboard and Sticky Tape
Good News! I’ve found a way of not feeling guilty about ‘over’ enjoying myself during the sort of team building events where I have to build the Eiffel Tower out of cardboard, pipe cleaners and sticky tape. Many people will have participated in similar exercises (with variable degrees of enthusiasm) but I suspect that most […]
Graphic Recording – My (Very Slow) Time Lapse Photography
I’m not going to win any prizes for photography here; I just wanted to illustrate some graphic recording in action. I’m a big fan of using graphics as a method of knowledge exchange and communication. Previously I’ve mentioned the work of Paul Richardson who did great work at Public Services Wales Summer School and Delta7 […]
Dysfunctional organisations can turn a good person bad.
You may have heard the proverb “if you sup with the devil you need a (very) long spoon”. The idea is that if you mix with bad people you should be careful not to be influenced by them and start behaving badly yourself. It’s a very old sentiment that was mentioned as far back as […]
Sticking it to the Man! Painted Sparrows on Alcatraz and Disengaged Employees.
Apologies to any birdwatchers that recognise this as a Painted Bunting, and not a common brown sparrow that has been ‘jazzed up’ by an Alcatraz inmate. I read about the Alcatraz painted sparrows in a book by former inmate Darwin Coon. Back in the 1960s the Alcatraz prisoners creatively used their painting equipment on the […]
Engaged or actively disengaged employees. Where do you focus energy?
Here is a guest post from my good friend Ena Lloyd. A better biog will follow once I get some decent internet connection in Tuscany. Thanks Ena….. I also attended the IdeasUk Employee Engagement network meeting, hosted by the Wales Audit Office in Cardiff, where it was great to meet colleagues not only from the […]
Employee Engagement = Kaizen + Passion in the West Midlands (Ricoh Telford to be exact)
A while back when I was writing Kaizen! Toast v Beer, Who Wins? I came across this quote “continuous improvement is the result of continuous involvement”. I couldn’t remember where and ended up searching absolutely loads of websites offering advice on Kaizen, Lean manufacturing and employee engagement, including a few where you can buy it […]
What's the PONT 