Operational Controls are Worthless if They Aren’t Maintained At approximately 5 pm on Monday 22nd June 2009, a Washington Metro train heading towards Shady Grove smashed into the rear of the train ahead of it. The Automatic Train Control system had instructed the train to travel at full speed (55 mph). When the driver of […]
What Do You Wish You Were You Good At?
Management Innovation When people think about innovative businesses what excites them? I’ve heard plenty of people getting frothy about their new phone and all the fancy apps it comes with but I have yet to hear anybody getting agitated about washing machines and microwave ovens. Domestic appliances or “white goods” do not set the imagination […]
Does All That “Structure” Help?
Organisations are complicated They have: Customer requirements Partner requirements Legal requirements Compliance requirements Legacy systems Specialist teams Obsolete databases Competitive pressure Profitability problems And all those competing priorities are in conflict with each other. How do we manage complexity? By creating process and structure: RACI frameworks Target Operating Models Interim targets Delegated authority levels KPIs Heads […]
A Splendid Waste of Time
Is management by wandering around a good thing? I was talking to a friend of mine today. He used to work for the Royal Navy. He navigated ships in his 20’s. Apparently getting H.M.S. Ocean around the Isle of White and into the Solent without sinking some fool in a yacht is no mean feat. Particularly […]
The Dreadful Secret About Process Maps
Boxes and Arrows It is one of the greatest quality management tools… And you all know how to do it. You all know how to draw up a process map or create a flow chart. It’s easy, you write the activity in the box and then link it to the next box with an arrow. Simple. And […]