Insights
Writing from members and the council on complexity, execution and management in service and knowledge-work organisations.
Simplification Through Commitment
In a world where organisational structures often resemble hierarchies with top-down decision-making, Morning Star stands as a beacon of innovation. This renowned company in the food processing industry has redefined…
Why Todays Problems Often Come from YesterdaysSolutions……..and How to Break that Vicious Circle!
If you ask the people in your organisation, “how easy is it to get things done around here”, what would be the answer? Recent research at Arizona State University found…
Why Actively Managed Processes Tame Complexity and Empower People.
How hard is it to get things done in your organisation? Are your people relaxed and enjoying the open road or up to their ankles in complexity and ambiguity? Much…
The Tangible Benefits of Operational Excellence
What Is Operational Excellence and Why Does it Matter? Operationally excellent organisations minimise complexity and deliver products and services with minimal waste, cost, and errors. They strive for a continually-evolving…
The Futility of Planning for Certainty in an Uncertain World
Most, if not all modern organisations inhabit a VUCA world (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) but persist with using old style business tools and methods that were designed for more stable and certain…
The Pitfalls of Being a Results-Driven Organisation.
Organisations often boast about being, or aspiring to be, a results-driven organisation or having a results-driven culture, not understanding its pitfalls. Results are outcomes and when organisations focus mainly on…
IT Support team transformation
Facts Results What was at stake? The IT Management of the company wanted deeper understanding of the work done by their technology services teams and help them identify opportunities for…
Performance assessment: IT PMO
Facts Results The assessment was concluded with following recommendations What was at stake? The IT Management of the company wanted deeper understanding of the work done by their Project and…
Entanglement: The Core Driver of Frustration and Poor Productivity in Service and Knowledge-Work Organisations!
Globally, the low productivity of the service and knowledge work sectors is causing governments and economies a major concern, given that they now account for over 80% of GDP and the bulk of…
Quality versus quality? Why knowing the difference can help change your organisation for the better.
I recently came across an article proposing that “It’s time to stop measuring productivity” by Dominic Price, the resident “work futurist” at Atlassian. His “5 second summary” is: Unfortunately Dominic is perpetuating…