Having a goal can be counter-productive.
Continuous improvement initiatives I have seen almost always impose a "finishing line", correctly believing that focusing on an objective is a key to motivate performance. However, what they often miss in this approach to improvement is the cultural aspect of...
brand trashing
If you ever needed evidence of the power of social tools on the net to influence your brands, look at what is happening currently to the Wyeth S26 baby formula. Greenpeace did a couple of tests that indicated there may be genetically modified ingredients in S26, a...
Manufacturing capability shortcomings
A while ago I wrote that there seemed to be the beginnings of some thinking amongst the smaller manufacturing operations I interact with about the relative value of manufacturing in high cost Australia, and retaining control of, and having the opportunity to...
Compliance or Engagement
Much of the typical managers time is spent ensuring and managing compliance, ensuring the rules are followed, the standards and timetables are met. This is all fine, and must happen, but where does the balance between compliance and engagement happen? We are asking...
Print or electronic, not really either/or
A Wall Street Journal op-ed by Eric Schmidt, chairman of Google argues that the demise of printed media, particularly newspapers and magazines is as much a result of their own hubris as it is the advent of new media, and that the opportunities for journalism have...
The next billions
In Australia, we are considering the NBN, and the impact it will have, and argue about the best way to deliver it, cost effectively. A further debate should be the impact of connecting the billions of people in the world not yet connected, and what that may mean to...
Innovation at web speed.
"Open source innovation" is rapidly becoming an accepted strategy, an increasing trend as the communication tools on the net make it progressively easier, and people think up new ways to use them. Eric Von Hippel a professor at MIT wrote "Democratising Innovation"...
Sell the problem
Watching The Gruen Transfer a couple of weeks ago, one of the panelists quoted one of the oldest adages in marketing, 'Sell the problem" as if it was a revelation. Fact is, addressing the problem is often forgotten as marketers become so entranced by the features of...
Mutuality and network development
Social networks have boomed, tools to enable the networks abound, MySpace, twitter, face book et al being the most well known, but many more fail than succeed, and they do so based on the degree of mutuality that exists. Bear with me here. Imagine 2 people who have...
Focus on the process.
Focusing attention holistically on a whole process, end to end, and the productivity of the process will improve, improving the outcome. When you focus just on the outcome, all you get is the opportunity to improve the efficiency of the existing process, but it will...