Drive the learning
Drive the Learning: The Final Step in Sustainable Improvement In the previous four blogs, we have explored the foundational elements of effective organisational transformation: Articulate intent, Know the flow, Master the measures, and Engage the people. Each step builds upon the last, creating a coherent system of improvement rooted in clarity, systems thinking, and human […]
Master your measures
I first came across this approach of looking at data when I was undertaking a Master’s degree with the world’s first Professor of Quality Management, a great guy called John Oakland. Now, this thinking and these tools and techniques are so powerful (and so criminally (IMHO) under-utilised) that if I didn’t have a mortgage to […]
SWOT analysis
The SWOT analysis is probably the archetypal marketing or business planning tool, the origins for which seem have been lost in the mists of time. Some credit an American business thinker, a guy called Albert Humphrey, who worked at the Stanford Research Institute (now SRI International) for its invention. However, whilst he developed other tools, […]
Porter analysis
When to use it Porter’s Five Forces Model is another well-known, top-level, battle-hardened, often deployed tool for analysing the external competitive environment a business faces, but whereas PESTEL works at the macro-environmental level (looking at the issues beyond the control of the company), Porter works at a level below that, where, very significantly, given the […]
PESTEL Analysis
PESTEL analysis is probably one of the most well-known, top-level, battle-hardened and frequently deployed business planning tools – a great tool! PESTEL being an acronym for Political, Economic, Socio-cultural, Technological, Environmental and Legislation. When we first came across the tool (some 30 years ago) it was simply PEST analysis: the EL has been added along […]
The chain reaction
My management hero is a fella called Dr W. Edwards Deming and he developed his “chain reaction” model to explain how improving the way in which an organisation works, and how improving their products and services are delivered, can have a very positive impact on efficiency, effectiveness and productivity, which ultimately filters through to the […]