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James Lawther

James Lawther
James Lawther is a middle-aged middle manager. To reach this highly elevated position he has worked for many organisations, from supermarkets to tax collectors and has had multiple roles from running a night shift to doing operational research. He gets upset by operations that don't work and mildly apoplectic about poor customer service.

You Had One Job!

Design Error I’m in the doghouse. Mrs Lawther asked me to do the washing whilst she was out. As I am a modern man and...

Long-Term Strategy

Playing the Long Game If there is one company that epitomises long-term strategy, it is Amazon. On May 15th 1997, Amazon sold shares to the…

What Is a Balanced Scorecard?

Dull but Important What Is a Balanced Scorecard? That is not an exciting question. So let me try and give you a compelling answer. A…

Does Culture Eat Strategy for Breakfast?

My Favourite Quote Peter Drucker once said that “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. Those words chime so loudly for me that it is like sitting…

The Art of Fighting Fires

Managing Complexity In the late 00’s Michelle Barton and Kathleen Sutcliffe carried out a study of wildfires in the US.  They wanted to understand why…

Learning From the Boy Who Cried Wolf

False positive and false negative Lots of us are paid to make decisions: Maybe you decide how to treat a patientMaybe you decide if a…

How to Make a Pile of Money

Continuous Improvement When he died last year Feodor Ingvar Kamprad was worth — depending on who you listen to —  somewhere between 3 and 28…

The Most Profitable Activity in the World

Collaboration The iPhone is — arguably — the most profitable product in the world.  Since it was launched in 2007 it has sold over 700…

Are Your Human Resources an Asset or a Liability?

Theory X or theory Y? In the 1950’s Douglas McGregor proposed theory X and theory Y.  He suggested that managers see their employees in one…

How to Turn a Supertanker

Leverage There is a management metaphor that changing the direction of an organisation is a bit like changing the direction of a supertanker.  It can…

Stating the Blindingly Obvious

High Performing Teams If there’s a subject that will get the good people in H.R. excited it is high performing teams.  They are the holy grail…

Centre of Excellence or Management Folly?

The centre of excellence How many times have you heard the claim “We are building a centre of excellence”? Or, even more triumphant, “We are…

All That Glisters…

The next big thing There is a revolution going on in the world of medicine.  Robotic surgery equipment is being installed in operating theatres across…

Pointless Conversations

Defining the metric People get very excited about metrics, they spend hours debating exceptions and accuracy.  Definition becomes everything. Imagine the conversation… My Boss: You…

Outcome or Effort, Which Should You Reward?

Do you focus on outcomes, positioning your staff and yourself as life’s winners. Or does all your effort go into the inputs, how hard your…

Short Breaks Will Kill You

Quantitative or Qualitative Analysis? An apocryphal tale… A statistician working for a large organisation was asked to explain why sick pay was increasing.  The business…

Cigarettes and Alcohol

Prohibition Noun: The act of forbidding something, especially by law In 1919 the US government attempted to reduce levels of alcohol consumption.  They passed legislation…

Which Is Most Important, Perception or Performance?

For those who believe that perception is reality, performance isn’t important, but perceived performance is everything. There are three ways to improve perceived performance:

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…

Do You Believe in Brainstorming?

Conventional wisdom Noun: The generally accepted belief or opinion about a particular matter. Conventional wisdom may be proven to be untrue. Example: It is widely believed that before the voyage of Christo...

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