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.
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...
Taking the Sting out of Failure
The failure A couple of years ago I had a workplace nightmare. I was pushing a big initiative and I needed it to be a…
Pointless Conversations
Management meetings Do you ever lose the will to live in management meetings? Sometimes they are so bad I want to scoop out my eyeballs…
Cauliflower for Brains
Your brain is finite. Your brain is roughly the same size, shape and weight as a cauliflower. There the similarities end. Your brain is —…
Performance Appraisals Drive Mediocrity
It is mid-year If you work in the corporate world that means you have been busy writing appraisals. If you have never seen one, the…
Failing to Learn
Flight 1549 On the 15th of January 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 struck a flock of canada geese as it was climbing away from New…
Better to Be Approximately Right Than Precisely Wrong
Spurious accuracy Thirty years ago I sat in a factory office with my head bowed low, looking at the dirty grey lino floor. My boss,…
There Are Lies, Damned Lies and Descriptive Statistics
Anscombe’s quartet Here are some interesting numbers for you. Interesting in a geeky sort of way… They are 4 sets of readings for two variables,…
For “Game Changing” Performance, Change the Game
Game changingEverybody is hell-bent on moving quicker, faster and harder. Everybody wants “game changing” levels of performance improvement. Managers, executives and shareholders demand it…So...
Three Types of Culture
1. Blame culture I am not a big fan of blaming people when things go wrong. There are two reasons why: It is hard to…
Teenagers, Bedrooms and Cash Payments
I nearly broke my neck At the entrance to my eldest daughter’s bedroom there is a short flight of steps. As I went to wake...
Performance Management Best Practice
There is an awful lot of performance management “best practice” out there. Lots of books, seminars, HR gurus and management consultants who tell you...
Targets Don’t Work!
A management education 21 years ago I was a bright young thing. I was single, had a good job and I was determined to make my...
Penny Wise Pound Foolish
Economies of scale For a while I worked in an organisation that obsessed about costs. Everybody had a target to cut the costs that they...
The Simplest Way to Improve Performance – Possibly
An interesting story: Courtesy of Donella Meadows: Near Amsterdam, there is a suburb of single-family houses all built at the same time, all alike. Well, nearly alike.…
The Problem with Cause and Effect
We think in straight lines Cause and effect. If I do this, then that will happen. If I make this change then I will get that...
The Ultimate Business Constraint
Running a business is tough I used to run my own business. It was hard work. I have the utmost respect for anybody who does…
Did Process Improvement Destroy Starbucks?
The Memo I came across a memo from Howard Schultz, the chief executive of Starbucks the other day. Here are the bits that caught my…