Business Improvement

What is Business and Operational Excellence?

January 15, 2023

Occasionally you come across a term that you are sure at one point meant a lot. Yet it has been used so widely, in so many contexts that it has become just a white noise statement. What I mean by this is the idea has been overused, twisted and applied without too...

Don't Make Your Business Complicated

June 27, 2022

We humans are funny creatures. For some crazy reason we love to try and make things - processes, work, tasks harder than they really need to be. I am making this comment as I reflect on conversations and observations I have had with many different businesses recently. ...

Smart Business….. Measure for Success, Your Success

March 14, 2022

This really is an extension of the previous blog, mainly because it is so important to understand how and what to measure as part of a business improvement journey. Many businesses get it wrong, very wrong and use measures, data, information as a big stick, if you don�...

What is Lean Visual Management?

December 13, 2021

Visual Management in the workplace. This is a term used many, many times during a Lean journey. It is used so much that it can also become white noise, a cliche term. So if it is used a lot, what does it actually mean? What does it look like? The answer, like man...

Seven Signs that you need a bit of Lean in your Life

October 14, 2021

For a long time now I have spouted the benefits of a Business Improvement approach to a small and medium business (SME). Using Lean as a central element driving the improvement activity, there are multiple benefits to a business. Better work culture and a more profitable bus...

Control What You Can

September 29, 2021

The last two years have shown us all that the world, let alone the business environment is not a predictable place. This has always been the case but now it seems magnified to the extremes. Owning and operating a business is hard enough, let alone in such an environmen...

How Does Lean Improve Productivity?

September 16, 2021

Improving the Productivity in Small and Medium Businesses (SME’s) is what gets me out of bed every day. In New Zealand, SMEs have some of the world's worst productivity statistics in the OECD. There are many factors that impact productivity, therefore there is no sil...

Is Lego Serious Play a Team Building Activity?

August 31, 2021

Before writing this blog, my immediate answer to that question was NO. LEGO Serious Play (LSP) is so much more powerful than just having fun together as a team, playing crazy games and having a few drinks at the local pub. My ‘Why’ is all about being crazily passio...

What are the 8 Wastes of Lean?

August 18, 2021

It is mentioned in just about every blog post I write. It is the first thing a person will learn when discovering Lean, especially if they work with me. It is one of the key cornerstones of Lean thinking - so what the hell is ‘it’? Simply, ‘it’ are the 8 Wastes...

Can Lean work for single (small) business owners?

July 30, 2021

I get asked all the time if Lean is just for manufacturing or can it be applied to any type of business. Of course the answer is yes! Less often a question arises - Lean might be all very well for a decent size business, but what about the solopreneur? Or even the Mum ...