On many occasions I have used the UK National Health Service (NHS) as an example of how effectiveness, efficiency and productivity are not the same thing. In this blog I want to look at why effective investments require clear objectives and before moving on to organisations in general I want…
Honey bees have the ultimate structure in that every bee understands the objective of the colony and every bee understands their place in achieving this. There is no hierarchy, even the queen has no authority over the others and yet everything operates perfectly. They have the ultimate communication system and…
The problem with the constant drive for productivity and efficiency is that it leaves little or no time for future improvements. Effective people do today what makes them better tomorrow. Effective organisations do the same. The strive for short term results particularly if you are reporting to a short-sighted organisation…
Normally the OSKAR method is used for coaching, and I believe it to be a very effective way of helping your clients. However, it can also be used to set objectives and help you achieve them. Here’s how using the OSKAR method to set effective objectives could be of use…
One of the delights of what I do is that I get to speak to so many fascinating people who are involved in interesting businesses. Many of them have growth as an “objective” but growth for growth’s sake is not a good idea. Nobody produces a product or service that…
My wife loves Wordle and plays every morning, often whilst I am writing this blog. Recently we had a discussion which made me think why Wordle shows how effective you or your organisation will be. The boss said to me there had been a “really great word”, “one that really…
In order to understand why managers are not effective but leaders are, we need to understand the difference. Management is about productivity and efficiency. Leadership is about effectiveness. The problem for managers is that the problems of efficiency and productivity have been solved. We have all the techniques, Lean, Prince,…
Having goals is important to ensure we are moving in the right direction but how to make goals effective? That’s the question. Goals can only be effective if there is an overall objective. Once we know the objective we can begin goal setting but how many people, businesses and organisations…