Last Friday I was delighted to host a meeting of one of the Ecademy clubs I belong too (CEN). The event focused on issues relevant to Healthcare and we had a great mix of people, including some with extensive 'in house' expertise of working in the NHS.
What we discovered is that (not unsurprisingly) the opportunity for improvement is great, especially in the area of sustainable improvement (using a variety of tools such as Lean etc). It is perhaps one of the best environments for leading change - you have motivated and skilled people who share a common aim (delivering patient care).
However, the issues of 'improvement fatigue (IF)' and changing public priorities will make it a long and slow process to implement (and sustain) the benefits that individual trusts can realise.........fancy joining us to help make it happen?
Monday, October 30, 2006
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Loyalty in Adversity
When things start to go wrong in relationships (whether personal or business), loyalty becomes a very important issue.
If you have built up relationships with your network, when things start to go wrong they will support you - whether you are right or wrong - but when you haven't built the relationship, or if you use up all of your 'emotional credit', the loyalty and support is not there everything becomes much harder.
In change, it is important to have a relationship with the people you are working with so that when things start to 'get sticky' (and they will), they support the change.
The Duke of Wellington had a great saying which emphasises the power of loyalty and training and went something like, "When other Generals make a mistake they are beaten, but when I make a mistake my troops pull me through."
When things go wrong, who will support your change programme?
If you have built up relationships with your network, when things start to go wrong they will support you - whether you are right or wrong - but when you haven't built the relationship, or if you use up all of your 'emotional credit', the loyalty and support is not there everything becomes much harder.
In change, it is important to have a relationship with the people you are working with so that when things start to 'get sticky' (and they will), they support the change.
The Duke of Wellington had a great saying which emphasises the power of loyalty and training and went something like, "When other Generals make a mistake they are beaten, but when I make a mistake my troops pull me through."
When things go wrong, who will support your change programme?
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Buzzword Bingo
It is a very worrying fact that a lot of consultants use very complex language. Well, it isn't even limited to just consultants, but to pseudo- academics and pompous people of all persuasions!
Is it because they like the sounds of the words or because they do not really know the answer and need to use complexity to mask stupidity? In my time, I have worked with both groups of people, some of them even believing that they were really impressing others by using 'complex interactive knowledge processes' when in reality they were boring the others rigid and demonstrating quite the reverse of what they were hoping - instead of appearing intellectual, they appear confused and instead of appearing dynamic they appear boring.
I was prompted to write this entry by a good friend emailing me the link to Buzz Phraser which is, I am sure, where these people get their words from!
Is it because they like the sounds of the words or because they do not really know the answer and need to use complexity to mask stupidity? In my time, I have worked with both groups of people, some of them even believing that they were really impressing others by using 'complex interactive knowledge processes' when in reality they were boring the others rigid and demonstrating quite the reverse of what they were hoping - instead of appearing intellectual, they appear confused and instead of appearing dynamic they appear boring.
I was prompted to write this entry by a good friend emailing me the link to Buzz Phraser which is, I am sure, where these people get their words from!
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Every experience is unique
If you think about it, everything we experience is completely unique.
Where we are sat in a room of people is unique and therefore the acoustics at that point is unique. The way our brain processes the sound and then our conscious and sub-conscious analyse the sound into concepts we can understand is completely unique.
Two people sitting side by side listening to a speaker on a training workshop will both experience different events, take different learning and have different emotions.
This makes communicating such a fascinating topic for a consultant such as me - how do you ensure that the message you are transmitting is the message they are receiving - and how do you ensure that the activity you are leading is the activity they are needing.......
I don't have the answer, I only pose the question......
Where we are sat in a room of people is unique and therefore the acoustics at that point is unique. The way our brain processes the sound and then our conscious and sub-conscious analyse the sound into concepts we can understand is completely unique.
Two people sitting side by side listening to a speaker on a training workshop will both experience different events, take different learning and have different emotions.
This makes communicating such a fascinating topic for a consultant such as me - how do you ensure that the message you are transmitting is the message they are receiving - and how do you ensure that the activity you are leading is the activity they are needing.......
I don't have the answer, I only pose the question......
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Random Connection
I realised yesterday that all the important people in my life (other than brothers, uncles, aunties and children) I have met because of a random connection.
In a family context, I met my wife because she happened to be at a mutual friend's house when I was and in a business context, one of my business partners I met because I decided to try a different form of networking event.
Subsequently, these random connections lead to a wide range of things such as children, contracts, further introductions and friendships, but the root of all success comes from a random connection.
In analysing why this is an important message, it is because the more random connections you make, the more success you will have - but the real issue is pushing yourself to go and make those connections!
On a different issue, have you seen my other blog on Lean Sigma (called Flexiblean - pronounced Flexible Lean)
In a family context, I met my wife because she happened to be at a mutual friend's house when I was and in a business context, one of my business partners I met because I decided to try a different form of networking event.
Subsequently, these random connections lead to a wide range of things such as children, contracts, further introductions and friendships, but the root of all success comes from a random connection.
In analysing why this is an important message, it is because the more random connections you make, the more success you will have - but the real issue is pushing yourself to go and make those connections!
On a different issue, have you seen my other blog on Lean Sigma (called Flexiblean - pronounced Flexible Lean)
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