The Productivity Miracle

Well, tonight is the night! The most amazing logistics productivity miracle when Santa and his team of reindeer deliver presents to millions of boys and girls (or at least those who have been good).

How does he do it? Well, taking a a look at his corpulent frame, he doesn't seem to be a follow of 'lean thinking'.

Clearly there is some advanced science involved ... teleportation, uncertainty principles and so on. In fact the list of scientific innovations is so long I prefer to give it its collective term of ... magic.

Happy Christmas.

Productive Greetings

Well, for those of us who celebrate it, Christmas is almost here. I finish work today - which means that I pack lots of things I haven't been able to get around to into a bag and pretend I'm going to tackle them over the Christmas break.

On past experience, I might get around to some of them. Its not that I'm averse to working in the holiday; just that I prefer to do things I want to do rather than things I should do.

This year this is compounded by the fact that I know my wife has had words with Santa and he should be bringing me an audio interface and supporting software so that I can record, edit and mix music on my PC. There will be a (pleasurable) learning curve which might take my attention away from work.

I hope the rest of you work out your own appropriate work-play-rest balance and I wish you well for the holiday and for 2008.

We never intended that...

A recent report from a committee of UK Members of Parliament suggests that recently revised NHS contracts which boosted hospital consultants' pay by more than a quarter have led to decreased productivity and a reduction in the number of hours worked.

Those of us in the performance measurement field will not be surprised at this. We know that it is absolutely crucial to know what you are measuring and why you are measuring it; and then to understand both the intended and possible unintended consequences of measuring it. You get what you measure and you get what you pay for! Therefore make absolutely sure that you are measuring and rewarding the right things.

Greener buildings

Builders in California are going back to school to learn how to cope with a new regulation which says that all new homes completed after 2020 must produce as much energy as they consume. The same regulation applies to all commercial buildings completed after 2030.

Of course the assumption is that buildings will consume very little and therefore need to produce very little ... but I haven't seen the detail and how carefully worded it is. A building that used lots of energy but produced lots of energy might meet the 'letter of the law' but would certainly not meet the 'spirit of the law' and could have a large carbon footprint. Let's assume they've got it right and rejoice.

(Quick law is often bad law!)

A paper exercise

A recent survey from Fujitsu/Siemens suggests that about half the printing that takes place in UK offices goes unread. Half! Where are the lean practises being applied to these offices? What about the Seven Wastes? In an era of service economies, office work is the dominant form of work, yet we seem to let it find its own levels of (in)efficiency.

For once, let's do what we've been saying we've been going to do for the last 10 years ... and reduce the paper mountain - its good for the economy, and its certainly good for business. I'm not suggesting (yet) the mythical paperless office ... but we could make a start and move from our peak back down to base camp.

Further sickbed reflections

Well, the saga continues with hopsitalisation. Nothing too serious but it did give me a chance to see the internal workings of a hospital ward for the first time in a long time. Lots of people working hard - but often to little effect it seemed to me. Little flow. Lots of ad hoc activity. Lots of form filling, little time for 'care'. The staff seemed as frustrated by it all as I was. They look in desperate need of liberating and empowering. The new all-graduate nursing profession has not found its new role - often sometimes acting as 'technicians' rather than 'care workers'.

What is the value of much of the work carried out? How does it help patients? Patients get their treatment - but as a series of scheduled interventions and procedures rather than as an integrated whole.

I would love to be let loose on parts of the health service with a set of simple productivity tools!

Mind the relapse

So. as I climb out of my sick bed (much better, thanks for asking), I remind you that the UK has had its wettest summer for some time and even the late sunshine will not stop many suffering from the 'winter blues'. What can a company do about it ... to ensure no drop in productivity. Well, perhaps as winter starts we need a few 'spirit-uplifting' events or celebrations ... even challenges. Let people know they are important ... not as 'human resources ... but as sentient, feeling, talented, creative human beings. In fact, perhaps we should build a movement to close down HR departments and replace them with 'talent banks'. This is not a 're-branding' exercise but a re-thinking exercise .... give the job to someone with no experience of HR but a passion for people.