Tag Archives: leadership
Follow the #Leader
Good Managers don’t neccessarily make good Leaders & vice versa. Leaders can be found in any strata of society and it is probably true to say they are born rather than made although, they often need to be discovered. Here are some key leadership traits:-
- Leaders swim against the tide.
- They are often mavericks who don’t follow ‘the rules’ even the ones they create.
- They lead by example and practice what they preach.
- They are resillient and mentally strong.
- Often loathed as much as loved.
- Don’t care what everyone else thinks.
- Lead by inspiration.
- Upset people by stirring things up.
- Are often considered ‘awkward’ or demanding.
Are you a follower or a Leader ?
Jaguar Land Rover goes from strength to strength #innovation
This week Jaguar Land Rover released the following press statement:-
Rage against the machine…………………………#AI #Innovation
Are you a headless chicken?………………….#innovation
You must be doing something really important eh ? running around like a headless chicken all day putting those fires out. You haven’t got time to think about future products because your far too busy fixing the current ones!
But hang on a minute……if your not focusing on those future products where is your future revenue coming from when all the old ones become obsolete?
How do you escape this vicious circle ?
- Keep a timesheet to find out how much time you spend fire fighting & how much on future products.
- You will probably find it’s 80/20
- To turn this around you need to gradually increase the time you spend on future product development to 80%
- Resist the urge to persist in fire fighting.
- As time progresses the time you spend on fire fighting will decrease because you have put more effort into your future product development, getting it right first time and minimising the need for fire fighting.
so, are you a headless chicken ?
chris@projectsguru.co.uk
What is #Quality ?….
Quality has a number of definitions, ‘fit for purpose’, ‘exceeding expectations’ ‘meeting specifications’. It can be a tricky thing to measure but we all know it when we perceive it.
Take a Rolex watch for example, the materials used in its construction, its finish, its mechanical integrity all tell us it is a ‘Quality’ item – this is naturally reflected in its price.
Although lots of fakes exist it is impossible to replicate the original without investing the same levels of workmanship and materials into it’s manufacture. This gives us a clue as to the origin of the Quality of the object. It lies in the specification & manufacture of the object within a given set of tolerances.
This is reflected in the luxury end of the automotive industry where body panels are specified as beng within a tight dimensional tolerance which in previous generations of product may have been deemed impossible.
Such tolerances lead to a vehicle which is perceived as high Quality without the buyer neccesarily understanding why.
So, if we can capture the expectations of the customer & translate them into product specifications with tolerances we can design & build something which has increased added value & perceived customer Quality.
#Lean empowerment……
At the heart of the Toyota Production System (sometimes referrred to as #Lean Production System) is the principle of ‘Jidoka’.
According to Toyota “Jidoka means that a machine safely stops when the normal processing is completed. It also means that, should a quality / equipment problem arise, the machine detects the problem on its own and stops, preventing defective products from being produced. As a result, only products satisfying quality standards will be passed on to the following processes on the production line.”
But there is more to #Lean than this. The key component is the empowerment of the Operator to stop the process immediately a defect or potentialy defective process is discovered without referring the issue upward. The Operator can stop the production process without fear of retribution and is empowered to do so. This is a great responsibility and one which is not granted lightly, the Operator must be fully trained and the Organisation steeped in the culture of #Lean & #Kaizen (continuous improvement)
Granting this autonomy is absolutely key to the success of the TPS philosophy & unleashes immense forces of creativity & quality improvement.
Projectsguru.co.uk
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Climate Change cries out for a technological solution
The International Protocol on Climate Change issued a comprehensive report this week which indicated that 95% of Scientists agreed that Global warming was as a direct result of human activity and that unless we take decisive and immediate action average surface temperatures will rise 2 degrees Celsius by the end of this Century resulting in catastrophic changes to our weather systems.
Only the most foolhardy or blinkered could ignore such a report but generating action is proving to be incredibly difficult.
It is no good for relatively wealthy westerners to criticize people in other parts of the world for wanting to grow their economies and as a result share in the increased wealth this brings. In the last Century we were doing exactly the same and, whatever the faults of free market Capitalism, there is no denying the wealth generating energies it unleashes.
What we need is a technological solution to Climate change which allows energy to continue to be consumed without the harmful effects of carbon dioxide generation from fossil fuels.
Vast parts of the globe are barren deserts which could be used for solar power generation. If we embarked on an International Government backed enterprise to build a number of vast solar arrays we could generate a massive amount of clean energy and at the same reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. Of course this will not be easy and will bring massive engineering & scientific challenges (not to mention the political ones) but what could be more important than saving the planet on which we and our descendants live.
Allowing people to invest and profit from such an enterprise will guarantee success. This will allow continued economic growth without trashing the planet we all depend upon.
All it takes is some imaginative leadership from our Politicians, but maybe that’s asking too much ?
Projectsguru.co.uk
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10 things which make for Project success……#pmot
There are several things which make for a successful project, here are some of them:-
1)
The product or service which is the output of the project can be clearly specified. This is easier said than done especially when the output is a software system or something which is difficult to define. However, this makes the product spec more not less necessary. If the project is to be deemed a success the output needs to be defined as clearly and thoroughly as possible.
2) The product or service has one clearly defined customer. It is always easier to meet the demands of one tough customer rather than the competing demands of several. It is important to meet the customer or their representative face to face to agree the spec.
3) The Project Manager has experience of delivering similar projects.
4) The Team has been through the Storming, Forming & Norming stages of Team development.
5) The Team is multi-functional & chosen for this specific project.
6) The project is planned properly – 70-80% of the PM’s efforts should be expended in the planning phase, the plan should be repeatedly reviewed by the Team, and proper contingency should be put in place to manage the risks.
7) The PM needs real authority in order to ‘get stuff done’
8) Regular Team meetings need to be held to review progress.
9) The team are located in the same building, even better the same room.
0) The PM is calm, assured & approachable
Could you suggest some more ?
10 tips to minimize cost at the Design stage….
All companies need to be mindful of costs & for those producing products this is best done at the Design stage. Here are some suggestions:-
- Before beginning the design a Product Specification is essential, this needs to have been agreed at Senior Management level.
- The product design needs to meet the spec and no more.
- The material choice is critical, why make it out of gold if steel will do.
- Use minimum thickness, as long as the design meets the spec.
- Reduce the number of components as much as possible.
- Re-use existing design components wherever possible – this gives Purchasing negotiating strength over suppliers and reduces inventory.
- Consider Manufacturing by minimizing the number of process steps in manufacture.
- Hold regular Design reviews & involve other parts of the Organization.
- Build a prototype to test the design.
- If possible test the Design using Computer Aided Modelling.
If you need help minimizing cost at the Design stage feel free to get in touch.
chris@projectsguru.co.uk
Projectsguru.co.uk
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