Business Success Is a Function of the Mindset - The Value of Change

Introduction

The death of Steve Jobs exposed us all to so much information about what drove his leadership style. From the general discussions that flowed after his death, one can discern that visionary leaders like have certain characteristics in common, irrespective of the diverse industries, personal background and business style.

In business schools, one learns about the significance of change as a catalyst for business growth and success. Therefore, it may not be too difficult to convince business owners and managers about the positive values of change; yet, experience tells us that the practical aspects of evidencing the adoption of change as a business philosophy can be difficult to demonstrate in most businesses. This is more so with small businesses where the owner/leader is actively involved in the production processes giving him/her little room to reflect purely on supposedly routine administrative functions.

Developing a Culture of Continuous Improvement

Introduction

This article provides an overview of organisational culture, how it is formed and the practical actions that can be taken to understand and shape it. The prevailing culture of an organisation has a major impact on its ability to react to changes in market forces, develop innovative new services and products or adopt more efficient practices and processes. We have written this paper for managers within a wide range of organisations who are looking for practical advice and information to help them create an environment that will enable them to successfully adopt improvement methodologies such as Lean, Six Sigma and Continuous Improvement.

A Definition of Organisational Culture

An organisation's culture comprises all of the values, beliefs, assumptions, principles, myths, legends and norms that define how individuals and groups of people think, make decisions and perform. 

Realising Benefits From Your Investment In Lean

Introduction

The only reason for an organisation to invest in Lean (or similar methodology) is to generate business benefits. The benefits expected are most commonly financial in nature but could also include for example improved customer service, increased productivity or safer processes. Lean is structured common sense and provides individuals and organisations with a clear methodology to help them transform culture and improve performance.

A Lean Organisation can be simply described as one that successfully generates significant benefits from their investment in Lean over an extended period. In addition, the Lean Organisation will have very specific behaviours that support the use of Lean and the adoption of new, more effective, processes, along with widespread staff engagement.

Change Readiness As Currency

There are many different kinds of currency, but they all do the same thing - they can be exchanged for something else. Money is the item we most commonly think of as currency, but there are others. Frequent flyer points or rewards programs are a kind of currency, allowing you to exchange points for travel or goods.

The education sector has its own kind of currency. In Australia, students in their final year of high school sit for exams and receive a ranking. The higher a student is ranked the more choices they have in university courses. Their ranking is a kind of currency they can use to 'buy' their way into particular courses.

The change process, too, has its own currency; and that currency is change readiness. People with readiness in abundance have the ability to take up all sorts of opportunities and adapt to circumstances in their environment much easier than those who really struggle with change. Their readiness is a kind of currency that allows them to capitalise on opportunities and to adapt and innovate.

Morale and Change: What Role Does Morale Really Play in Your Business's Change Strategy

I was recently asked by a friend and colleague about the role employee morale plays in the change process, and how I recommend implementing change with either good or bad morale present.

First, for this discussion, morale will be understood to be the overall mood of an organization. This mood will be either good or bad, exist in varying degrees, and apply differently to people throughout the organization. The aggregate of all the individual moods within the organization becomes the overall morale; i.e. "The morale here at XYZ Co. is pretty good."

Secondly, it's very important to understand that morale is an effect. Many believe morale to be an underlying emotion, but it's not. Morale is an outward expression, a physical manifestation of some emotional state. As such, morale should not be the focus of change but rather a measurement of how successful a deeper change strategy is.

Dangerous Job Risk Management Methods

Unfortunately, injuries and fatalities at the workplace are part of our lives. Some jobs are more dangerous than others, and the danger and risk level they contain is much greater than regular office jobs. Having a dangerous job naturally means being exposed to risks. But that doesn't mean that those risks can't be managed, and correct dangerous job risk management can greatly improve job safety and keep injuries and fatalities at a minimum.

Here is an example of a simple, 5 step process to dangerous job risk management:

1. Identifying and ranking the major workplace injury and fatality causes: First things first - why are workers being injured or killed? This basic step will help to focus on the main risks of the profession (Causes can be highway and road side accidents, falls, injuries by equipment, etc....).

So, You Are Just Too Busy Huh?

Has selling really changed in the past several years? Are people just too busy today to have a conversation with someone who can help them increase their business? You would be amazed how many times I hear on the phone from prospects, "I'm just too busy to discuss this." So I follow up with, "Are you too busy to discuss how I can bring you more customers?" or "Are you too busy if I can show you how you can solve a major business challenge today?" Whatever - the point is - are people really to busy or stressed to consider options that will benefit them or are they just turned off by anyone, no everyone, trying to sell them something?

I have heard from hundreds of clients over the years things like, "Thank you for sticking with it." "Thanks for all your effort to sell us." Etc. But I have often asked, "What if I hadn't stuck with it, you would have never known the benefits you have enjoyed." They all agree.