Problem Solving Sessions - Worthless Without the Right People

By Adriaan du Plessis on Jun 9, 2015 8:17:17 PM


Recently, whilst facilitating both a problem solving session and on a second occasion a decision making session, it struck me again how worthless these processes are in the absence of the right people.  The two experiences were such a contrast, that I needed to write about them.

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Information - the Key to Performance Improvement

By Nick Bickell on May 19, 2015 3:43:41 PM

One of the most common, and useful measures of operational profitability for many organisations is COST per UNIT.

Unfortunately this concept is discussed at higher management levels, but rarely at lower levels.


Lower down we tend to talk about volumes and operating costs in isolation with little reference to each other. This results in the much debated problem of chasing volumes while ignoring costs. The converse also occurs frequently with equally damaging results.

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Creation of Hybrid Solutions through Consensus in Team Problem Solving

By John Hudson on May 6, 2015 5:28:44 PM

(Blog 4 of 5)

 

Any Fool can know. The point is to understand.
- Albert Einstein


The above Einstein quote is one of my favourites, partly because it is more relevant today than it has been at any other time in history. “Any Fool can know” - and if they don’t already know a quick search in Google using a selection of key words will soon give them the answer - For Example the information relating to the sinking of the Titanic over 100 years ago

  • Question - Which passenger ship sunk by iceberg? - The Titanic

A more difficult question to pose and if you are looking for the more important pieces of information!

  • Question - “Why did the Titanic sink?”
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Guidelines for Effective Root Cause Analysis

By Adriaan du Plessis on Feb 10, 2015 8:33:00 PM

Root Cause Analysis Efforts are generally procedure based and structured, but how do you know whether the process is effective? Answering this question is almost like the remark a client made in a discussion with me recently, namely “Where do you start drawing a circle?”

The simple answer is, you put a pen on paper and start drawing. A lot can be learned from this statement when considering whether a root cause analysis effort is effective. Often there is a lot of initial inertia and people arguing as to how the root cause process should be structured. An effective process will be of such a nature that you can start work on the problem immediately, such as gathering and organizing information, without unnecessary time delays.

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