Team formation

Forming, storming, norming and performing are the four key stages in team formation.

Forming: This is a short lived period…

Strategy

“Management has to give direction to the institution it manages. It has to think through the institution’s mission, has to set its objectives and…

Short term thinking

One of Demings ‘Seven Deadly Diseases’ is ‘The Emphasis on Short-Term Profits’ and therefore on short term thinking. Despite the lessons of the…

Leadership Reflections

Here is a simple exercise to help you reflect on your leadership.

Make two lists.  One is headed, ‘leadership I respected and valued’, the…

The purpose of National Housing Quality Award Site Visits

“The overall purpose of a site visit is to reveal the truth about the organization and provide a thorough assessment.” Brown, Baldrige Award…

The ACORN test

The ACORN test is an easy to remember way to evaluate the charter of an improvement project.

A  Accomplishment. Does the…

What stories are being told about your business?

“The stories, apocryphal or not, that circulate in an organization reveal its devotion (or lack of it) to quality, and serve to inspire its people…

Decision making

"What we hear too often is, don't confuse me with the facts, I know what I want to do." Bill Denney PhD

Data, lots of data, but what are you doing with it?

Technology has made gathering data so much easier. However, the problem is we can be overwhelmed by it. Surveys, stats, city, state and national…

Just focus on your customer

The focus is the customer, it’s about their needs and wants. Sometimes when we try to improve our customer focus and we try to achieve a ‘wow…