A few years ago I wrote a book called What Does Good Look Like? I was fed up with seeing businesses fail to move ahead with their improvement goals. They were quick to criticise their staff and slow to explain precisely what they wanted to experience. This book is an antidote to that situation. You can see the introductory video here: If this situation rings a bell with you, you can purchase a copy of the book here: Amazon Apple Books Kobo About the author: Giles Johnston is a Chartered Engineer who specialises in helping businesses to grow and improve through better business processes and embracing Kaizen. Giles is also the author of Effective Root Cause Analysis and ' What Does Good Look Like? ' .

I was talking to a very frustrated owner earlier this week. They needed to make improvements fast but were getting nowhere. I gave them the following six pointers: Be brutally honest about what needs to improve. Prioritise the improvements, so you get the best results for the least effort. Select the #1 item only. Chop the improvement up into really small, manageable, tasks. Talk about the improvement tasks everyday. Keep going until you get results. Go back to point 2 and repeat (or 1, if you are at the end of the list!). It doesn't have to be any more difficult than this. Point 1 is essential so that you improve things that matter . Point 2 is to get you the greatest returns faster . Point 3 avoids procrastination and builds momentum. Point 4 is critical for keeping the team focused on making change happen. Point 5 makes sure you don't stop prematurely. If you are feeling overwhelmed by the change process, try this simple approach. Giles Avoid repeated business mistakes - av

This might sound like a stupid question, but do you? How would you tell? Here are some clues, see how many you can recognise: You have a team the spends part of their time working on continuous improvement projects . You have a clear list of continuous improvement projects. You have a priority on said list of projects. People in your business talk about improvement projects on a regular basis. They talk about continuous improvement without prompting! New ideas are captured systematically. New ideas are generated through both formal business activities and informally through suggestions from the team. Progress would be visible. Data from business key performance indicators generate new opportunities for improvement. You celebrate, and promote, the successes from your improvements. This list isn't exhaustive, of course. But, what this list should do is help let you know if you are a business that looks and feels like you embrace continuous improvement. If you aren't doing at leas

I had to raise a support ticket on behalf of a consulting client today. I typed in the issue that was being faced. My client seemed happy. Then, I carried on typing and put in what I wanted from the person at the other end. I didn't tell them how to do their job but I told them the result I was seeking. "Why are you telling them that?" my client asked. "I want them to give me what I want" I replied. "We don't normally do that" I was informed. "How does that work out for you?" I enquired. Blank look. The IT support company phoned us, surprised at the ticket they received. "That's the best ticket we've had in ages" they gushed. Long story short, the IT improvement was made shortly thereafter, with no further changes required. It was only a small thing, to add the extra couple of details, but it made big difference to the outcome. This is the precise reason that I wrote the book What Does Good Look Like? I saw the same issu

My latest book has just been released. It's called The Reverse Fishbone and looks at how we can get the most out the fishbone analysis tool when we use it for goal setting. It's a great way to engage your team with improvement objectives and is superb when defining the winning recipe for your business. The book is free on the Kindle platform from today until Sunday. About the author: Giles Johnston is a Chartered Engineer who specialises in helping businesses to grow and improve through better business processes and embracing Kaizen. Giles is also the author of Effective Root Cause Analysis and ' What Does Good Look Like? ' .

Last weekend I visited a local visitor attraction. The time was approximately 2pm and I was greeted by a sign that read: Last admission 2:15pm; car park closes 3:00pm. If this was the case, I wasn't going to have much of a visit. When the I reached the top of the queue and met the car park attendant, I asked for confirmation of the closing time. Apparently it was 5:00pm. From a little more discussion, it turned out that the sign was for an event the previous weekend, where they had shortened the opening hours. I jokingly offered to remove the sign, which was politely refused. When I left, the sign was still there. So, apart from the question about how many people didn't bother to find out if the site was open longer, what is the take away from this little story? Why I wrote Effective Root Cause Analysis At every level in the organisation it is possible to take responsibility. I see all too often people passing responsibility on. This can happen up and down the chain of command.