Improvements Need Focus; Be A Laser!

... and not a shot gun. It is written time and time again that having focus in any walk of life is important, and this is certainly the case with Continuous Improvement.

When you have too many projects on the go activity can become diffused. I see many businesses who have lots of half finished projects on the go and no results to show. If only they could reel some of the projects back in and complete a handful of them they would see a difference in their results.

I once watched a business get further and further into the mire by constantly finding new and exciting projects to get involved with, never closing out the projects they had started with. Resources got stretched, results weren't being achieved and unfortunately a decision was made to close that part of the business.

And, thankfully, I have also seen businesses that have realised that their Continuous Improvement activities are getting them nowhere. When this epiphany arrives you can see the focus that follows suit. They know what they want to do first. They know who needs to do what. They know what timescale they want it completed in. They get results.

Some businesses thrive on chaos and most don't. Some seem able to do a million projects at once and most can't. Some businesses are OK without a plan (and direction) and most aren't. If your business is one of the ones that needs direction, doesn't like chaos and needs some Continuous Improvement results then perhaps it is time to focus and undertake fewer projects at the same time.

If in doubt, remember the common phrase 'Do Less Better'.

Giles Johnston
...optimising MRP systems and re-engineering business processes

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