During a recent root cause problem solving workshop I was running I had three people who were fixated on 'the answer'. This fixation was causing friction with other departments and it was clear from speaking to them that they didn't have all the answers.

My book 'Sunrise Meetings' has now made its way onto the other e-reader devices (including iPad, Nook and Kobo). If you are looking for some ideas on how to make your business run in a more systematic and clockwork fashion then this book is well worth a read. Click here for the PDF version . Click here for the Kindle version . Click here for other formats (including iPad) . Over the next couple of weeks it will also appear in iTunes / iBooks and the other online shopping sites for e-books. Giles Johnston Author of 'Business Process Re-Engineering', a practical plan to improve business performance.

I sat in a really good meeting the other day. Ideas were flowing and the team taking part in the workshop were really getting into the swing of things. Apart from one person. The people taking part in the workshop ran different departments within the business. As one person explored an idea two of the other four would build on the idea, developing how it could work for their departments too. The other person however didn't seem to respond in the same way and I was curious as to what they would take away from the workshop.

At the weekend my home computer's hard drive told me that it was 'bad'. As I have sufficient backup methods in place I was able to swap over the hard disks and be up an running a few hours later. However, when I came to reinstall some of the software I chose not to install all of it. Over the last few years I have introduced other pieces of software and made my computer life more complicated than it needed to be. So, I took the opportunity to simplify and this is just the same as continuous improvement in the workplace.

Do you ever keep your improvement action plans to yourself? If you don't then I salute you and you can stop reading here. If on the other hand you tend to keep them for just your own enjoyment please read on.

During a meeting last week I found myself getting stuck with the team I was working with. We were discussing some process re-engineering that I was doing for them, trying to get five different business arms to fall in line with each other. Whilst presenting my proposal on the way forward there were a number of comments made telling me about how complex the problem really was and that I hadn't allowed for these additional complexities. Before I could respond other members of the team were offering suggestions as to how we could cope with these variations.

I was working with a new client the other day for the first time. If there was a sound track to our first session it would have had the lyrics 'because we've always done it that way...'. Although I am a big fan of 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' I am less of a fan of 'we'll put up with the results even if they're bad'.

When a change project looms on the horizon it may look pretty daunting. It may look like something of a big deal to handle and that alone may put people off. It may of course be a lot simpler and a lot faster / simpler to implement than originally thought.

Visual management boards are a great tool. With only a casual glance you can understand the performance of an office, a production line, or anything else that you care to manage and run. However, the boards I sometimes see don't always tell you what you want to know instantly:

When reviewing the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of a business it can be uncomfortable for many people. When you are faced with the numbers of your business, in 'black and white', it might not tell you what you want to hear.

When we start out on our  improvement projects there is often an issue, or target, that we want to accomplish. This is great at the start of a project, proper focus is present. Later on however, toward the end of the project, this clarity can often fade and projects may slow down before being classed as completed. Having an action plan that has all of its actions closed out is not necessarily a completed project.

Have you been in the same situation... You have implemented a process and then walked away.

I was talking to a business yesterday that stated 'you've got to make time for planning'. I agree, planning seems to be one of the first things to disappear when the going gets tough (perhaps read that as chaotic).