Yes, and it’ll help us get better at what we do! Well, even though variety is the spice of life, ‘change’ is not always welcomed with open arms. I think that’s why TC 176 included clause 6.3 setting out requirements for managing change. One thing we know for sure – introducing change into a system […]
What? More Changes ?!? Read More »
In Clause 4 of ISO Standards using the High Level Structure (HLS) you’ll see that we’re required to identify ‘internal issues’, ‘external issues’ and ‘interested parties and their requirements’. What possible value can this bring us? First of all, change the word ‘issues’ to ‘conditions’ or ‘circumstances’ so that the negative association with the word
Are We Out of Context? Read More »
John Seddon has been a Systems builder since the 80s. He bases his work on the genius of Taiichi Ohno – The Toyota Production System – Beyond Large-Scale Production. Seddon has been successful adapting Ohno’s TPS approach but using it in services. There’s always a temptation to set targets and try to convince people to
What’s your ‘Purpose’? Read More »
Seth Godin is one of my favourite authors – a great thinker and terrific business person. Even though he’s not ‘ISO’ his thoughts on ‘systems’ fit beautifully. The first mistake we make is the underestimation of the importance of something. Think of the internet. We assume it’s stable and will always work. We don’t really
Two Management System Mistakes We Make Read More »
John Seddon, Vanguard Consulting, released a great book called ‘Freedom From Command and Control’. There are plenty of great ideas in there, and I enjoy sharing them with you! Seddon started applying the ‘Toyota Production System’ to the service industry back in the 90s. You’ll find his insights very helpful. Systems Thinking is what he
A New Twist on PDCA Read More »
We all need to assess how well our system is working. It’s a requirement in section 9 of all the new Standards and it’s just a good thing to do for a business. One thing that is often overlooked when putting measurements into place is the effect they have on behaviour. And if you doubt
Are Your Measurements Killing Performance? Read More »
We need to focus on our users when we’re designing and improving our management systems. This may seem obvious, but you’d be amazed at how many times a client will ask, “Will the auditor accept this?”. Of course we want to get certified, but if we are sure of the requirements and decide what we
Whose Management System is it, anyway? Read More »
One way to simplify your management system is to reduce the number of super-detailed text-based procedures. Once they are in place, you might be temped to audit simply to see if everyone’s following them. This causes two problems. The first problem is that the ‘follow the procedures or else’ message creates a culture of fear.
Give your employees credit for having a brain Read More »
It’s all about the risk, these days, and the better we manage it, the better off we are, period! The new Standard calls for it, yes, but it’s just good business practice to assess where the potholes are in our workflow and steer clear of them. Every hour of proactive planning will save 10 hours
…if you choose ‘Operator error’ as the cause of your latest non-conformance. When Ishikawa introduced the world to his ‘Fishbone’ for doing root cause analysis, his research showed that employees in organizations make errors, of course, but only about 6% of the time. The other 94% of the time,the error is caused by aweakness
You’ll be right 6% of the time… Read More »
