Tag: purpose
Sunday, 19 February 2012
Lost without a goal
Posted by Simon Baker
I can't operate effectively without some kind of goal. Let me clarify that. Without some kind of goal I am directionless. I'm easily distracted from any focus I might have started with by other things that crop up. I end up flitting from one thing to another, multitasking. I become anxious and frustrated. I lose my sense of priority. I end up working on things that don't add value and I create lots of work-in-progress. It only gets worse the longer I go without being able to check in against some goal. I suspect most people are like this.
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Saturday, 18 February 2012
Emotion creates the common language
Posted by Simon Baker
The challenge when dealing with people from different backgrounds, with different experiences, qualifications, roles and domain knowledge is speaking the same language. When we face together a problem or opportunity, or given a certain need, we talk about what and how - what is the solution? How will we meet this need? We each think we see the same thing. We each believe we are talking about the same thing. When we talk about what it is it's often a case of the five blind guys and the elephant. Together we work hard to overcome our individual perspectives and structure a common language we think describes the what and the how.
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Sunday, 8 January 2012
(I can't get no) satisfaction, let alone customer delight
Posted by Simon Baker
There is no business without customers. The customer is the most important part of the value stream but Ackoff reminds us that an enduring commercial future requires the social system of stakeholders in a company to be taken into account. Deming said the aim for any company is for everybody to gain - shareholders, employees, suppliers, customers, community, the environment - over the long term. Shareholders expect maximum return on their investment. Successful business requires customers, forward thinking and innovation, sound economics and ever improving operational effectiveness. Customers want their problems solved, they want help to achieve whatever it is they’re doing. Employees wish for meaningful work with opportunities to learn and be creative in an enjoyable environment that provides job security. Suppliers desire a trusting and equitable partnership. Society wants to see ethical behavior, responsibility, and accountability.
Thursday, 5 January 2012
Positive emotions and purpose
Posted by Simon Baker
This post is really a sidebar to my musings about purpose and vision. It's reference information rather than any real thoughts of my own, which I've pulled together because I wanted to touch on the theories behind the positive feelings we experience when we have a sense of purpose and do meaningful work.
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Thursday, 29 December 2011
People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it
Posted by Simon Baker
Simon Sinek says, "people don't buy what you do, they buy [because of] why you do it." He argues that our brain is wired to start with why. We make decisions emotionally, subconsciously, and instinctively (based on the limbic system) and then justify our decisions and actions rationally, consciously and intellectually (based on the cerebral cortex). Despite this we're inclined to talk a lot about what and how and often not really mention why.
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Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Systems are seductive
Posted by Simon Baker
We leap into solving problems with a system of our own design because we convince ourselves they do the job faster, better, and more easily than we can do it.
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Friday, 15 July 2011
Create positive pressure around releases
Posted by Simon Baker
If you're working towards a key release, the pressure mounts for everyone involved as it approaches. For the technical team responsible for delivery the rising pressure in this situation is nearly always negative if left unchecked. As time runs out the drumbeat gets faster and faster as the team is whipped up to ramming speed, a bit like the galley slaves in Ben Hur.
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Thursday, 1 April 2010
Dealing with organizational complexity goes in the 'too hard' box
Posted by Simon Baker
Our purpose is to improve the quality of service for customers. Quite simply, our goal is to delight customers. But Goldratt said: The goal of every company is to make money. Making money is mandatory but fixation on profit and obsession with costs is a sure way to become detached from customers. Our goal is not do delight shareholders. Delighted customers become loyal customers and loyal customers provide repeat business. They even do marketing for us. They tell their friends and family who then give us their business and they’re delighted so they tell their friends and family.
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Thursday, 10 December 2009
Intrinsic motivation
Posted by Simon Baker
Money is important in this day and age. But money doesn't motivate people to do their best. Watch the video. Even better read some Deming.
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Comments: 1
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
Product stream
Posted by Simon Baker
Think of a product stream as a small company working exclusively on a product and delivering features that excite users to maximize profit and growth. The stream invests in its relationship with users and is set up to compete on the basis of speed. It has everything it needs to conduct business, from concept to production to operational support, and unlike a project it persists as long as the product is in service. It includes a dedicated and diverse technical team that is actually part of the business and helps them use software more effectively. It self-organizes for optimum delivery and minimum risk, and produces flexible software that responds as the business learns from user and market feedback.
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