Caterfly Blogs

Tag: Smarter Working

  • Resources: the essentials

    Research and resources

     

    The failure of change management programmes

    “The three-out-of-seven success rate is an average view from many different research findings. Some studies reported success as low as 10%, others as high as 50%. The research span across many industries and countries and the nature of the change initiative studied varied widely—customer relationship ,management , enterprise resource planning , shared services endeavors, supply chain projects, mergers and acquisitions, cost reduction initiatives, restructuring/reorganization efforts, customer experience initiatives, etc. Any way you examine the findings, there is ample evidence that the change initiatives are far more likely to fall short of their stated objectives than to reach their promised outcomes.”
    • “Too many change efforts start with all the managers getting together behind closed doors and deciding what should be done.  They never think of telling their people what is going to happen and why, let alone canvassing their opinions, ideas or suggestions because they are the people closest to the front line and who just might be able to see what ultimate impact the change could have on the customer.”
      Ken Blanchard, ‘Mastering the art of change’ [Training Journal, January 2010]

    Blanchard lists 6 stages of concern which are often not met:

    * Need for information, not a slick sales talk (trying to get ‘buy in’)
    * Need for personal relevance (what will this mean for me?)
    * Implementation: what do I need to do and when?
    * Impact: Is this making a difference, Is it worth it?
    * Collaboration: how can I share learning and wins
    * Refinement: How can we continually improve the change?

    The problem with Change Management by Francois Knuchel

    Why coercion doesn’t work by Martin Grimshaw

    Open-Agile Adoption and Open Space Technology

    Caterfly has been strongly influenced by a call to arms by Daniel Mezick, who developed the Open Agile Adoption system for implementing Agile working in organisations. Caterfly’s Open Smart Transformation model is a derivative of Prime/OS™ developed by Daniel Mezick.

    Open Agile Adoption – implementing Agile working patterns in organisations using Open Space

    Prime/OS™ and Caterfly’s Open Smart Adoption

    Why Executives Can’t Impose Agile – Daniel Mezick

    Martin Grimshaw’s simple introduction: What is Open Space?

    Jack Martin Leith’s introduction to Open Space

    Using the simplicity of Open Space to solve complex problems – Chris Corrigan

     

    Smarter Working: New paradigm approaches to smarter, more effective and enjoyable working

    Agile

    Lean (Toyota System)

    Kaizen

    Environmental Management Systems (EMS: ISO 14001), Sustainability Management Systems (SMS) and related management systems

    Sociocracy

    Conscious Business

    What is Smarter Working?

     

    The Open Smart Transformation model and Caterfly’s Open Source Licence details:

    About Intellectual Commons

    Open Smart Transformation model in detail.

  • Smarter working

    Smarter Working

    Caterfly uses Open Smart Transformation to help organisations implement smarter ways of working.

    What do we mean by Smart?

    While we don’t claim any originality to our use of the term, we have coined the term Smarter Working in this context to help us define the kind of systems, tools and processes that we work with, or which align with them. Smarter systems of working are modern approaches to work which might emphasise participation, collaboration, integrity, sustainability, self-organising or self-managing teams, and a wiser, 21st Century approach to leadership and hierarchy. Smarter systems of working do not conflict with the needs of society and planet. They are in alignment with life, rather than exploiting it. They promote personal, organisational and planetary wellbeing, with ethics at their centre.

    Smarter Working includes, but is not limited to: Responsive, Lean, Agile,  participatory Environmental or Sustainability Management Systems (EMS or SMS), Sociocracy, Management 3.0, Conscious Business, Holacracy, Kaizen, and so on.

    Smarter Working means re-imagining what it means to be at work, as if were something we wanted to do, that was genuinely useful, to be enjoyed, a source of pride and contentment, and a place for learning and growth. Smarter Working means re-imagining working relationships and working together with common purpose in a way that is more enjoyable, healthier and happier, while taking a sustainability-first or even restorative attitude to our relationship to Earth.

    Smarter Working is work as it should be.

  • What is Kaizen?

    What is Kaizen?

    Kaizen is a philosophy that has transcended its development in Japanese car manufacturing management, where it was a critical component of the country’s post war economic transformation. Today, Kaizen is used across the world by life coaches, fitness and martial arts teachers, schools, healthcare and across all industries. Kaizen is at the heart of the Toyota Way, from which the Lean Management evolved, and is a fundamental component to Caterfly’s model for embedding long term improvement.

    Great Small Things Van Gogh‘Kai’-‘zen’ means ‘good change’, or change for the better, done by everybody, everyday, everywhere. 

    Kaizen is a mind-set permeating throughout an organisation, which fosters a continuous search by all employees at all levels and departments to find small improvements in the workplace, the products, services or processes. This kaizen mind-set creates an organisational platform or culture which is fed by one question asked by everyone at least once a day:  ‘What is one small step you can do to improve the product or process you work on?’

    “Kaizen is a customer-driven strategy for improvcement… In Kaizen, it is assumed that all activities should eventually lead to increased customer satisfaction.” Masaaki Imai

    Kaizen is about improving products or services, but it is also about constantly improving processes such as operations, standards, office workflow, production, efficiency or sustainability, or indeed anything that may speed up, embellish, eliminate waste, simplify, reduce a step, remove toxins or fool-proof a process.  Kaizen is particularly useful in reducing human mistakes in routine work, by considering small steps that would prevent human errors recurring.  By continuously focussing on small improvements the whole workforce is a state of continuous innovation and change – this in turns makes the organisation nimbler, and more responsive and adaptable to change.

    In Kaizen there may be no immediate results. But like compound interest, invisible to begin with, the benefits are enormous in the long run.

    Kaizen applied across the company creates a culture, a “kaizen culture”, of participation and development.  Kaizen helps improve the services or products of an organisation, but it has an even greater impact on strengthening the personal development of everyone.  Kaizen is a form of personal development that is directly relevant to, as well as emanates from the work being done. Kaizen enables experimentation, and requires leaders to listen to those doing the work with positive reinforcement. Kaizen not only allows innovation to flourish, it also motivates and engages the whole workforce.

    Kaizen is a platform for change, innovation and engagement across an organisation.

    You may also like our longer article: Kaizen – Rejuvenating your Organisation