Feeling innovative .. here's four problems people have told me this weekend which could use an new solution ... something to think on over lunch ....
1. The fireman who has taken three months off work to help his wife run a B&B tells me that running a B&B is the hardest job that he's ever done. Surely this can't be .. what makes it so hard? and how can this be fixed?
2. My wheelchair bound next door neighbour tells me he's given up travelling to London on trains and now flies because the train companies just aren't reliable enough in terms of the extra help they can offer to him
3. My new company car is going to take until January to arrive ... surely this isn't good customer service? (or maybe I'm just impatient!)
4. Hairdressers (and probably most shops) are empty during much of the week but packed out at weekends ... what could they do to get better value for the space during the week, and ensure they can meet demand at weekends?
Sunday, 5 August 2007
Going bust ...
This afternoon walking past my local shops (in an unusually sunny Manchester) I noticed that two establishments seem to have closed for good. Both relating to food, which is particularly concerning to me as I'm a fan of eating out! One was a cafe, one an Italian restaurant (with a notice on reposession now in the window).
We all know that the odds are stacked against new businesses succeeding. In the case of the cafe, which I visited a number of times I feel like I could have offered them some suggestions on how (from my perspective as a customer and regular cafe goer) they could have made improvements.
I wonder if they could see things were going wrong early enough to try and be innvoative and make changes.
When you work in a large company, you are largely protected from making decisions/choices that end up in major disaster - and that have such personal consequences. You might start to see your budget overspend, then your boss might start to coach you/put pressure on you to reduce the costs ...... often the worst case is to replace a manager with "new talent" .. but in the process the site hasn't gone out of business, and no-one is looking at the job pages. How differently would managers act if the stakes were higher? What different decisions would they make? or would they not see the signs?
I'm sure that management text books says that standing back and reflecting and making sure you haven't lost the way is crucial ...... what stops us from doing this? I think there is an action points here for me this week.
We all know that the odds are stacked against new businesses succeeding. In the case of the cafe, which I visited a number of times I feel like I could have offered them some suggestions on how (from my perspective as a customer and regular cafe goer) they could have made improvements.
I wonder if they could see things were going wrong early enough to try and be innvoative and make changes.
When you work in a large company, you are largely protected from making decisions/choices that end up in major disaster - and that have such personal consequences. You might start to see your budget overspend, then your boss might start to coach you/put pressure on you to reduce the costs ...... often the worst case is to replace a manager with "new talent" .. but in the process the site hasn't gone out of business, and no-one is looking at the job pages. How differently would managers act if the stakes were higher? What different decisions would they make? or would they not see the signs?
I'm sure that management text books says that standing back and reflecting and making sure you haven't lost the way is crucial ...... what stops us from doing this? I think there is an action points here for me this week.
Saturday, 28 July 2007
New ways of doing things
I'm thinking that problems which my company is currently experiencing at work could also provide opportunties for finding innvoative solutions ...
1. Over the last week there have been lots of different people doing very standard jobs that are normally done by others. Sometimes despite thinking that directions on how to do a task are clear, people are finding different ways of doing the task. Where they think they can improve on the instructions then they are doing so, and where they need to improvise, they do - it's great to observe this and it's also a real team building experience as people work together to really help each other. Maybe if I look carefully enough over the next few days some of our "new recruits" to the operation will come up with better solutions than the usual team can see
And if they can, how can I try and get the normal team to look for ways to do the same old jobs differently or better rather than just "doing it the way we always do it"
2. These same problems also mean that some days the "demand" in production terms (amount of work to do) is double the normal level yet the supply hasn't changed (of people to do the work). To get back on track everyone is being challenged to find ways to up production as quickly as possible (without changing the supply levels). Some of this is about people working harder, but there must also be a bit of people working smarter .... it will/would be great if we can carry this on when all gets back to normal.
1. Over the last week there have been lots of different people doing very standard jobs that are normally done by others. Sometimes despite thinking that directions on how to do a task are clear, people are finding different ways of doing the task. Where they think they can improve on the instructions then they are doing so, and where they need to improvise, they do - it's great to observe this and it's also a real team building experience as people work together to really help each other. Maybe if I look carefully enough over the next few days some of our "new recruits" to the operation will come up with better solutions than the usual team can see
And if they can, how can I try and get the normal team to look for ways to do the same old jobs differently or better rather than just "doing it the way we always do it"
2. These same problems also mean that some days the "demand" in production terms (amount of work to do) is double the normal level yet the supply hasn't changed (of people to do the work). To get back on track everyone is being challenged to find ways to up production as quickly as possible (without changing the supply levels). Some of this is about people working harder, but there must also be a bit of people working smarter .... it will/would be great if we can carry this on when all gets back to normal.
Monday, 16 July 2007
Friday, 13 July 2007
New shop
Driving along a road I go along regularly, a splash a pink paint drew my attention to a new shop called "auction for you" ..... the notice in the window explained that they would auction items on a customers behalf on e-bay.
It will be interesting to see whether this becomes a thriving business ... what are the limiting factors to people just selling goods on ebay themselves? is it access to the internet? is it the time to do this (although you still have to find the time to take your item to the shop) .. or is it something else?
It will be interesting to see whether this becomes a thriving business ... what are the limiting factors to people just selling goods on ebay themselves? is it access to the internet? is it the time to do this (although you still have to find the time to take your item to the shop) .. or is it something else?
Tuesday, 3 July 2007
Back to innovation
Not so long ago Tesco used to be very much in second place (at best) in the supermarket world with Mr Sainsbury leading the way. I heard yesterday that their range of services now includes an "estate agency" service and even the opportunity to sell your house privately using their web facilities.
Now that's got to be some innovation ... from tins of beans, to books, CDs, electrical goods, insurance, finanical services and now houses. I guess the bottom line is that they are selling something there is a demand for.
What will be next?
This seems to be a winning strategy for Tesco. Should our organisation be doing more, and more quickly to broaden our business? After all we're not so different from any production plant or logisitics company. Or should we stick with what we know best?
I actually don't really like Tesco having so much buying power - I don't like the way they will take others out of business (and it can't be right that you can buy a roast chicken for a pound!). Could there become such of strength of feeling about this that it actually impacts on Tesco's success? What innovative strategies will they come up with to get round this?
Now that's got to be some innovation ... from tins of beans, to books, CDs, electrical goods, insurance, finanical services and now houses. I guess the bottom line is that they are selling something there is a demand for.
What will be next?
This seems to be a winning strategy for Tesco. Should our organisation be doing more, and more quickly to broaden our business? After all we're not so different from any production plant or logisitics company. Or should we stick with what we know best?
I actually don't really like Tesco having so much buying power - I don't like the way they will take others out of business (and it can't be right that you can buy a roast chicken for a pound!). Could there become such of strength of feeling about this that it actually impacts on Tesco's success? What innovative strategies will they come up with to get round this?
Monday, 2 July 2007
First day back
Just back to work after a week's leave so here are a few of my thoughts for the day ...
- I quite like my job so was reasonably glad to be back this morning - although I would rather have had a lie in after my busy weekend! Ten hours after getting here I'm still here catching up. What is it about my job that gets me out of bed in the morning and makes me be able to justify giving up so much of my precious time to it?
- I'm sure it's good to have a break from work, even if it doesn't involve going away on a holiday - last week gave me time to catch up with myself, to stop spinning quite so many plates at the same time, to recharge my work batteries and make sure my priorities are right .. what's the optimuim gap between these times away from work in terms of performing best at work? what affects how long we can carry on at full steam without a break?
- I feel like was missed a bit by my colleagues and probably a bit (less) by my team. It is nice to feel that I'm at least a little bit missed ... we are all replaceable but it's important to feel a part of things. Do my team and colleagues feel enough a part of things that they are missed? should I be investing more time in individuals to make sure of this?
- Members of my team often tell me that when I'm away that things are quite the same - action points aren't always done for meetings and people sometimes don't do things as they know they maybe can "get away with it". I left a "to do" list to my top team before I went, why is it that people will choose to behave differently? what is it about my leadership style that means I haven't motivated and empowered them to just get on with things?
Anyway .. better get back to catching up with my emails!
- I quite like my job so was reasonably glad to be back this morning - although I would rather have had a lie in after my busy weekend! Ten hours after getting here I'm still here catching up. What is it about my job that gets me out of bed in the morning and makes me be able to justify giving up so much of my precious time to it?
- I'm sure it's good to have a break from work, even if it doesn't involve going away on a holiday - last week gave me time to catch up with myself, to stop spinning quite so many plates at the same time, to recharge my work batteries and make sure my priorities are right .. what's the optimuim gap between these times away from work in terms of performing best at work? what affects how long we can carry on at full steam without a break?
- I feel like was missed a bit by my colleagues and probably a bit (less) by my team. It is nice to feel that I'm at least a little bit missed ... we are all replaceable but it's important to feel a part of things. Do my team and colleagues feel enough a part of things that they are missed? should I be investing more time in individuals to make sure of this?
- Members of my team often tell me that when I'm away that things are quite the same - action points aren't always done for meetings and people sometimes don't do things as they know they maybe can "get away with it". I left a "to do" list to my top team before I went, why is it that people will choose to behave differently? what is it about my leadership style that means I haven't motivated and empowered them to just get on with things?
Anyway .. better get back to catching up with my emails!
Thursday, 28 June 2007
Lunch hour .. and more choices ...
Today I popped into Waterstones at lunchtime to buy a book. Lots of people seemed to be spending their lunch hours browsing ... out of the thousands of books in the shop how do people choose one ...
- do we pick the books we have heard of? that have been advertised? or are best sellers?
- do we pick the books that are similar to those we've already read? what would make us pick something completely different? (other than being on an innovation course and wanting to improve our diversity!)
- are we swayed by the 3 for 2 offer?
In my recent house hunt I've sometimes noted that the contents of some people's bookcases are almost identical to mine. Are these really the "best" books or has some marketing strategy won me and similar people over?
Would I have bought the same book if I'd gone into a borders or some other bookshop?
- do we pick the books we have heard of? that have been advertised? or are best sellers?
- do we pick the books that are similar to those we've already read? what would make us pick something completely different? (other than being on an innovation course and wanting to improve our diversity!)
- are we swayed by the 3 for 2 offer?
In my recent house hunt I've sometimes noted that the contents of some people's bookcases are almost identical to mine. Are these really the "best" books or has some marketing strategy won me and similar people over?
Would I have bought the same book if I'd gone into a borders or some other bookshop?
Wednesday, 27 June 2007
Decisions
Everyday I make decisions at work, it goes with the job. Some are big decisions - affecting the working lives of others and often ultimately people's lives outside of work (as whether people enjoy their jobs, or whether they have a job then touches those who are important to them). I make these decisions, they aren't all easy but they get made.
Why is it then that while I normally have no problems making decisions I've recently found myself "agonising" over a couple of decisions .. and initially not being able to see a way to make them. Is it because they have affected me, rather than me affecting others? Is is because they are "new decisions" where I have limited experience of what I am trying to decide? Is it because they are "big decisions" in terms of the impact (financially/emotionally) if my choice isn't right? Is it because there's no right or wrong, the choices are just different? Or am I just having an indecisive "phase"?
What makes some decisions harder to make than others? If innovation is about solving problems/improving things then once the ideas have been generated, decisions will need to be made ..... (and as we'll be working as a group with different starting points this could well be interesting .. or agonising!)
Why is it then that while I normally have no problems making decisions I've recently found myself "agonising" over a couple of decisions .. and initially not being able to see a way to make them. Is it because they have affected me, rather than me affecting others? Is is because they are "new decisions" where I have limited experience of what I am trying to decide? Is it because they are "big decisions" in terms of the impact (financially/emotionally) if my choice isn't right? Is it because there's no right or wrong, the choices are just different? Or am I just having an indecisive "phase"?
What makes some decisions harder to make than others? If innovation is about solving problems/improving things then once the ideas have been generated, decisions will need to be made ..... (and as we'll be working as a group with different starting points this could well be interesting .. or agonising!)
Tuesday, 26 June 2007
Observations .....
On our course we were convinced that to improve our innovation skills we need to get good at opening our eyes, observing what is happening without judging too quickly and spotting problems that maybe need a solution.
So I plan to start my blog by trying to do this ...
At work I spend time making sure the site is tidy, that equipment has a home and that any surplus equipment is moved off site. This includes cardboard boxes which should be put into a bailing machine - and if this isn't done I make a fuss as it makes my site a mess and less safe. I'm now in the process of moving house and find that I need cardboard boxes .. but that now I need them they are really hard to come by in large quantities. The local greengrocer has a few (but I have a lot of stuff), I've looked on e-bay - but why should I have to pay for these (when I normally see them as rubbish)?
There must be so many things which are rubbish at one moment and in one context but of value the next ...... is there something more that could be done to get resources and stuff in the place that it's needed (and out of landfill sites/recycling plants)?
So I plan to start my blog by trying to do this ...
At work I spend time making sure the site is tidy, that equipment has a home and that any surplus equipment is moved off site. This includes cardboard boxes which should be put into a bailing machine - and if this isn't done I make a fuss as it makes my site a mess and less safe. I'm now in the process of moving house and find that I need cardboard boxes .. but that now I need them they are really hard to come by in large quantities. The local greengrocer has a few (but I have a lot of stuff), I've looked on e-bay - but why should I have to pay for these (when I normally see them as rubbish)?
There must be so many things which are rubbish at one moment and in one context but of value the next ...... is there something more that could be done to get resources and stuff in the place that it's needed (and out of landfill sites/recycling plants)?
Making a start ....
Welcome to Anna's space ...
For anyone who stumbles on this page this is my first ever blog ... the idea is that it's all about innovation and working to improve this in my company and workplace (and maybe even my world outside of work).
It would be easy to put off starting this blog .. I'm not one for keeping a journal, not sure what to write, not sure what you might make of it, not not sure where this is all going ... but in the spirit of "nothing ventured nothing gained" then I'm up for giving it a go... so here goes.
Innovation .. what's it all about??
Wikipedia defines it as" the process of making improvements by introducing something new" ... I think there's probably far more to it than this (and there are about 10 more pages of explanation) but this is fine as a simple one liner for starters - after all if it's all about improving things that can't be bad!
For anyone who stumbles on this page this is my first ever blog ... the idea is that it's all about innovation and working to improve this in my company and workplace (and maybe even my world outside of work).
It would be easy to put off starting this blog .. I'm not one for keeping a journal, not sure what to write, not sure what you might make of it, not not sure where this is all going ... but in the spirit of "nothing ventured nothing gained" then I'm up for giving it a go... so here goes.
Innovation .. what's it all about??
Wikipedia defines it as" the process of making improvements by introducing something new" ... I think there's probably far more to it than this (and there are about 10 more pages of explanation) but this is fine as a simple one liner for starters - after all if it's all about improving things that can't be bad!
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