Tag Archives: process improvement

Maths Class

Posted on May 4, 2015 by InspGuilfoyle

Here’s Stick Teacher. Today Stick Teacher is going to run through a few sums with the Stick Children. Adults might find his case studies useful too. Stick Teacher is going to demonstrate how to save money whilst providing a better service – what’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged division of labour, management, process improvement, Stick Child, systems thinking | 6 Comments

Stick Child Tries to Buy Milk

Posted on February 3, 2014 by InspGuilfoyle

Stick Child is a healthy little chappie and he loves a nice cold drink of milk at break time. (Do they still do those 1/3 pint bottles for 8p, with the really thin straws? Just wondered…) Anyway, Stick Child’s usual … Continue reading →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged flow, process improvement, purpose, Stick Child, systems thinking, variety, waste | 3 Comments

Great Expectations

Posted on December 7, 2012 by InspGuilfoyle

Recently I had a minor prang in my beloved car. (I won’t go into detail for legal reasons, but I was neither texting, daydreaming about systems, nor changing dodgy 80s CDs in the CD player at the time it happened). … Continue reading →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged demand, division of labour, flow, handovers, management, process improvement, systems thinking, variety, waste | 9 Comments

Please Take A Ticket

Posted on August 16, 2012 by InspGuilfoyle

Far from the frustrated rantings of my last blog post, my latest musings are more about genuine puzzlement over why some managers seem intent on making extremely straightforward processes unnecessarily complicated. I was at the Outpatient’s department of my local hospital today for … Continue reading →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged flow, nhs, process improvement, queuing, standardization, systems thinking, variety, waste | 12 Comments

Check It Out

Posted on July 22, 2012 by InspGuilfoyle

I never plan to write blog posts – ideas just tend to pop into my head when doing random stuff. Today was one of those days. What follows isn’t particularly exciting, shocking or controversial, and no doubt I will be … Continue reading →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged flow, performance, process improvement, systems, systems thinking, waste | 10 Comments

Divide And Don’t Conquer

Posted on November 1, 2011 by InspGuilfoyle

In my last post (“Pie In The Sky”), I talked a bit about the effect of handovers within systems, and how they almost always result in waste, delays and inefficiencies. This post is going to look at this concept in a bit … Continue reading →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged deming, division of labour, hand offs, handovers, lean, management, process improvement, systems, systems thinking | 20 Comments

Pie In The Sky

Posted on October 27, 2011 by InspGuilfoyle

I’m a systems thinker. Usually this is a welcome gift that helps me identify issues that adversely affect performance, and therefore implement simple solutions. Other times it is almost like some sort of weird curse, as I haven’t yet found the ‘off’ … Continue reading →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged deming, flow, lean, management, organisational trust, performance management, process improvement, systems, systems thinking | 6 Comments

Watch Your Waste

Posted on July 18, 2011 by InspGuilfoyle

If your organisation is currently facing the challenge of seeking out efficiency gains, or you have just sat in a meeting wondering “Why am I here?” this blog may be for you. There is often the assumption that all activity … Continue reading →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged bureaucracy, efficiency gains, lean, process improvement, systems, waste | 4 Comments