How has your year been? Do you, like me, like to sit by the fire on Christmas Eve drinking Drambuie and get all melancholy about the highs and the lows? (If not, you should, it’s brilliant, well the alcohol bit is).

On the upside this year has seen us working with amazing clients to deliver phenomenal results. One client has added hundreds of thousands of pounds to their turnover by reducing their lead time to a day. And in another case elderly people waiting on home adaptations and care packages have seen their waiting time reduce so much that the doctors are estimating they’ll get around four more years of independence at home and live longer. That’s why I joined this business, to make a difference and as the A-Team’s leader Hannibal always said, ‘I love it when a plan comes together’. So I’m always massively disappointed when I meet managers who proclaim that they want ‘radical change’ only to realise that their idea of radical was a tiny tweak to their service standards and giving their staff only slightly more attention than number 25 on an advent calendar gets on Christmas morning. On the other hand I never cease to be amazed and delighted by what front line staff can do when given the chance. Read more »

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It’s very cold in Scotland today and there’s lots of snow at my home, lovely but a pain in the neck. On cue my heating broke. I called the number on my gas boiler. Read more »

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"We are card counters at the blackjack table"
Billy Beane – The Oakland Athletics

Five years ago I read a book called Moneyball , and as long as I live I will never forget the core message, in fact it’s one we should all try to take to heart. Read more »

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Following all the positive emails I got after last week’s blog on spotting patterns in your work I’ve decided to do something special.

In the afternoon at the end of our upcoming conference on the 2nd of November I will run a special bonus session explaining in person and in more depth how to utilise this technique to advantage your work. Read more »

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Three years ago, almost to the week, my wife decided to learn French. Four weeks later we were in France and I witnessed her having a conversation, albeit a bit stilted, with a French bloke (who I assume was saying ‘why don’t you ditch the little chubby pale guy and come with me mon Cherie…’).

What bothered me was not that my wife was being chatted up by a Frenchman, after-all they have croissants for breakfast so I reckon I could have taken him, but that Denise was speaking French after only four weeks. She explained that it was ‘no problem’ (you can imagine you were there by saying this in French accent) because she didn’t really learn the language; in-fact she chose to learn the pattern and structure of the language Read more »

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City of Lincoln Council planning department have demonstrated that even in such a tight regulatory environment as planning it is still possible to cut operational costs and improve service.

So, how did they manage it? Read more »

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I grew up in Fife, a region whose inhabitants have a reputation for being a bit tight with money. Urban legend has it that if you visit a Fifer around mealtime you’d better have eaten because you’ll be greeted with the words ‘Ye’ll ‘uv hud yer tea then’, meaning ‘I assume you have already availed yourself of food because the cupboards in this house are locked tighter than my eldest son’s wallet when we go to the petrol pump.’

And according to the myth there’s double disappointment for the visitor as tea doesn’t just mean a meal, it also covers anything that requires hitting the switch on the kettle.

Three assumptions: 1. The Fifer’s assumption that the caller has eaten. 2. The caller’s assumption they’ll be fed. 3. The nation’s assumption that Fife folk are ‘careful’ with their money. I can tell you at least two of these assumptions are often wrong.

Going hungry in Fife is nothing however compared to the costs of the assumptions we’ve been taught to use in order to run our organisations. Here’s a list of misjudgements we’ve encountered:

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In 2010 The Economist claimed that the average supermarket carried 48,750 items, according to the Food Marketing Institute, more than five times the number in 1975. Tesco stocks 91 different shampoos, 93 varieties of toothpaste and 115 of household cleaners. The problem – we’re all confused, there’s just too much choice these days. Read more »

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Is service a differentiator? Does it really matter if you have good service?  It would seem for at least two reasons that service does matter but you’ll probably be surprised as to why.

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Tales of expanding customer contact centres taking on lots more staff to deal with ‘increased demand’ seem to have been in the news lately, but is it all good news?

As a management consultant I have often seen call centre demand increase and new staff be hired not because they were so successful, but because their service was poor.

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Last week, whilst on my way to the airport, I noticed the usual array of useless signs. ‘Don’t use your phone whilst driving’, ‘Don’t text whilst driving’. Interestingly I’d never even considered in engaging in either of those behaviours but now had to resist a sudden compulsion. Thankfully the signs didn’t warn me of the consequences of wearing white socks with jesus sandals otherwise I’d currently be a social outcast!

In social psychology this is called negative social proof. It provides clues as to why people often do the opposite of what we ask and how to frame messages so that we get willing compliance. Especially important during times of change. Read more »

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I’ll bet that if I were to ask you the question “have you ever driven a friend to a funeral?” most of us would at some point in their life be able to answer, yes!  However I’d also wager that the number of yeses would drop dramatically if my follow up question was – “were they dead at the time, and in the boot of your car?”  It’s ok, don’t call the police, there’s a logical explanation; on second thoughts it’s more of a cautionary tale – and the principle, reciprocation, can even be helpful during times of change. Read more »

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