Unleashing the improvement mindset
Unleashing the right mindset for improvement is key to success. This week’s blog is different. It is not about our firm, our work or our people. It is about a book from one of the most positive people I know – Darcy Mellsop of CILab.
Productivity and continuous improvement
New Zealand needs to improve its productivity. Sometimes that requires major investment – in infrastructure, transformation, education or technology. That is when we need a short, sharp, shock. But there is a way to deliver more value progressively over time for little cost or disruption and that is through continuous improvement. The problem is that most people don’t really understand what it means. More importantly, they don’t know how to do it.
A strategy to create the culture for improvement
Darcy’s new book Unleashing the Improvement Mindset changes that. It doesn’t prescribe a set methodology (it embraces many) but it does set out a strategy for adopting the culture necessary to lift performance. Darcy’s book gives away a whole lot of his secrets for how to unleash the right mindset and why you should do so. This is a book of insights from a very experienced practitioner.
Businesses want to improve
This week I sat in on a great workshop by BusinessFirstNZ at Massey University in Palmerston North led by Atif Baig. Unsurprisingly it was full of people from businesses who wanted to unlock their potential for growth and improvement. There is a real hunger for practical tools and approaches to improve performance by working with internal teams. They need practical approaches that work.
If you can’t do big projects you can still do little ones
Right now many organisations in New Zealand have cut funding for new projects. Sales are down, public spending cuts are deep and interest rates are still high. That will pass but work on performance improvement can still start right now. You might not have the money for that big, bold new initiative right now but chances are you can spend $35 at Unity Books for some really good pointers on how you can start doing things better right away.
Just for the record, Hague Consulting Ltd has no financial interest in sales of this book. We just like to call out good people doing good stuff that can help others improve their performance. Darcy Mellsop is a member of Institute of Management
Consultants New Zealand as are all of the core team at Hague so we are also supporting a professional colleague.
Phil Guerin, Consultant/Director, Hague Consulting Ltd. © Hague Consulting Ltd 2024. If you like this content, subscribe to our blog – it’s free!
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