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Understanding Practical Process
Improvement
by R Edward Zunich in collaboration
with Dr Mike Bell
|
The new Understanding PPI is intended to replace the blue book,
PPI Manager's Guide,
and provides an up to date overview of how
the program works. This includes critical requirements,
getting
started and how to sustain the program, considering all types of
organisations
that provide products or services. This book should
be used in the Process Champion training sessions. |
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First Break all the Rules
by Marcus Buckingham and Curt
Coffman |
Play to people's strengths. Do not try to fit the person to the job
but think of the individual and tailor the job appropriately.
Too often we see organisations spending huge amounts of time
focussing on the wrong things, weaknesses and short-comings.
Let everyone do the things that they are good at and enjoy and
the results will be much, much better |
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The Tao of Coaching
by Max Landsberg |
Managers should see themselves as coaches and this classic
book shows them how to do it. Ask questions, treat people as
individuals and give them timely feedback |
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Gifts Differing
by Isabel Briggs Myers and Peter
Myers |
This book offers an introduction to Myers Briggs personality
typing. Understanding and valuing different preferences is a very
under-utlised management tool. There is no need to get deep
into psychology but many individuals and team would benefit
greatly by thinking about personality |
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Our Iceberg is Melting
by John Kotter |
This is Kotterʼs 8 step change management program explained
through a story about penguins (yes, penguins). Anyone involved in
major change can benefit from this book and it only takes about an
hour to read |
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Lean Solutions
by Jim Womack and Dan Jones |
The start of the lean movement was Womack and Jones' first book,
The Machine that Changed the World explaining the Toyota
Production System |
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Simplicity
by Edward de Bono |
How to bring a little simplicity into our complex lives. The philosophy
behind this book matches extremely well with that of Simple
Improvement, but is unfortunately rare in every day life. There are
many examples of complexity, but far fewer of simplicity but perhaps
applying de Bonoʼs 10 key rules might help redress the balance |
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Better Thinking, Better Results
by Bob Emiliani |
A lean manager should be coaching, mentoring, teaching, learning
and facilitating. The success of the Wiremold company's lean
transformation, told in this book, is down to the way that Art Byrne
understood his role as the leader of that organisation. Too many
organisations fail when implementing lean because the leadership
delegate (abdicate) responsibility for teaching the program |
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Presentation Zen
by Garr Reynolds |
Death by PowerPoint is all too prevalent but Garr shows a refreshingly
simple approach to making presentations that is much more effective.
Less is definitely more in this case |
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Understanding Variation
by Donald Wheeler |
The best book on statistical process control ever. Anyone can
understand and apply the simple, yet powerful techniques. Variation
comes in two forms, common and special cause, and you can get in a
real mess if you mix them up. |
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Getting the Right Things Done
by Pascal Dennis |
Many leadership teams spend a lot of time working on defining
strategy but then fail to engage the rest of the organisation in
achieving it. This book focusses on strategy deployment and how to
align goals and targets all the way down to where the work gets done.
The core is the A3 where everything is condensed onto a single sheet
of paper that can be used to tell the story in just 10 minutes. |
