Light Speed Ideas 28 - 30
April 14, 2008 by Steve Rosenbaum
I’ve been on the road so much I haven’t been able to keep up.
Here are some more fast ideas.
Reducing variability is a key element along with reducing the time of any quality improvement effort. This really comes into play in larger organizations and school systems which tend to have a very high degree of variability. For example, in a Fortune 1000 company it’s very likely that every division has a different basic sales training course. In fact, they will have multiple instructors teaching the course their own way.
In a school system, something like 4th grade history is different in every school and even between teachers in the same school. As a result, there is little or no sharing of best practices and most students can’t get the very best because the best can only teach so many students. Training and education will get better and faster as hundreds and even thousands of different processes are limited to a smaller number that can be worked on and improved.
Actually this list of ideas is a good example. As an expert you might know everything on this list but if you were to tell it to someone else, it’s likely you would miss a few things. That’s what often happens in teaching a job or task. You can do a great job of teaching everything you remember but miss a few things. That five or ten percent often is critical in reaching proficiency. A good list in a lot of environments is a list of everything that can go wrong and what to do about it. A good place for the list is on a Wiki.
While speed reading and working on memory techniques are great, a third part of the equation is to become a faster researcher. The first thing to do to become a speed research is to learn how to use online search engines. In most cases, this just takes practice and a willingness to try out all the different search functions. The second thing is to search out and bookmark important sites that tend to have the knowledge you seek. Asking others for great sites is part of this search. To help others this involves creating Wikis and online help that’s easy to use, up-to-date and complete. A good knowledge management system is crucial.
I just popped in to thank you for stopping by Ugly Ass Opinion. I responded to your comment, and if you have the time I’d be pleased if you dropped by again to see it and leave your thoughts.
What I’ve read so far here on your blog impresses me. I can use this information in several areas. Besides writing professionally (Ugly Ass Opinion is more of a hobby), I also co-own a transportation business. As you can imagine, productivity is a HUGE issue for me. So much to do, so little time. You of all people know how THAT works. lol! Thanks for the great tips!