Our founder Aaron Penwill, recently got interviewed for the Irish Independent. Through an interview conducted on zoom, Aaron discussed all things Lean and Productivity with the Emmy award winning journalist and leadership coach Gina London.

We are pleased to announce that Lean Practice is now a B-corp certified company.

Since 2016 we have been on a journey to conduct business in a better way and use our business as a platform for doing good. In 2016 we became a member of 1% for the planet, where we donate 1% of our total revenue to non-profits fighting climate change.

Here is my gift to you. My thoughts on creating an attitude towards productivity. A manifesto that if you adopt, it will boost your performance, like it has done for me over the years and the awesome clients I have coached.

If there's one thing you can to do to help your performance is to read the manifesto below, enjoy:

The latest drive to improve productivity in your organisation has ended in little to no change, what’s the alternative? Systems.

Lean is about delivering more value to your customer or stakeholders. Value could be a product or a service or even a purpose or a cause to get behind.

The premise of Lean is that you should focus your effort on producing that value, anything else is waste.

Effort could be your time, machines, materials, utilities you use or any other resource that gets consumed. Effort/Resources then should be directed only at the “value”

I love what I do, it's great to work with so many makers, creators, builders and doer's. I get to help them increase their productivity, to get more done with less effort and resources.

There's lots of people like me in this consulting space. That's DISAPPOINTING.

There's too many LIKE me. I want to CHANGE this.

We all know accountability is key to project success, without each person knowing their own roles and taking personal responsibility for their actions a project comes to a standstill with no forward movement or progression to delivering on a project's mission.

But accountability isn't something you get just because you've made it explicit in the roles and responsibilities or a RACI matrix.

You get accountability when someone has the internal commitment to take action.

Businesses and projects are built on collaboration.

Without collaborative behaviours, you work in silos causing delays in delivery, communication issues and duplication of work to name but a few issues caused by a lack of collaboration.

The majority of projects fail because of a lack of collaboration and commitment to action. People have the best intentions at the outset of your project but a lack of the right information at the right time, a lack of accountability and poor collaboration lead to your project falling short. CADENCE is our system to create an immersive culture where effective action is woven into the day-to-day.

We’re talking about project purpose. You can use purpose to drive organisational change by aligning everyones thinking around a common project end goal.

It’s a given: for better business results, you have to put the right people in the right place.

Achieving this goal is not just a case of finding the most qualified employee and giving them the power to make key decisions. A top-down approach where the key stakeholder calls all the shots is not going to work. No, effective people management requires a new way of thinking about performance, accountability and teamwork. Your business will only be successful if everyone looks to improve every aspect of their work. And a vital part of this system of working comes down to commitment.

At Lean Practice, our mission is simple: we help businesses optimise performance by removing blockers and interference, by implementing systems that drive positive growth. In doing this, one thing is clear: organisational change can only happen when employees feel involved and valued throughout the process. In fact, employees who feel their voice is heard are 4.6 times more likely to perform their best work. Why is employee engagement so important to organisational change? To answer this question, let’’s first define our terms.

Operational excellence. It’s an inspiring term, right? It evokes a particular mental image - one of machine-like efficiency, a business that produces top results.

At times we can get lost by distraction. Surfing the web, browsing apps. Losing time, energy, focus. Avoid these rabbit holes will increase your time, improve energy and maintain your focus.

We all need to manage our emotions as at times this can take over our ability to think, hindering our decisions and dampening our execution.

Personal productivity is a game-changer. From running marathons to completing your work in half the time. Personal Productivity is the advantage for all business post Covid.

The future is here. However, there is still resistance. It seems humans don't want to be more human. The technology could take over mundane tasks, yet people resist, the change takes time. Change management aside; I think we've got to overcome the human element and what's getting in our way.

During times of crisis, you need leadership that operates with a Command and Control style of leadership. Mighty leaders who are clear on direction and know the steps to get there. Unwavering in their pursuit of the goals. Leaders you follow.

Unite. Explore. Attack. Three words, three values that can help you, your business and your country. From business survival through to lean transformations, words are powerful.

When faced with a crisis you need to be able to see it from different perspectives. I like to put what I’m feeling into a different context, to give me a kind of metaphor to help my thinking. So here’s a little piece about surfing. For those who surf or at least tried it, you'll resonate.