John J Oliver OBE

Full Review (Published with Permission)

In 1984 a novel was published by Eli Goldratt called “ The Goal”. Its success was seemingly in building a story about a common management challenge, bottlenecks and how to deal with them, which both entertained and taught. The technique impressed me enormously so when I set up Optima in 1994, we copied the approach shamelessly. This style of management training, often derided as “enter-train-ment”, encapsulated important themes around the key areas of employee engagement and continuous improvement into memorable and hopefully amusing anecdotes. The objective was to see attendees on the course leaving with both an appreciation of the concept and a belief that they could replicate it.

The idea of an effective continuum between engagement and continuous improvement as a substitute for conventional directive management approaches has been accepted for a least a decade and a half since the publication of the McLeod report. But there are two major stumbling blocks: most managers simply don’t get it and even those that do, rarely know how to hold on to it. So sustainable examples of the approach are still sadly few and far between, despite the benefits being potentially transformational.

Tim has come up with a fresh insight into this theme, with a greater focus on the difficult challenge of developing a continuous improvement approach which melds seamlessly into organisational culture. His use of a parallel world detailing the life of bees is fascinating, amusing and relevant. The reader is encouraged to reflect on the anecdotes, particularly in relation to their own organisation. The book can be read on two levels, as a fascinating parable or as a simple but long- term primer in adopting these important concepts.

The major threat of conventional approaches to continuous improvement is that they can often become irrelevant bureaucracies generating a life of their own. Internal specialists dominate , creating resentment amongst the general workforce and undermining the cultural health of the workplace. Tim goes to great lengths to ensure that this does not happen. His adoption of 262 (or 20:60:20 as I knew it ) ensures that the focus is placed on the silent majority rather than a handful of nay-sayers who often disrupt. His views on inverting the organisational pyramid are worth listening to. So often, this is purely a box ticking system change which will quickly to be seen for what it is. Instead, Tim brings out the need to build trust and  effective means of engagement first so that the culture is constantly enhanced.

This attention to detail and careful balancing of structure with culture is a feature of the book. This will appeal to senior decision makers who want to move to a more effective management culture and those technicians who want to construct continuous improvement approaches which are likely to be embraced by the whole workforce and not seen as threatening or irrelevant.

I wish it much success and commend Tim for his ingenuity.

John J Oliver OBE

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