Doctors make less mistakes using checklists

In a study published by the New England Journal of Medical, surgeons can reduce the rate of major complications from 11% to 7% by using basic checklists. Additionally, deaths dropped nearly in half with a rate of 1.5% going down to 0.8% using checklists.

I hypothesize that checklists can help in less critical circumstances too.

Over lunch I read The Death of Process, PERIOD! 

Author Max J. Pucher tries to tackle some tough topics about trying to follow processes at work and what really matters when considering improving business. He evokes agile thoughts vs traditional project management concepts. 

Learning Organizations

Here's a great passage from Wikipedia that captures the essence of what we're helping clients achieve through our organizational e-learning platform and methodology. 

Learning organizations are those that have in place systems, mechanisms and processes, that are used to continually enhance their capabilities and those who work with it or for it, to achieve sustainable objectives – for themselves and the communities in which they participate.

The important points to note about this definition are that learning organizations:
– Are adaptive to their external environment
– Continually enhance their capability to change/adapt
– Develop collective as well as individual learning
– Use the results of learning to achieve better results.

Speed diagramming class

Here are Susan, Andrea, Amanda and Ann during a speed diagramming exercise. 

Just read an article on Singapore's economy in the Walls Street Journal. 

Having worked in Asia through the economic downturn in 1998, I know it can be tough. Back in those days, I worked for LANSA under the direction of Gordon Davies and was charged with supporting our partner network in Asia. In such times, everyone had to cut back because spending dropped. I learned some lessons about partnering. 

First of all, in bad times, it's important to support partners all the more because they're faced with cut backs and their ability to service clients may drop. By stepping in to field questions and introduce ideas that are working elsewhere, it's possible to increase sales, quality of support and maintain education minimums. 

Secondly, when the sky is falling morale is low. Maintaining a positive attitude is contagious that can spread to partners. 

Also, traditional targets have to be taken with a grain of salt. Partners will already be trying to put on their best face to clients. There's little need to pressurize partners to meet numbers that are no longer tied to reality. Instead, meet with partners to formulate new targets based on what they see in their local market. This provides excellent market intelligence too. This can also help uncover if any partners are headed towards disaster. Let me tell you a story...

Before I arrived on the scene in Asia, one of LANSA's partners with 30 clients one day announced they were closing their doors. There had been no warning and no chance to prepare for us to minimize the damage to LANSA's local reputation and future support contracts. As result the market shunned LANSA. However, because LANSA was present during the 1998 economic downturn, we built a new reputation in this market and came out of the recession with doors opened again.