Fire!

Some years ago (in fact probably many years ago) I took part in a quiz to promote fire safety. We were taught by real firemen and also had the opportunity to try working with things such as hoses, breathing apparatus and ladder work.

The bit I remember most was the use of the 'rat run', or underground training area where the firemen practiced working in difficult, dark and sometimes smoky environments. We would work in the tunnels in pairs and would be timed to see who could get through the fastest without breaking the basic safety rules.

What I remember clearly was that the team that had the best communication and also were the most flexible in how they applied the rules would invariably win, and win by some major margin.

Working with companies now brings this memory back to the front of my mind because what I have learnt is that the improvement teams who have the best communication and relationships and who have the best understanding of the principles of improvement and the boundaries of the change required will (and do) have the best success.

This blog will explore the benefit of flexibility in change over rigidly applied improvement and what this means to improvements in a wide range of sectors.