It is a point of view and one that attacks all of us like an invisible germ and distorts our outlook. It must be exorcised absolutely and completely, leaving no trace to multiply and reinfect us.

Thomas Gilbert

Starting with January the 1st, What do I do on Monday morning? lays out a template for performance improvement in sequenced and practical daily actions and advice. It covers the 10 essential components and systems necessary to optimize people performance and contribution

Each month we cover a different component and in September we cover the component of systems and process which is part of the Technical system. A diagram of the 10 essential components of team performance and the systems of which they are a part appears at the end of this article. This week I am covering what to do on Monday morning the 12th of September to Sunday the 18th of September.

12th September
As long as we personalize problems – think about them only in terms of who is at fault – we’re going to continue to have them because the causes more likely reside in the system than in a person. Blaming people is a low-yield strategy for improvement; the biggest opportunities, the biggest leverage, lie in improving our work processes.11 Brian L. Joiner

13th September

What do Russel Ackoff, Edwards Deming, Joseph Juran, and Peter Senge all have in common?

Performance improvement comes from improving systems NOT individual efforts.

94% - 97% of all improvement comes from system improvement – not individual efforts.

14th September

You have to take people with all their warts. And then, to make the system work, you have to discipline them a little bit. You have to say, “Okay, I don’t care how you grew up or what you are – here’s the way we’re going to run this ball club. And here are the plays. If you don’t like them, it’s going to show. By that time, you won’t have to get off the team – I’ll throw you off.” 13 Lee Iacocca

15th September

We tend to blame outside circumstances for our problems. “Someone else” – the competitors, the press, the changing mood of the marketplace, the government – did it to us. Systems thinking shows us that there is no outside; that you and the cause of your problems are part of a single system. The cure lies in your relationship with your “enemy.” 12 Peter M. Senge

16th September

One of the major reasons why strategies in organizations fail is because they are not in accordance with general systems theory. If we were to study the laws of nature, we would see that everything that endures is systematic. Everything that is disorderly or ad hoc, on the other hand, dies. In other words, order leads to more order, while disorder leads to chaos. So an organization, a department, a new system that is purposeful, organized and systematic will succeed; one that is disorganized and ad hoc will not. 14

17th September

No individual or team can solve a problem until they accept responsibility for it – or at least for those aspects of the problem that is under their control. This philosophy is very relevant in the industry today because of us and them culture, and the need to change from security from the company or the union philosophy to security through performance philosophy. Feelings of anger and betrayal must be dealt with before teams can get into a problem-solving mode.

When managers and workers concentrate on the 10 essential components and systems necessary to optimize people's performance and contribution, then the improvement is inevitable because these components cover the areas where the vast majority of performance problems occur. This overall philosophy applies specifically when implementing the 10 essential components and systems of team performance. 7

18th September

A bad system will beat a good person every time. W. Edwards Deming

What do I do on Monday morning? has been designed as a daily reference guide for improving the organizational performance of your business using the proven Sacher Associates systems. Published in Australia and globally it is now in its third print edition.

I have written this work not to teach people what they do not know, but to remind them of what they already know and is very evident to them. You will find in most of my words only things which most people know and concerning which they have no doubts. But to the extent that they are well known and their truths revealed to all, so is forgetfulness in relation to them extremely prevalent. M.C. Luzzatto