A short while ago I got the chance to catch up with Craig Thornton from Mango QHSE, of course both being lock-down along with the rest of New Zealand and most of the world it was via a web call.  The subject was one close to my heart, improvements. Specifically how do you uncover that are already hiding within your QHSE system, that are ...

You may have noticed that we used the word Active twice in the title of this principle, that was deliberate. When it comes to your Information Security Management System relaying on passive, reactive security steps is going to be pretty disastrous for your organisation, waiting for something to happen ( or worse still if something happens and you d...

With everything that is going on in the world at the moment with the Covid-19 pandemic the move to working remotely has exploded. People have, to be fair, worked remotely for a long time and been successful with it, but it's not normally been the whole team, it's normally been a few people and even then they would pop in for face to face meetings o...

When you think about your information systems, repositories and sources of information within your organisation have you built security into them or is it a bolt on after the fact? Is it there at all? Keeping in mind that Information Security is about more than just your IT systems and what's stored there but about all information have you built in...

Understanding the risks in your organisation is a key part of being able to effectively manage it and its part of the reason that the ISO management systems now take a risk-based approach to things. ISO27001:2015 is no different to the other standards in that respect, if you want to have an effective Information Security Management System (ISMS) th...

Imagine you are in the Scottish Highlands in the late 1500's between you and your extended family or Clan as we call them, you have a bit of land and around 600 cattle and sheep. Now imagine that another clan have decided that for what ever reason to have a bit of a battle. Typically, these battles were comprised of hundreds of people all on foot w...

Joe walked into a doctor's surgery convinced he was not long for this world. He sat patiently waiting for the doctor, who was running 30 minutes late, but finally it was his turn. The Doctor, an elderly and portly man with a beard that would make Santa proud, asked what the problem was. Joe explained that everywhere hurt, he said that when he touch...

When people start out on the journey for ISO27001 sometimes they can forget to stop and really think about the design of their Information Security Management System (ISMS), eventually it catches up with them and it happens. One factor in that design that most seem to gloss over however is the Values that the system is based around and that's what ...

I attended a client's monthly management meeting the other week and it was interesting to say the least. The session was scheduled for an hour (so in my head I'm thinking that's a bit short) and it was to cover operational performance and a new product they were designing for a new market they were looking to enter. I'd asked in advance why they we...

I was at a meeting the other week when one of those annoying corporate sound bites was used to shut someone down, you know the ones that seem to sound right but when you stop and think about it a little they make zero sense at all. We've all heard and probably, unfortunately, used them from time to time but this one is one of the dumbest ones I can...

Organisations talk about their values, they frame them and put them on their walls, but do they really pay much attention to them? Frequent readers of the blog know that I have a passion about organisational culture, it's the one single true advantage your organisation has over any other so having a true set of values that you can build your cultur...

Let's face it when it comes to any form of system, process or way of working the one sure that that will kill it quickly and drive staff morale into the gutter is lack of management commitment. We spoke about the need for this in depth when we looked at the requirements of ISO9001:2015 for Quality Management Systems and it's exactly the same requir...

 When it comes to changing or improving things they say it's always easier to critique an idea or a draft of something than start with a blank sheet of paper, you never really get to start with a blank sheet anyway, there's always something that's set in stone, but what if there wasn't? What if you could genuinely start with a completely blank...

Ever wonder why processes and systems breakdown in your organisation? The answer is normally pretty simple and comes back to just one word, Responsibility. If you don't assign responsibility to someone to get a task done or own a process, then guess what it'll fall over. All processes and systems left unattended eventually just fall over, it's call...

I spend a lot of time talking to people about lean and ISO (International Standards Organisation) systems, especially ISO9001. People sometimes think that it's a strange mix of things but when you peel back the surface of ISO9001 what you have is a standard build around 2 things, understanding risk and the Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) or if you are ...

I often ask people I'm working with, "if you want to fix something, to improve it, then what is the 1st thing you have to have in order to be able to do that?" I get all sorts of answers usually most of these resulting of spending a lot of money, which seems to be the default approach – there's a problem lets spend money. The real answer is actuall...

My mum used to make the best chicken and veg soup, she'd boil up a chicken to create the stock, then remove it and add the chicken meat back, then she would add Split Peas, Pearl Barley, Lentils, Carrots, Peas, Onion and lastly some salt for seasoning. It was the same process every time, they were added in the same order, the same weights were used...

When you parked your car this morning did you lock it and put valuables in the boot, so they don't get stolen? What about when you left your house, I bet that was locked up, windows closed, oven and cooker off so as not to burn the place down. You don't want come home and find that your house is empty of all your possessions, that your family photo...