Uncommon Sense - Tools to Improve your Work Forever
PMI’s podcast, Uncommon Sense – Tools to Improve your Work Forever, gives you the opportunity to listen to our expert Consultants talk about a wide variety of tools so that you can refresh your memory and gather inspiration for which tools might help you solve your latest improvement challenge or problem. Each podcast is a rapid 10 – 15 minute download of what the tool is, when you would use it, and tips for effective application to enable you to decide quickly whether this tool is the one you need, avoiding hours of searching through manuals, books or online platforms for those nuggets of inspiration. Find out more about Tools for Business Excellence and how to transform your organisation at pmi.co.uk
- Update frequency
- every 13 days
- Average duration
- 13 minutes
- Episodes
- 82
- Years Active
- 2022 - 2025
Roles in Agile and Lean Six Sigma
Different approaches, same goal: better performance. That’s why Agile and Lean Six Sigma work together; aligning people, roles, and responsibilities to get the best out of every team.
Join Anthony Ric…
FMEA Beyond Manufacturing
It’s a classic tool. But its reach is far wider than you might think.
Join PMI Consultant Des Kelly as he explains what Failure Modes Effects Analysis (FMEA) really is, how the 2019 global standard c…
Lean Is Not About Efficiency, It’s About Abnormality at a Glance
It’s a bold claim, but one worth exploring.
Join PMI Consultant Niall Coney as he challenges one of the most persistent misconceptions in improvement: that Lean is about efficiency.
Through real-world …
AI for Smarter Problem Solving
AI is reshaping problem solving. But can it follow the methods you trust?
Join PMI Director Consultant Dennis Crommentuijn-Marsh as he shares an improvement-in-action story where conventional thinkin…
When Is 8D the Right Problem-Solving Approach?
8D has a reputation for being thorough, rigorous, and methodical. But is it always the best choice?
Join PMI Director Consultant Stuart Gibson as he takes us though three digestible scenarios to high…
Correlations: Unravelling Relationships
“If I change this… what happens over there?”
It’s a familiar question in improvement, and one that correlation helps us explore with rigour and insight.
Join PMI Consultant Niall Coney as he breaks dow…
5 Leadership Pitfalls
On the surface, everything seems aligned. But improvement just won’t stick. Why?
Join PMI Director Consultant Warren Knight as he unpacks five leadership behaviours that quietly derail progress. From…
The Purpose of Process
It’s a deceptively simple question: What is the purpose of this process?
An unclear process purpose is one of the most overlooked causes of waste, misaligned priorities, poor decisions, and missed im…
The Challenges of Defining Value Add
It’s simple: identify what’s valuable and do more of it.
But in practice, defining what truly adds value and what doesn’t, can be far from straightforward.
PMI Consultant Damion Albinson explores why…
Design of Experiments: How to Read Between the Lines
The core principle of DoE is elegantly simple: “how does this thing affect that thing?”
PMI Consultant Niall Coney explores the value of experimental design and regression analysis: clear thinking, i…
Decode Ambiguity with Operational Definitions
We’re on the same page… Or are we?
In improvement work, misaligned understanding around simple terms like ‘on time’ or ‘complete’ can derail progress before it begins. But PMI Consultant Damion Albin…
Simplifying Sampling Strategies
Does data collection feel like a tedious, time-consuming hurdle in your improvement projects? It doesn’t have to be.
Join Niall Coney, Consultant at PMI, for a 15-minute masterclass in smarter data co…
How to Onboard an Improvement Team Effectively
Your improvement team is assembled, the project is underway, but something’s off. Misalignment keeps surfacing, engagement is lacking, and stalled progress feels inevitable.
Join PMI Consultant and im…
Change or Chance? Understanding Hypothesis Testing
When you spot a difference in your data, is it because something has genuinely changed, or is it just chance?
Join Niall Coney, Consultant at PMI, as he demystifies hypothesis testing: one of the most…
The Value of Capability Analysis
If you’re making decisions based on assumptions, this episode could change everything.
Join PMI Consultant Dennis Crommentuijn-Marsh for a real-world case study where Capability Analysis exposed a cos…
Identifying The Right People For Your Team
Struggling with team dynamics? When it comes to building a successful improvement team, skills matter, but the right people are everything.
Join PMI Consultant and improvement project expert Mark Alli…
Understanding Capability in Process Performance
How confident are you that the processes you rely on can delight your customers?
Capability studies will provide the answer by revealing whether your processes are delivering what your customers trul…
How Are Histograms Different to Bar Charts?
The patterns in your data can hold the key to better business decisions.
Histograms go beyond simple bar charts, offering a clear view of data distribution to uncover trends, probabilities, and hidde…
SPC Charts: Driving Sustainable Performance Gains
Stop chasing symptoms and start driving sustainable performance gains.
PMI Director Consultant Warren Knight shares how SPC Charts can unlock powerful insights into any metric, whether it’s sales conv…
Reporting and Reviewing Performance
Are sales up this month? Have we produced more product this week than last week? Did we exceed our KPIs? Understanding how we’re performing against targets is a fundamental measure and is often repor…