114 visits by around 950 people to 50+ companies since 2003, with participants
saying that they will do something in their own company as a result
of an Inside Welsh Industry visit. These are impressive and exciting
statistics that clearly support the Welsh Assembly Government’s continued
financial support of the programme and Wales Management Council’s belief
in the importance of sharing best practice.
But is that the whole story?
Is BEST PRACTICE something absolute, and admirable? Is it simply a phrase
that has become stale from over use? To what extent is best practice
in the eye of the beholder – practice is only best if it helps me do
something better? This is important food for thought at the mid-point
between two Inside Welsh Industry Programmes. The Wales Quality Centre
has completed its four-year contract, with more visits, more success
stories, and a higher profile than ever before. However, the flesh on
the bare statistical bones, impressive as they are, is all to do with
impact and change. And the critical question for every participant on
the Inside Welsh Industry programme – and this applies to hosts as well
as their guests – is “What have you learned – what new knowledge have
you gained?” – hence the headline above.
The Inside Welsh Industry programme was conceived as a highly productive
way in which companies in Wales would learn from each other, with a
focus on new technology and leading edge practices. That is still true,
but what is equally remarkable is the insights of an entirely different
kind that visitors to other companies gain. They see different corporate
cultures, planning procedures, evaluation methods, attitudes to success,
communication routes, language, morale, aspirations, world view, hopes
… the list goes on.
This introduction to new ways of thinking and doing things can be the
biggest stimulus for change and development that anyone experiences,
and far more powerful than attending a course and hearing it in the
classroom. Is it any surprise that so many training course participants
say they learned more in the bar from their colleagues than they did
on the course itself. That’s nothing to do with whose round it was,
but everything to do with learning from the people who are really doing
it, because they can talk about what it’s really like, and that’s what
you want to hear.
So the Inside Welsh Industry programme is in reality a “knowledge network”,
and to build on its undoubted success in future let’s think about how
to develop the contacts made on Inside Welsh Industry visits to build
an even stronger learning network where Wales can learn from Welsh success
to make Wales more successful.
Christopher Ward, Chief Executive
Wales Management Council
