Insights
Practical lessons from our work in excellence, quality, performance management and customer experience.
ISO 56001 Innovation Management: What the Standard Is, Who It Is For, and How to Get Certified
For the first time, an organisation can hold an accredited certificate in innovation management. This article explains what ISO 56001 requires, how it differs from ISO 56002, and the actual steps from gap analysis to the certification audit.
25 September 2026 · 7 min readA Guide to the Sharjah Economic Excellence Award Categories: Which One Fits Your Business?
Eight categories, each with its own conditions and criteria — and the award does not allow entering two at once. This guide sorts the categories by who they suit and explains how to choose the one where your evidence is strongest.
25 September 2026 · 8 min readCustomer ExperienceThe Global Star Rating System: How to Prepare a Service Channel for Assessment
A rating is not awarded for a handsome building or the number of screens, but for what the customer actually experiences. Here is what the system assesses, and five steps we use to prepare service centres and digital channels.
19 September 2026 · 6 min readInstitutional ExcellenceThe Government Excellence Model and EFQM: What Is the Difference, and Which Applies to You?
Both are excellence models and both assess capabilities and results, but they were designed for different purposes. Understanding the difference saves an excellence team months of work in the wrong direction.
19 September 2026 · 6 min readInstitutional ExcellenceSeven Mistakes That Weaken an Excellence Award Submission — and How to Avoid Them
A weak submission is rarely the sign of a weak entity. More often it is good work written in a way an assessor cannot score. Seven mistakes we see again and again — each with a clear remedy.
19 September 2026 · 7 min readInstitutional ExcellenceThe Excellence Award Readiness Checklist: 9 Questions Before You Start Writing
Most entities start by writing the file — and that is the mistake. Nine questions that reveal your real readiness before you burn three months on prose no evidence supports.
14 July 2026 · 8 min readPerformance ManagementWhy Nobody Uses Your KPI Dashboard: Five Common Causes
Building a dashboard is easy. Getting it used in a real meeting that changes a real decision is the hard part. Here are the five usual causes of failure.
2 June 2026 · 7 min readQuality & ISOThe Most Common Non-Conformities in ISO 9001 Audits
The findings that recur in almost every audit, and how to close them before the external auditor arrives.
21 April 2026 · 6 min readCustomer ExperienceFour Mistakes That Ruin a Customer Journey Map
Journey mapping is a powerful tool — if you map the real journey. These four mistakes reduce it to a pretty exercise with no effect.
10 March 2026 · 6 min readManagement ConsultingHow to Choose a Consulting Partner: Six Questions Before You Sign
Practical questions that separate a partner who transfers knowledge from a vendor who hands over documents and leaves.
19 January 2026 · 5 min read