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Systems thinking and mole whacking
Have you played the arcade game where you hit moles on the head with a mallet? The moles pop up from their holes at random and you have to force them back in. As soon as you whack one, another mole...
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What is wrong with Outcomes Based Accountability (OBA)?
OBA stands for Outcomes Based Accountability TM. OBA strikes a pose OBA was invented by an American think tanker called Mark Friedman in the early 1990’s. He was in the midst of helping community...
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Deming was wrong: 8 rival theories
Deming taught that the performance of anyone is largely governed by the system they work in. But was Deming wrong?* Did he miss something important? Let’s look at 8 competing theories. 1. Performance...
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Command and control: the 3 stages of withdrawal
Once you’ve swallowed the pill, you can’t go back. This is what we say about systems thinking. It never leaves you. But what pill? I don’t remember swallowing anything. Do you? I just gradually...
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The washing up theory of impact measurement
When I was a teenager, my dad did the washing up. Occasionally, I would criticise his efforts. “Too many bubbles” “These are still filthy” “Did you forget to do this one?” “Are you on strike?” “It’s a...
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The 9 most popular arguments for targets deconstructed
Okay, so we know targets are bad Hundreds of researchers, academics, bloggers, psychologists, managers, more bloggers, statisticians authors have written about the damage caused by targets. It isn’t...
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The only question a manager should ask in an appraisal
Only one question is necessary to tell managers what they need to know to act on the system, the cause of 95% of the performance in an organisation. It is wasteful to rank and evaluate people using...
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What is ‘Maslow’s Hotel’?
Have you ever had bad service in a hotel? Me too. But last year I discovered something amazing, ‘Maslow’s Hotel’. I have dubbed this real hotel in the north of England ‘Maslow’s Hotel’ because it is...
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Lessons from an experienced budget manager
Once upon a time, I was given a budget of £16,400. I didn’t know how to manage a budget. It looked complicated. Was I up to the job? Luckily I had the help of an experienced budget manager. First, she...
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Project Management: Believing in Lies
This is Gene Bellinger’s (@SystemsWiki) article on project management from his excellent ‘Mental Model Musings‘. I remember reading it a few years and ago and finally tracked it down. Project...
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The correct pecking order at work
1. The frontline This is the best place to be because there is a job to do. You might find meaningful work here. Enjoy. It doesn’t get better than this. 2. In a waste of time job The second best place...
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A desk with wheels!
If you work at the software company Valve, your desk has wheels. Imagine that. Value ON WHEELS! Travelling value. Hired to be constantly looking around for the most valuable thing you could be doing....
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Nevermind the £53 p/w. How would IDS cope with the system?
Now that the petition calling for Iain Duncan Smith to prove he can live on £53 a week has been handed in to the Department of Work and Pensions by Change.org, we should start planning his experience...
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3 reasons why Human by Default is better than Digital by Default
Digital by Default is the name of the Government’s drive to put services online. The Cabinet Offices defines Digital by Default as: “digital services that are so straightforward and convenient that all...
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Targets: designed to delay our post and get us drunk?
Organisations write performance plans to meet numerical targets. But you never see performance plans for failure. Why is that? It doesn’t make any sense. If an organisation has plans to succeed 85% of...
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Tea drinkers: mugs or cups?
At home, what do you drink tea out of? Do you drink tea out of a mug? Most people do because: A mug holds lots of tea A mug is easy to hold A mug keeps the tea hot A mug is easy to carry A mug feels...
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The 10 minute clarity test
Use this test in a meeting when it is clear that no one has a clue what is going on. Use it when people have their own version of what is going on but will not under any circumstances share it. Use it...
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The 3 minute purpose test
Use this test to find out if your organisation has a purpose. Materials A roll of plain wallpaper, big pens and the ability to draw a donkey. Method Step 1 Stand up and move towards a colleague with...
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Imagine if we said “why doesn’t HE just leave HER’ in cases of domestic...
Why doesn’t he leave? Imagine if instead of saying “why doesn’t she leave him?” we said “why doesn’t he leave her?”. Imagine if we thought that the men who bully, threaten and intimidate women are...
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Service users? I couldn’t eat a whole one
The organiser of the Patient Service User Forum licks her lips when she sees me. A Service User! Me. She has captured one, a strange and precious creature for her consultation exercise. What will it...
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