This year some of my most-read posts were about my dad’s funeral, a cycle path, and why consultants with answers are a hazard.
That feels accurate, because it’s the same subject in three guises: what happens when real life meets a system that thinks it’s in charge.
A desire line in Vauxhall tells the truth in mud and footprints. People do not follow ‘target operating models’. They follow what works, what’s available, what’s bearable. If you want change, start with the shortcut, not the diagram. It’s a map of where your design is costing too much effort.
Public services are full of the same signal. We call it ‘demand’ and then try to ‘manage’ it. Too often that means moving it sideways and congratulating ourselves. The system says: ‘come back later, and bring more evidence’. So people do. A queue is a conversation the system is refusing to have – it’s the ‘relationship’ we’ve designed.
If you want less demand, stop building mazes and blaming people for getting lost in them. Services shouldn’t select for stamina; fix the work that creates the repeat visits, the chasing, the avoidable crises. Change the conditions, not the spreadsheet.
And that’s where ‘relational’ stops being a vibe and becomes the job. Good work depends on good relationships. Good relationships depend on boring, practical conditions: time, continuity, teams that can focus, honesty that doesn’t get punished, leaders who can say ‘we don’t know’ and still keep the room steady.
The posts are at
Here’s a non-obvious question for you: what is one unofficial practice in your organisation that is keeping the whole thing humane, and what would you have to stop doing, formally and politely, to let it become the way you actually work?
See also
chosen path 