What I know about #systemsthinking

Watch the video - and pay attention to the sigils! https://youtu.be/p8IT-o_lpMg It's about #sensemaking hard until you know what is really going on, to get to the root cause of wicked problems and solve them Everything is connected, so everything is a #livingsystem - it's quite mystical, really You start from designing an idealised future … Continue reading What I know about #systemsthinking →

Pristine shelfware to working in the swamps

I thought it was essential – actually, the most important part of my work. But I gave it up and haven’t looked back. I used to work in policy – and we’d produce some brilliant policies. The problem is, nobody really followed them. Then, as a consultant, I produced enormous, beautiful slide-decks. Full of findings, … Continue reading Pristine shelfware to working in the swamps →

What do you reach for to get a quick overview of an organisation’s structure and key data?

How can you simplify analysis in way that doesn’t become meaningless? I used to look down my nose a bit at ‘the business model canvas’ and its many variants. Organisation and governance design is fascinating, and often involves challenging the ‘problem’ or changing the questions you are asking to get better results. Powerful approaches like … Continue reading What do you reach for to get a quick overview of an organisation’s structure and key data? →

Do systems exist?

to understand is to know what to do As soon as you really think about it, boundaries dissolve, connections appear. Everything is nebulous. ...sounds a bit woo-woo? *Of course* systems exist – we interact with them all the time, and we can model and understand them. Not always, not every time, but reliably and with … Continue reading Do systems exist? →

There are multiple ways of looking at organisations.

Here’s a baker’s dozen to get you going: 1- Empowerment — contributing to meeting purpose (or not) 2- Effectiveness in prevention — meeting needs early 3- In terms of dealing with demand ‘outside-in’ 4- Functional perspective — professional and statutory functions 5- A resource based view 6- An outcomes view 7- Evaluation 8- As purposive users of resource to achieve outcome … Continue reading There are multiple ways of looking at organisations. →

Most customer service performance measures are worse than doing nothing

>> What was your worst customer experience recently? And what did they do to learn? The *silliest* a business can do is ask me to mark the agent out of ten. That tells you nothing about whether your processes are working or not. If the agent gets the blame because the organisation is incompetent, you … Continue reading Most customer service performance measures are worse than doing nothing →

Three tribes are contesting for the #futureofwork. Which one will you join?

Slides show of three tribes and the #futureofwork BLUE tribe is the continuation of the machine - big, high-profile, high-status corporate organisation They want you in the office, in a suit, on their PC, using their methods. These days, hey probably have an amazing diversity programme, and increasingly focused 'work/life integration'. The worker's identity comes … Continue reading Three tribes are contesting for the #futureofwork. Which one will you join? →

Have you progressed in your career?

I don’t mean moving up the ladder, I mean how have *you* changed? I listened back to the first podcast I was ever on, nearly six years ago (link in comments – thanks Rob Worth!), and I’ve been through a number of phases:> From a wannabe-class warrior – changing the world from a position of ‘righteousness’ … Continue reading Have you progressed in your career? →

What would *you* do to improve this organisation?

Here’s another ‘transformation’ teaser! Our job was to prepare young people at risk of getting involved with drugs, crime, abuse, and therefore the criminal justice system to on expeditions to places like Kinabalu or Belize (with others, including the young British Princes). They had to complete a series of things over twelve months: * several … Continue reading What would *you* do to improve this organisation? →

We would all like a ‘neat and compleat’ way of making sense of the world, of leading, consulting, managing.

But we’re all stuck in the swampy lowlands, whether we like it or not. Bongard games are a brilliant, fun little way to illustrate that you can never have one theory to tell you what to do in all situations. It’s simple. You have six postcard-sized images on the left, and six on the right. … Continue reading We would all like a ‘neat and compleat’ way of making sense of the world, of leading, consulting, managing. →