There are ‘only’ seven ways to make savings and improvements in service organisations

1. Shape and manage demand: effect behavioural change, reduce failure demand 2. Create economies of flow: match capacity, capability, contact points to demand 3. Reduce waste: re-engineer processes or develop a lean whole system 4. Optimise the use of resources: buildings, IT, vehicles, other assets, people (scheduling, downtime, contracts and management), income generation 5. Effective … Continue reading There are ‘only’ seven ways to make savings and improvements in service organisations →

How can we change the world? Exactly – join us and we’ll see!

How can we change the world? Exactly — join us and we’ll see! ‘to understand is to know what to do’ Wittgenstein ‘I can only know what I should do if I can first answer the question: of what story, or stories, do I find myself a part?’ MacIntyre If you follow me, you might have heard this … Continue reading How can we change the world? Exactly – join us and we’ll see! →

Are you trapped in a tractor beam of The Force?

Stuctural coupling is the natural, incremental process by which organisations become better and better fit to their environment - and their environment becomes more and more fit to them. Gregory Bateson makes the point that flat grasslands and large herds of hooved animals evolved together, not separately. So if you want a nice lawn, you … Continue reading Are you trapped in a tractor beam of The Force? →

There are two fundamental outlooks on life

There are two fundamental outlooks on life: ➊ To regard the Universe as a gigantic machine hurtling through time and space to its final destruction: individuals in it are but tiny organisms with private lives that lead to private deaths: personal power, success and fame are the absolute measures of values; the things to live … Continue reading There are two fundamental outlooks on life →

The Force in organisational life: how dominant/other cultural patterns create system fragility…

Naturally and instantly, like a reflex, human groups connect — and part of their connection is to see themselves as different from some other group. As soon as the concept of Otherness is introduced — and one group has superior access to resources, rule-setting, and opportunity — the dynamic sets in. The Dominants see the Others as not quite right. The … Continue reading The Force in organisational life: how dominant/other cultural patterns create system fragility… →

The Dark Side of human responses – The Force in organisation, part VI

Human responses in organisation tend to produce patterns of separation and resentment which destroy partnership.It's natural, instant. And it builds more... more separation,more resentment. Less and less partnership. As we begin to work in partnership, with good intentions,something turns up. One party takes on the burden, the other is grateful. Asthe burdened party takes on … Continue reading The Dark Side of human responses – The Force in organisation, part VI →

A letter to the future from some little time after 2020

Epistemic status: a curiosity, part of an exercise done with one of the groups that began as a cohort of the RedQuadrant tool shed Dear tomorrow I remember 2020 as tsunami — wave after wave of crashing overwhelm to deal with — Covid, collapse all around, ultimately of the ecosystem, and grasping systems for attention and energy of all … Continue reading A letter to the future from some little time after 2020 →

Irreducible complexity: The Force in organisational life

A photoshopped images of a large stack of tortoises on each others' backs We want the world to be manageable, organisational life to be simple... ...so we can apply ‘best practices’. Or even complicated – so we can simulate, model, and plan. We want this so bad, we’re prepared to break everything that’s living and … Continue reading Irreducible complexity: The Force in organisational life →

The Force in organisational life — the story so far

Originally published on Medium: Aug 28 · 3 min read A quick summary of my series on the Force in organisational life so far. Which one of these do you think has the greatest impact on organisations, and why? 1) The purpose of the systems is what it does — there’s no point talking about … Continue reading The Force in organisational life — the story so far →

The Force in organisational life and becoming a Jedi — part 2: the Dark Side

Originally published on Medium: Aug 5 · 8 min read Image of Yoda action figure with a lightsaber ‘The Force’ in organisational life is the unseen energy that can shape and control you and your organisation — often towards the Dark Side — or you can learn to use that power to shape things positively. In this piece, … Continue reading The Force in organisational life and becoming a Jedi — part 2: the Dark Side →