Category Archives: plausible but untrue

How to have an organisational detox!

Posted on September 22, 2016 by

Ever wanted to empty your mind of organisational bumf? Start again with a fresh clear mind, untainted by this year’s key strategic priority aims? This seasons value statements cluttering your head up too much to think straight? Have an organisational detox! The … Continue reading →

Posted in all wrong, command and control, plausible but untrue, systems thinking, vanguard method | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Look around my eyes, don’t look into my eyes. LASER BEAMS come out ’em

Posted on June 27, 2016 by

I am trained in advanced persuasion and negotiation. Advanced, mind. So much so that you really should look around my eyes, not into my eyes, cos God knows what I could do with my madd skillz in brain manipulation. This … Continue reading →

Posted in experiment, plausible, plausible but untrue, systems thinking, thinking | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

E=Q*A FFS!

Posted on June 8, 2016 by

In my last post we all had a good giggle about how some improvement methods relegate the actual improvement to an afterthought, with managers doing it as a result of being sold and persuaded of a really good idea provided to … Continue reading →

Posted in command and control, lean thinking, plausible but untrue, public sector, systems thinking, vanguard method | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

The one thing you shouldn’t bother changing and the one thing you should

Posted on January 5, 2016 by

Lots of organisations try to change culture. They try and change that loads. But nobody really knows what it is. Not enough to point at and say “that’s culture there” and “that isn’t“. The Harvard Business Review says… “there is … Continue reading →

Posted in change, command and control, plausible but untrue, psychology, systems thinking | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments

One weird trick to outfox the Henry Ford gambit

Posted on May 30, 2015 by

I done got a letter from a reader! Here is a dramatic reconstruction…. Remember these two diagrams? THIS one, the usual, the boring old triangle? And then there is this one, the one thats not a triangle, the one that … Continue reading →

Posted in all wrong, command and control, plausible but untrue, public sector, purpose, strategic, systems thinking | Tagged , , , , ,

3 reasons why National Customer Service Week is rubbish

Posted on October 6, 2014 by

It’s National Customer Service Week! Celebrate!     Here at ThinkPurpose we love customers so we’d like to tell you about a fantastic event dedicated to improving service for the customer. Set up by the Institute [fancy!] of Customer Service … Continue reading →

Posted in customer, plausible but untrue, systems thinking, vanguard method | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Stay safe, stay stupid

Posted on December 26, 2013 by

THANKS ZOMBIE DEMING! Enough of systems thinking, let’s talk stupid. Stupid is normally easy to spot. It’s walking into doors, slipping over banana skins and the like. But what happens if “stupid” is so normal, that nobody notices it? What … Continue reading →

Posted in all wrong, command and control, plausible but untrue, systems thinking, thinking | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Quick! To the Puppy Room!

Posted on December 15, 2013 by

Where could stressed staff retreat to to escape the hurly burly of organisational life? The endless complexity, troubling questions with no immediate answers and the work that won’t work, where to go to escape it and be rejuvenated by something … Continue reading →

Posted in all wrong, command and control, leadership, plausible but untrue, systems thinking | Tagged , | 3 Comments

4 ways job interviews ruin organisations

Posted on November 10, 2013 by

1. They encourage people to pretend to be someone they are not “Lie to us well enough, and your in”, is the very first message a prospective employee receives. This is not a healthy way to start any type of … Continue reading →

Posted in command and control, John Seddon, plausible but untrue, systems thinking, thinking | Tagged , | 9 Comments

13 reasons why

Posted on April 16, 2013 by

Here are 13 reasons why you should buy the latest IT solution you will grow a thick mane of glossy lustrous hair. Chestnut brown. if you are small, you’ll grow big. and if you’re thick, you’ll turn clever. Yes, both. … Continue reading →

Posted in command and control, plausible but untrue, public sector, very short posts | Tagged | 1 Comment

9 reasons why command and control organisations despise thinking

Posted on January 26, 2013 by

“I don’t want that academic or theoretical stuff I want something practical” A huge number of people who work in offices are not paid to dig ditches or split logs, so if they are not paid for their brawn they … Continue reading →

Posted in all wrong, plausible but untrue | Tagged | 5 Comments

Digital by default

Posted on November 21, 2012 by

There are few things in life more complex than buying a loaf of bread. But there are some.

Posted in plausible but untrue, systems thinking, tools, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Lean, OBA, Prince2 and Slimming World

Posted on October 23, 2012 by

Can you spot the odd one out? Sorry, I trapped you. There isn’t an odd one out. They’re all the same. When they don’t work they blame the user for not doing it properly. Dieting doesn’t work. Ask the All-Party … Continue reading →

Posted in plausible but untrue, systems thinking, tools, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

98% will die, but only 90% of everything is….

Posted on October 15, 2012 by

See him? He looks healthy enough doesn’t he? Young, broad grin, full of life, he’s eating vegetables too! Food insurance, that’s what that is. But he’s more likely than ANYBODY to suffer a cardiac arrest (where your heart stops pumping) … Continue reading →

Posted in learning, plausible but untrue, systems thinking | Tagged , | Leave a comment

How to spot a performance management

Posted on September 15, 2012 by

I work in performance in the public sector. I believe in my line of work. I think helping people learn how to understand work using data is useful and important. But I don’t think that everything that happens in my … Continue reading →

Posted in command and control, communication, leadership, plausible but untrue, systems thinking | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Merry Triangle

Posted on September 11, 2012 by

I hate triangles. I’ve had countless implausible ones drawn for me earnestly by people trying to demonstrate some linkage or another between things. I am sorely tempted next time it happens to ask “Why equilateral? Are you sure it’s not … Continue reading →

Posted in all wrong, command and control, plausible but untrue, systemz comix | Tagged | 3 Comments

Needy kitten

Posted on August 7, 2012 by
Posted in plausible but untrue, systems thinking, systemz comix, thinking, very short posts | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Absolutely anything

Posted on July 25, 2012 by

People will sit in meeting rooms and do anything: strategy away days unconferences networking benchmarking building a shared story sessions communities of practice world cafes team building Absolutely anything capacity building workshops consensus building work planning garland arranging Jar Jar … Continue reading →

Posted in all wrong, human brains are weird, learning, plausible but untrue, Uncategorized | Tagged | 8 Comments

Magical thinking

Posted on April 18, 2012 by

“New Customer Service Standards:- New Customer Service Standards have been launched. Cards, leaflets and posters will now be appearing round the building to reinforce this message to all staff.” Appeared today. Will take effect when magical pixie dust has been … Continue reading →

Posted in command and control, human brains are weird, plausible but untrue, setting a numerical target is like..., Uncategorized, very short posts | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Desk muppet

Posted on April 17, 2012 by

“It’s time to play the music It’s time to light the lights” Ever since I found out about systems thinking the world of conventional work, any work, has seemed more and more surreal. “It’s time to meet the Muppets on … Continue reading →

Posted in all wrong, human brains are weird, plausible but untrue, systems thinking, Uncategorized, very short posts | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Map versus Territory

Posted on April 16, 2012 by

The nice lady at work who is in charge of GIS (Geographical Information Mapping) was showing me a very clever piece of software that showed in 3D the borough with each ward’s height relative to an indicator like % of … Continue reading →

Posted in human brains are weird, knowledge, plausible but untrue, psychology, very short posts | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Magic Goggles

Posted on April 10, 2012 by

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”. You’ve probably come across this quote, not thinking it applied to you and people like you. When you think of it you probably nod indulgently, imagining some kind of tribesmen cowering beneath … Continue reading →

Posted in plausible but untrue, systems thinking | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Bicycle Shaped Object

Posted on April 7, 2012 by

This is not a bicycle. This is a BSO or “bicycle shaped object”.  It looks like a bike, it’s shaped like a bike. But it is not a bike. It is something made to look like a bike, so someone … Continue reading →

Posted in all wrong, command and control, customer, human brains are weird, plausible but untrue | Tagged , | 9 Comments

Five things to feed a hungry filing cabinet

Posted on April 2, 2012 by

There’s nothing sadder than an empty filing cabinet.  Eliminate the hunger of YOUR filing cabinets by feeding them this nutritious diet of paper-based work substitutes. 1:  An appraisal form. Typed up. This will lead to a very different approach to managing … Continue reading →

Posted in all wrong, human brains are weird, plausible but untrue, setting a numerical target is like..., Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Documents ‘Я’ Us

Posted on March 29, 2012 by

Remember when I had a gas leak? Click above, or read it below in 66 dull words. My gas meter was exchanged for a newer gas meter, a few days later there was a lingering strong smell of gas, I … Continue reading →

Posted in command and control, plausible but untrue, psychology | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Everything you could possibly need to know about Six Sigma

Posted on March 28, 2012 by

What a six sigma black belt sees when he looks in the mirror…. What a six sigma black belt probably looks like… EDIT: The point I am cack-handidly trying to make is nicking the idea of “black-belt” from martial arts … Continue reading →

Posted in all wrong, plausible but untrue, psychology, systems thinking | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

He who grins wins

Posted on March 10, 2012 by

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust has spent 10 grand on training staff to smile.  This training includes other things, but the aspect that interests me is staff are encouraged to hand out cards to other Doctors and nurses when they spot them not … Continue reading →

Posted in all wrong, command and control, plausible but untrue, systems thinking | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Who’s trained the system?

Posted on March 6, 2012 by

A colleague is leaving and is clearing their desk and cupboards of decades of training manuals, never used, as the training was never used. It is like unearthing the last few decades of training fads that have plagued the public sector. … Continue reading →

Posted in all wrong, deming, knowledge, plausible but untrue, systems thinking, Uncategorized, vanguard method | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Shooting blanks

Posted on March 3, 2012 by

What is more dangerous than this gun? The air you breathe and Ross Kemp.

Posted in human brains are weird, plausible but untrue | Tagged , | Leave a comment

I too used to be a toolhead

Posted on November 4, 2011 by

I genuinely understand the attraction, I used to be one too. But it’s all just bells and whistles.  When you strip it all away, tool-led approaches are just old fashioned command and control, as new fangled as the Audit Commission with a … Continue reading →

Posted in all wrong, plausible but untrue, systems thinking, very short posts | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

This is the most dangerous place in your organisation

Posted on October 19, 2011 by

“a desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world”-John Le Carre Trading opinions is not getting knowledge. No matter how many people nod and agree with you.

Posted in all wrong, plausible but untrue, systems thinking, very short posts | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Fun, love and money. Spot the motivators.

Posted on October 11, 2011 by

You play for the fun and love of it, not the money. This should be the same as when you’re at work.

Posted in all wrong, plausible but untrue, very short posts | Tagged , | Leave a comment