Tag Archives: command and control thinking

The Kung Fu Panda principle.

Posted on September 23, 2017 by

Imagine you want to buy a bar of chocolate from a supermarket. You are sitting at home, so you need to get in your car, you need to drive to the supermarket, you need to park the car, you need … Continue reading →

Posted in clarity of purpose, command and control, purpose, systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

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

How to learn Kung Fu in 1 easy step

Posted on April 1, 2016 by

Q: How do you learn Kung Fu? A: Attend a 1 hour training session in Kung Fu. Hey presto…. April Fool! That won’t work, if you want to know Kung Fu you’d have to train for years. One hour will do … Continue reading →

Posted in command and control, knowledge, learning, systems thinking | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Naughty…but nice

Posted on February 11, 2016 by

Say the phrase “Command and control management” out loud. Doesn’t sound nice does it? What do you think when you hear it? Things like… Call centre staff told to poo on their own time. Hospital patients dying to meet hospital targets. … Continue reading →

Posted in all wrong, change, command and control, public sector, systems thinking, thinking, vanguard method | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

What fresh hell is THIS?

Posted on January 28, 2016 by

No fresh hell sweetie. Just the latest incarnation of a stale and very familiar hell. Do you recognise this… yawning at yet another exactly-the-same organisational transformation? wiping sleep out of your eyes at yet another whizz-bang IT venture that’ll save lots … Continue reading →

Posted in command and control, learning, public sector, systems thinking, thinking, vanguard method | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

I’m not touching that, it’ll do me back in!

Posted on August 21, 2015 by

This settee is crucial to this post , so take a good look at it. Harder. Go on, put your nose right up to it. This nasty looking thing used to be in my living room, there’s paint on it … Continue reading →

Posted in command and control, public sector, purpose, systems thinking, systemz comix, vanguard method | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

A manager’s guide to good and bad measures

Posted on July 21, 2015 by

How can you tell if you’ve been sold a pup? If some performance spod is fobbing you off with nonsense instead of good sound performance information? Just check what’s put in front of you against this 5 point guide to … Continue reading →

Posted in measures, systems thinking, targets, vanguard method | Tagged , , | 6 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 , , , , ,

The loneliest whale in the world.

Posted on March 27, 2015 by

Meet the loneliest whale in the world. She doesn’t speak the same language as other whales so they can’t hear her. This is the same as systemsy talking. Once your mental model changes from stupid ol’ command and control to … Continue reading →

Posted in command and control, communication, human brains are weird, psychology, systems thinking, thinking | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Your cheatsheet for why league tables are total balls

Posted on February 11, 2015 by

Public Sector bodies waste huge amounts of money on total balls. One of the most futile are the self-created league tables of performance indicators, showing where their organisation is on sorted lists against other similar organisations. Even though the government got rid … Continue reading →

Posted in all wrong, command and control, public sector, systems thinking | Tagged , , ,

Curry by default

Posted on June 19, 2014 by

Yes, you heard, don’t act shocked.

Posted in all wrong, customer, public sector, systems thinking, systemz comix | Tagged , , | 14 Comments

7 ways to do the Vanguard Method all wrong

Posted on June 12, 2014 by

Read this first. It was very popular and there’s marbles in it. If you’re too lazy here’s a summary: I went to the executive leadership team, I talked to them about something that started with studying demand and eventually led to huge … Continue reading →

Posted in me doing it, systems thinking, vanguard method | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

The Highlander principle

Posted on March 22, 2014 by

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will … Continue reading →

Posted in command and control, systems thinking, thinking | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Mordecai and Rigby clear up a few common misconceptions

Posted on February 12, 2014 by

Performance Management doesn’t manage performance. Distance from the work doesn’t provide senior leaders with a strategic view. Distance provides distance. Signing off reports does not ensure quality. It ensures they are slightly worse. Not doing the right thing because “we’ve … Continue reading →

Posted in command and control, systems thinking, systemz comix, thinking | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Do you like my piece of paper?

Posted on February 9, 2014 by

“Say what you see” is the latest tagline of this blog. What I see every day is people creating pieces of paper to take into a room for people to look at and decide if they like that piece of … Continue reading →

Posted in command and control, public sector, systems thinking, systemz comix | Tagged , , , | 15 Comments

The one thing you never see on an improvement plan

Posted on January 28, 2014 by

You don’t have a performance management problem. You don’t have a staff engagement problem. You don’t have a data quality problem. You don’t have a budget problem. You don’t have a culture problem. You don’t have a risk management problem. You … Continue reading →

Posted in leadership, systems thinking, thinking | Tagged , | Leave a comment

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

Why the world isn’t a triangle (and what happens when we act like it is)

Posted on March 16, 2013 by

I started talking about systems thinking at work, and elicited interest. This is of course good, but I was asked to write something up on different management models. So I decided to do a cartoon instead. This is it, attached. … Continue reading →

Posted in command and control, me doing it, public sector, systems thinking, systemz comix, vanguard method | Tagged , | 7 Comments

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

6 reasons why I will never be a team player

Posted on November 10, 2012 by

I am not and will never be a team player, here’s why. Which of these also apply to you? 1: You don’t work on your team Next week I am going to a team building event at work.  It has … Continue reading →

Posted in all wrong, systems thinking | Tagged , | 6 Comments

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

Saving the world through typing

Posted on June 30, 2012 by

As you read this lots of keen, dedicated young men and women are improving the world through typing. They think it will. If they didn’t, typing as a job would be silly wouldn’t it? The job of “typist” disappeared along … Continue reading →

Posted in plans, systems thinking | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Hitting old women

Posted on May 29, 2012 by

This photo shows a “careworker” slapping a confused old lady who suffers from Alzheimers. It is from a BBC Panorama documentary about abuse in an old people’s care home called Ash Court. The daughter of this old lady found unexplained … Continue reading →

Posted in command and control, inspection, systems thinking | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

7 steps to Amnesia Inc.

Posted on May 26, 2012 by

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” I used to work for Amnesia Incorporated. I can’t remember exactly what business it was in, but no doubt it was dynamic, vital and important as thousands of people … Continue reading →

Posted in command and control, leadership, learning, systems thinking | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

2 minute hate

Posted on May 4, 2012 by

“I am a born leader. I lead by example, being quick to make decisions. It’s all about solutions, it’s not about problems” This is Jade Nash. You know her, she might sit opposite you. She might be your boss. Heaven … Continue reading →

Posted in command and control, leadership, psychology | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Stick around, you might learn something

Posted on April 21, 2012 by

Look at your desk. Go on. Now look at the photo. Do they look similar? If so, congratulations! You are LEAN! This photo tells the infamous story of how the DWP approached improving its service by putting tape on staff … Continue reading →

Posted in command and control | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

A tawdry end

Posted on April 20, 2012 by

As you are no doubt aware, I had a gas leak. I complained about it, and there was a to-do over whether some boxes were ticked, or whether gas leaked out of a pipe. Both can’t be true, obviously. It … Continue reading →

Posted in clarity of purpose, command and control, customer, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

3 faces for Tuesday

Posted on April 16, 2012 by

These are the 3 faces you can expect to see today if you talk to anyone about S*****s T******g. If so, you might like to consider the helpful suggestions outlined below by the people at systemsthinkingforgirls “Don’t talk about it at all … Continue reading →

Posted in command and control, communication, plausible, psychology, systems thinking | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

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

How to succeed at work in 5 easy steps!

Posted on March 30, 2012 by

be visible; emphasize the aspects you’re good at; make those in power feel good about themselves; if you must point out a mistake by someone in power, blame the situation or others; shower those above with flattery. Cost: One soul, … Continue reading →

Posted in all wrong, command and control, psychology, very short posts | Tagged | 1 Comment

7 reasons you shouldn’t touch systems thinking

Posted on March 17, 2012 by

It’s not all cream cakes and beer in systems thinking.  Here’s seven things you’ll have to put up with if you start getting curious and learning. You’ll still work in command-and-control land. Everything around you won’t have changed but you … Continue reading →

Posted in command and control, systems thinking, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 27 Comments

I smell something rotten, and it’s not gas

Posted on March 15, 2012 by

I had a gas leak last night. I live in a house that is about 50 years old, and I was contacted about 18 months ago by our gas infrastructure owner to replace and update my gas meter. After many … Continue reading →

Posted in all wrong, clarity of purpose, command and control, systems thinking | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Command and control makes me sick

Posted on October 28, 2011 by

And you. And everyone around you. That’s a SCIENTIFIC FACT.

Posted in systems thinking, Uncategorized, vanguard method | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Let’s re-write Seth!

Posted on October 22, 2011 by

From the immortal Seth.  A whole post of his, I’m not sure if this is breaking the law of the internet, but here it is, re-written as it should be, from a systems thinking perspective. “Command & Control managers work … Continue reading →

Posted in leadership, systems thinking | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

What not to do

Posted on October 21, 2011 by

First act. Find data to justify yourself. Move onto something else. Repeat. – Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

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

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

Ignore the bull

Posted on October 15, 2011 by

“Now’s not the time to muck around with this theory, we need facts”

Posted in all wrong, Uncategorized, very short posts | Tagged , , | Leave a comment