Long considered an organisational panacea, improvement workshops are a common feature in most services organisations. Managers view workshops as important ingredients to combat resistance to change by involving staff, reduce costs and improve services. What if the resulting wall of post-it notes is actually a hallucination, packed full of assumptions and none of them reflective … [Read more...] about Ten signs improvement workshops may be harming your business and what to do about it
Archives for 2019
Peter Senge: Introduction to organisational learning
Peter Senge's book The Fifth Sense: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization (1990) is influential and well known. Here he introduces some of the key concepts around his theory. … [Read more...] about Peter Senge: Introduction to organisational learning
Leaders talking about the Vanguard Method
One sign that a theory or method actually works is that leaders are publicly prepared to talk about what has happened. In this video leaders from public and private sector organisations talk about the Vanguard Method, highlighting what they have learned. … [Read more...] about Leaders talking about the Vanguard Method
Peter Checkland: The origins of Soft Systems Methodology (SSM)
Peter Checkland describes the origins of Soft Systems Methodology in a speech at Lancaster University in 2012. His book Systems Thinking; Systems Practice (1981) was important for a number of reasons, including the use of purpose in organisations as a way for exploring different perspectives of different people involved. … [Read more...] about Peter Checkland: The origins of Soft Systems Methodology (SSM)
Russell Ackoff: Systems-based improvement
Russell Ackoff filmed giving a lecture in 1995. Here Ackoff. reflects upon the effectiveness of efficiency programmes being run at that time. He put up a list on an over-head projector (OHP) including many activities that can be found in organisations today. Stafford Beer draws upon studies and surveys indicating that the majority led to an increase in costs. Systems-based … [Read more...] about Russell Ackoff: Systems-based improvement