Tag Archives: systems

A System Fit For Heroes

Posted on March 3, 2013 by InspGuilfoyle

When I was 10, my favourite TV series was ‘Cover Up’. Recently I even found the title sequence on Youtube, with its soundtrack of Bonnie Tyler’s Holding Out for a Hero. Class! (I actually remember buying the 7″ single with … Continue reading →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged command and control, management, systems, systems thinking, targets, vietnam, war | 3 Comments

Spot The Difference

Posted on January 31, 2013 by InspGuilfoyle

Sometimes when I say this… …people hear this: Not being able to differentiate between targets, measures and priorities is a deadly obstacle to effective performance. Let me explain why… Targets First of all, if you’ve ever met me, heard me … Continue reading →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged assumptions, binary comparisons, control charts, data, deming, management, measures, performance management, police, priorities, purpose, systems, systems thinking, targets | 25 Comments

Pull The Other One

Posted on January 13, 2013 by InspGuilfoyle

After a couple of forays into the worlds of wildlife and motorway driving, I return briefly to the subject of food and drink, largely because once you have been afflicted with seeing everyday situations from a systems perspective, the pub … Continue reading →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged demand, efficiency gains, flow, nhs, police, pull, purpose, systems, systems thinking, variety | 12 Comments

Oh Deer

Posted on January 7, 2013 by InspGuilfoyle

In the film ‘Stand by Me’ (which I saw again yesterday, for the first time in years), there’s a scene where a young lad out camping with his friends sees a deer early one morning. I won’t spoil the storyline, … Continue reading →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged assumptions, deming, extrinsic, intrinsic, management, motivation, performance management, police, public service, systems, systems thinking, targets | 5 Comments

Life in the Fast Lane

Posted on December 29, 2012 by InspGuilfoyle

According to St Etienne, life is ‘like a motorway’. I’m not too sure about that, but I do know that a motorway is definitely like a system… (*ignores groans from readership*) During my travels on some of the nation’s motorways … Continue reading →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged flow, motorway, process, systems, systems thinking, traffic, variation | 10 Comments

Epic Fail

Posted on December 19, 2012 by InspGuilfoyle

Yesterday, I saw this headline in a newspaper: “£136million spent by customers waiting to get through to HM Revenue and Customs”. The article bemoaned the amount of time that HMRC customers were left on hold (if they got through at … Continue reading →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged assumptions, demand, deming, division of labour, failure demand, flow, management, systems, systems thinking, tax, variation, waste | 5 Comments

Troubled Thinking

Posted on November 23, 2012 by InspGuilfoyle

Well, the ridiculous examples of bad performance measurement keep flooding in. I’ve lost count of whether we should be on Episode 5 or 6 by this point, so I’ll just stick to new titles from now on. This time, I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged deming, education, gaming, health, incentives, management, outcomes, payment by results, PbR, performance management, society, systems, systems thinking, targets, unemployment | 8 Comments

(Not So) Bad Performance Measurement On Tour (#3)

Posted on October 31, 2012 by InspGuilfoyle

‘Data have no meaning apart from their context’. – Donald Wheeler Cast your mind back to Episode One of this series. No beer, no food, no chillies; just trains. The examples provided in that blog post highlighted the dire (but … Continue reading →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged binary comparisons, data, donald wheeler, management, performance, performance management, performance measurement, police, russell ackoff, systems, systems thinking, targets | 20 Comments

Would You Like Sub-Optimization With That?

Posted on October 29, 2012 by InspGuilfoyle

Maybe this is ill-timed, not being long after my ‘weight loss’ blog post, but here’s another story from the land of “Is that large?” In my defence, I was on a long journey and was so hungry when I stopped … Continue reading →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged flow, management, performance, police, queuing theory, rational choice, sub-optimization, systems, systems thinking, targets | 11 Comments

Bad Performance Measurement on Tour (#2)

Posted on October 20, 2012 by InspGuilfoyle

Just one day after Episode One of this tragedy series, one of my faithful readers told me about a target so ridiculous that it would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious. During a hospital training session, those attending were … Continue reading →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged deming, nhs, performance, performance management, police, systems, systems thinking, targets, variation | 7 Comments