Tag Archives: variety

Dial ‘F’ For Failure

Posted on May 16, 2013 by

The NHS recently launched its non-emergency 111 number. Staffed by ‘a team of fully trained advisers’, the scheme’s aim is to quickly and accurately identify the most appropriate medical response to the caller’s needs. What’s important to note is that … Continue reading →

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Ministry of Silly Systems

Posted on April 10, 2013 by

Recently, I had cause to write to a Government department to ask a question. I knew my query was in good hands as soon as I received an automated reply advising me of their service level agreement for replying to … Continue reading →

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The Bells! The Bells!

Posted on February 10, 2013 by

“About half of everything is below average”. When you think about that, it’s pretty obvious isn’t it? Well keep that thought in mind as we explore a widely misapplied and misunderstood tool of performance management – The Bell Curve. Without … Continue reading →

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Get Back! Stay Back!

Posted on January 20, 2013 by

This post is little more than the illegitimate mutant offspring of two of my other posts – Great Expectations and Epic Fail. Nevertheless, I find it cathartic to grumble about the systems-orientated screw-ups that continually aggravate me. Today’s musings surround … Continue reading →

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Pull The Other One

Posted on January 13, 2013 by

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 →

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Great Expectations

Posted on December 7, 2012 by

Recently I had a minor prang in my beloved car. (I won’t go into detail for legal reasons, but I was neither texting, daydreaming about systems, nor changing dodgy 80s CDs in the CD player at the time it happened). … Continue reading →

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Please Take A Ticket

Posted on August 16, 2012 by

Far from the frustrated rantings of my last blog post, my latest musings are more about genuine puzzlement over why some managers seem intent on making extremely straightforward processes unnecessarily complicated. I was at the Outpatient’s department of my local hospital today for … Continue reading →

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Water on the Brain

Posted on July 30, 2012 by

Here is a picture of a human brain. In fact it’s mine. I’ve been desperate to find an excuse to put it in a blog post ever since I obtained it and put pretty colours all over it. (Turner prize, … Continue reading →

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Cream or Ice Cream?

Posted on March 5, 2012 by

This blog post could quite easily have been called ‘Another Short Pub Tale’, or ‘A Short Pub Tale XXI- This Time It’s Personal’, or suchlike. Same pub, same(ish) subject matter; I was even drinking the same beer. This place is full of … Continue reading →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments