Tag Archives: waste

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 →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Epic Fail

Posted on December 19, 2012 by

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 →

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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 →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

No Cheese, Please!

Posted on August 30, 2012 by

Someone recently asked me, “Why don’t you write blog posts about positive things?” I was surprised at first (and probably a bit defensive) as I think my posts are positive – after all, I don’t just go about kidney-punching management … 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 →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Check It Out

Posted on July 22, 2012 by

I never plan to write blog posts – ideas just tend to pop into my head when doing random stuff. Today was one of those days. What follows isn’t particularly exciting, shocking or controversial, and no doubt I will be … Continue reading →

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Watch Your Waste

Posted on July 18, 2011 by

If your organisation is currently facing the challenge of seeking out efficiency gains, or you have just sat in a meeting wondering “Why am I here?” this blog may be for you. There is often the assumption that all activity … Continue reading →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments