Tag Archives: variety

Stick Child Tries to Buy Milk

Posted on February 3, 2014 by InspGuilfoyle

Stick Child is a healthy little chappie and he loves a nice cold drink of milk at break time. (Do they still do those 1/3 pint bottles for 8p, with the really thin straws? Just wondered…) Anyway, Stick Child’s usual … Continue reading →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged flow, process improvement, purpose, Stick Child, systems thinking, variety, waste | 3 Comments

‘Tis Not The Season…

Posted on September 22, 2013 by InspGuilfoyle

***Warning – if you are a small child do not read all the way to the end of this post*** Well it must be that festive time of year again as all things Christmassy are starting to appear everywhere around me. … Continue reading →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged binary comparisons, demand, management, systems, systems thinking, targets, variety | 7 Comments

Silos

Posted on August 25, 2013 by InspGuilfoyle

These imposing monolithic structures, silhouetted against the moody twilight sky, are silos. Actual silos. Not theoretical silos in a book about organisational structures or systems design, but vast, towering, dirty, functional, tangible silos, silently displacing thousands upon thousands of cubic metres of … Continue reading →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged division of labour, flow, handovers, management, silos, systems, systems thinking, variety, waste | 6 Comments

“It’s Complicated…”

Posted on June 7, 2013 by InspGuilfoyle

I was going to write this blog post a few days ago…then I wasn’t…then I was…then I wasn’t. Then, after the agency featured in the diagram tipped me over the edge today, I did. So here it is… (Please note: … Continue reading →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged efficiency gains, flow, lean, purpose, systems thinking, variety | 11 Comments

Dial ‘F’ For Failure

Posted on May 16, 2013 by InspGuilfoyle

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 →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged blame, demand, division of labour, management, nhs, risk aversion, systems thinking, variety | 5 Comments

Ministry of Silly Systems

Posted on April 10, 2013 by InspGuilfoyle

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 demand, flow, purpose, systems thinking, targets, variety, waste | 9 Comments

The Bells! The Bells!

Posted on February 10, 2013 by InspGuilfoyle

“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 →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged bell curve, charts, command and control, data, management, performance management, systems thinking, variety | 12 Comments

Get Back! Stay Back!

Posted on January 20, 2013 by InspGuilfoyle

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 →

Posted in Systems thinking | Tagged division of labour, flow, management, purpose, systems thinking, variety | 3 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

Great Expectations

Posted on December 7, 2012 by InspGuilfoyle

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 demand, division of labour, flow, handovers, management, process improvement, systems thinking, variety, waste | 9 Comments