Flawless Decision Making We believe in the perfect organisation. It works a little bit like this: There is a charismatic, wise and intelligent leader, who makes all the crucial decisions. A clear hierarchy supports the leader, with defined roles and responsibilities. Data passes up through that hierarchy, providing the leaders with perfect information. Everybody acts with […]
Information Overload
A broken valve In the early hours of the morning on March 28th 1979, a valve broke on a water pipe. That pipe was at the nuclear power plant on Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania. The failure resulted in the most serious nuclear incident that the USA has ever seen. Chain reaction The broken valve led to […]
Who Knows Best?
Learning from others In the 4th century B.C. the Greek historian Herodotus wrote “The Histories”, an account of the Greco-Persian wars. It was the first time anybody had documented events from existing records. So it earned Herodotus the title “The Father of History”. In it he recounts a story about Darius the Great, King of […]
Walk in My Shoes
In Head Office They think that the people on the shop floor: Can’t see the strategic imperatives Don’t understand the business priorities Don’t use the newly developed tools Aren’t prepared to “own” the running of initiatives Don’t respond to training Are resistant to change Don’t care about performance On the Shop Floor They think that the […]
Better to Be Approximately Right Than Precisely Wrong
Spurious accuracy Thirty years ago I sat in a factory office with my head bowed low, looking at the dirty grey lino floor. My boss, a middle-aged, overweight man wearing a white coat smeared with ice-cream was berating me in a broad west country accent. Apparently I was wasting both my time and his. I […]
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