Avoiding Overwhelm In their book Meltdown, Clearfield and Tilcsik show how complicated systems fail. They discuss nuclear accidents, financial disasters and medical mishaps and show how we can avoid disasters by reducing complexity. The more complex our systems become, the less easy they are to understand. So they become harder to fix when they break. Add […]
How to Turn a Supertanker
Leverage There is a management metaphor that changing the direction of an organisation is a bit like changing the direction of a supertanker. It can be done, but organisations are big, cumbersome and it takes a lot of time to push them onto another course. A flawed analogy It is a nice analogy, but a […]
Less is More
All children are artists They can pick up a pen or a crayon and create. Before you know it they have drawn something beautiful, a flower or a house or a friend. Simple, clear and elegant. Unfortunately they just don’t know when to stop. The colouring in starts, red felt tips, green pencils, blue crayons, […]
Are You Too Clever for Your Own Good?
I travel a lot with work. It is not glamorous. I’d love tell you that when I said I was in K.L. I meant Kuala Lumpur, but unfortunately it is far more likely to be Kings Lynn (for those of you who are not from the UK, Kings Lynn is sometimes, albeit unkindly, referred to […]
The Problem With Technology
I’m on holiday. Two weeks in southwest France. Glorious autumnal weather, misty mornings, bright sunny days and trees with leaves of every shade from burnt copper to liquid gold (very poetic if a little formulaic, sorry). Of course to get here involved a little trauma; no pain no gain. I had to leave home at […]