I read this recently and wanted to share....

The Myth of MEANING…

People think words mean things and that they know what they mean. Both claims are untrue! When Government talks of change, reform, choice, progress, social contract, radical new initiatives, transparency, accountability etc. they mean nothing. But most people don’t know this as the world of politics, (like management) expect the opposite. If they say strategy, for example, it simply means strategy.

The test is simple! If someone is talking such ‘speak’ then ask if you can imagine successful action based specifically on what they say…..when we cannot, they are playing with words and assuming you don’t know

Another Myth...The SCIENTIST....

This claims that there is an expertise, science and that people who are good at it deserve a lot of attention. This is so false. There is no such thing as a scientist and its a shame that 'William Whewell', a poor philosopher invented the term. There are biologists, chemists, physicists, mathematicians and so on....Very bright people, but step them one pace outside their specialist area and they are no better than he rest of us. The myth is propelled by the routine 'white-coat' brought out as the 'Government Scientist' everytime there is a problem.

We have to remember there are no 'facts' only 'truths'...... a large number of them, used as and when to prove a point and gain power over others...

Final one honest..

The Myth of (yes you've guessed it) MANAGEMENT...

This claims you people can be managed like a warehouse and airport and that some people are better than others at it. This is entirely wrong. It suggests people can be controlled, ordered, given incentives, penalties, suppressed and motivated to work. Human mess can be administered but administration is not management. One tries to ignore individual needs and people by treating them as mere means to an end. However, as I am sure most will agree, to do so will simply result in people becoming irritable, subversive and quickly UNmanageable!

When we see the mess/damage management has on an organisation (people) our reaction is to respond by hiring more managers to manage the mess and then more layers of managers to oversee the managers.... Of course most organisations don't do this, they simply buy in the worst type of managers..... Consultant Managers!

Consultants claim to scientific management (see the link!) and therefore costs more. There are of course great reason for hiring consultants.... its easy to pass the buck, and justify public spend for a new structure....but the mess (people) still remain, if just a little more irritated, subversive and hardened to management...

PT...

I am just about to complete a 3 day training and education programme in Complexity here in sunny Bahrain.  The ‘students’ are mostly from the banking sector, highly educated, motivated and up for a challenge in Complexity. One of the most interesting surprises is that the questions, reactions and excitement is the same as any where else I’ve experienced over the past 5 years ‘teaching’ complexity. What I mean here is that despite, cultural, educational, motivational differences throughout the regions in the world, we seem to have the same issues, problems, excitements and human experience as managers/CEO's.  Human issues are I suppose human issues in leadership.

There is, I guess a ‘homunculus’, a hidden ‘horse’ which the Egyptians talked about as the gods within us, which makes us human. So whats the difference?

Help

We recognise that the nature of 'Leadership', human systems and systems dynamics in all sectors in the UK has been under-researched in the past albiet from a critical perspective. However, we are convinced that there are many creative and effective leadership practices here in Wales to begin with, which merit being researched, documentation, and dissemination. However, we need companies in which to do this research.

We are as the Glamorgan Business School committed to providing an exceptional research agenda, to critically investigate and understand the nature of leadership in all sectors of industry and Public Sector provision, operating to the highest international values.  We desire a meaningful, research-informed exchange of ideas with the WAG Skills Providers, through research-based action workshops, projects, and conferences. We are also funding a number of practitioner-researchers within the sector. Do You wish to help Wales become world leaders again? Will you/your organisation allow us in to research your company. No catches, no consultants, just academic advice, support and data collection of practice.

WHY?

Well the speed of change and the associated complexity facing organisations in the late 20th and early 21st Centuries has meant that leaders are increasingly having to develop methods and solutions which would have been considered unthinkable a few years before. In other words leaders have more than ever before to come up with creative ideas that can be developed into successful innovations and organisations. While clearly this imperative can be related to new products and services, a crucial dimension is the harnessing of the creative abilities of employees such that the tacit knowledge they possess can be utilized to best affect.

The challenge is then to develop systems, structures, humans and cultures/climates which enable the organisation to succeed in achieving (their) interpretation of organisational ‘effectiveness’ and ‘competitive advantage’.

Is this possible in Wales?

We at DNA are looking for large multi-national company or well-known organisations (House-hold names etc.) for a serious BBC documentary on the new way (the DNA way) of changing companies.

The 'volunteer' organisation will receive about 6 months worth of 'free' consultancy/help to solve problems, change issues or provide health check. This will be a serious research documentary on how change can take place by empowering employees from within to solve sustainable change/success.

Please let me know if you feel you may be interested and want to know more.

I can be contacted by email;

ptthomas@glam.ac.uk

Cheers
Paul

Have Your Say;

In the BBC Radio Wales programme Wales@work - The Business Doctor, Paul sets out to prove to the manufacturing company, Excel Assemblies in Port Talbot how the theory of complexity works.

Listen here for the programme in full and have your say;
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/networks/wales/aod.shtml?wales/tue_1830

However, Mr Chris Ward of the Wales Management Council thought it was wrong stating "My difficulty with Dr Thomas' argument is that he seems to believe that Welsh industry generally is populated by the wrong sort of management and therefore the right solution is to get rid of managers."

He added: "Increasingly we have seen the emergence of a new generation of leader-managers and servant-leaders whose job function is to achieve precisely what Dr Thomas is seeking - to unlock the potential and innovative capacity of all workers by supporting, encouraging and leading."

(Read the full article: http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/business-in-wales/business-features/2008/01/09/changing-face-of-management-91466-20326945/)

I s he correct?
Is Servant Leaders the answer?

Does he understand the meaning of Complexity and DNA?

Let us know what you think!

I do love Robin Williams as an actor, but this story is truly inspiring ... Ever watched the movie Patch Adams, or read the book Gesundheit! ... this holiday I did both ... truly inspiring ...  

Here we see a really good 'living' example of how in the strive for perfection in medical science, in the persona and power of what is a 'doctor' and the expected objectivity of doctor-patient relations that is indoctrinated into students early in their careers, we can lose sight of whats real and what really matters ... is it the doctors, the advancement of medical science, the rules and procedures that are followed or how the patients feel ... 

Based on the true story of Hunter Campbell "Patch" Adams this story shows how one man went against rules, regulations of a system conditioned over hundreds of years of command and control to bring compassion, creativity, fun, and laughter into the US medical system ... to put people's needs at the centre of medicine and not the cartisian mechanistic perspective of medical science that continues to dominate .... a system of rigidity, rules, procedures, hierarcy and power ... 
 
... this story celebrates the triumph of spirited individualism of a physician who understands that wholeness means incorporating every aspect of the human experience, including love, laughter and compassion ... 

Read more about Patch Adams and the Gesundheit! Institute ...
http://www.patchadams.org/

kp.

p.s.... another good read for those interested in living systems is .... 'the web of life' by Fritjof Capra .... captivating and vibrant in its discussion of the debates over the last 25-30 years about the evolution and organisation of living systems ... 
http://www.amazon.com/Web-Life-Scientific-Understanding-Systems/dp/0385476760

I’m not sure this is the correct place for this ‘moan’…as I am now aware of my increasing senility which is creeping on me unknowingly until I reflect on how many times I say ‘in my day’ or ‘how can it still be the same’….or worse still ‘where are my car keys’ and even when planning my journeys around convenient ‘comfort’ facilities and not interesting sites.

Anyhow my point….. why do we still take ‘structure’ and business structures as fixed, knowable and objective…and everything with do in organisations is with NO unbiased facts. Is the media to blame for presenting the scientist in their white coat at every point to convince us that unless the ‘science world’ say, fact, present numbers at every opportunity, we don’t believe a word, as if when they wear a white coat or present number they are the holders of truth.

In management and management schools there is a feeling that we are progressing towards a state of ‘complete knowledge’, with the games played by the ‘HRM’, or Procurement, or Operation dept. to be the scientific, rational, and credible holders of the truth to sustainable success….  
 
Please! Their ‘scientific’ observations are primarily to influence the power that they claim to be – but are always biased and the theories themselves are part of that structure of power to keep them in power. They produce a knowledge that is used to reinforce existing power. Managers (and Politicians!) produce information, knowledge and systems that allow them to stay in power……isn’t this obvious… the ‘objectivity’ these managers claim couldn’t be further from the truth……

Old age…I know!

John Seddon and Paul discuss the Toyota Production System.
"What the Toyota system teaches us is that instead of working top down you work outside in, instead of separating decision making from work you integrate it. Instead of using arbitrary measures you use real measures derived from the work, those measures are put in the hands of the workers..." (John Seddon)

 

For every one person in an organisation who comes up with a great idea … imagine ten people looking over their shoulder focusing on how to quantify it or measure it … Thinking … what criteria shall we use to measure it’s quality, the effectiveness of it’s implementation, if it will make customers happy, if it will improve process efficiency … and than there are the financial performance measures, the potential sales figures, cost-savings and ROI … But why … why do we place so much focus on measuring the performance of our ideas and the effect of their implementation?

In a recent presentation I became concerned as a group of very bright students commented … ‘If you can’t measure it, you can’t control it’ … a learning from their class on Strategic Planning … but can we actually control anything ... by asking a customer if they are satisfied does that mean you can control their satisfaction ... and how does one measure satisfaction ... eeekkk!!  

I once thought it was for insights and ideas, however very quickly learn’t that insights can come from anywhere … a conversation, an observation, a photograph, a dataset of numbers, the office environment within which we work, the people with whom we socialise or perhaps the radio show host as I drive home …

So why do we place so much focus on measuring performance, process and output … Is it for insights and ideas for our business moving forward? Or is to control (as the students were taught!), to report and justify the decisions we make, the money we spend?

So if you measure anything ... I'm curious ... why do you measure it? and why do you measure it the way that you do?  

kp ...             

                

It's interesting that having just spent 3 weeks in various organisations (mainly Public Services…shhh!) there is such an unhealthy obsession with order, neatness and structure. It's just not human or real! Creativity is as a direct result of dis-order, and messiness, so how do we think we can be adaptive, creative and innovative each day when the organisation constrains this very fundamental element.

I know there will be people out there shouting at this, but when you really look at how we live, operate and think, then you will see that the organisations obsession is counter-intuitive. If everything is neat, ordered and safe then we cannot change, there is no need.

There are so many examples of how, mistakes, chaos, disorder and disruption creates a new way of doing things or new ideas or products, but yet we still feel this should happen in the environment of linear, cause and effect world of mechanics.... How can we change?