In this issue:
Achieving Consumer Duty
Complexity ‘experts’ and incontinent thinking
Get the antidote
The dreamers won’t last long
Speaking in Oslo
The Vanguard Method and people-centred services
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Achieving Consumer Duty
In my last newsletter I expressed my enthusiasm for the FCA’s new approach to regulation, Consumer Duty, because it places the locus of control with the regulated not the regulator. I did a podcast on how to go about implementing Consumer Duty. Having done it, I reflect it’s a way to proceed for any service organisation if they want to do the right thing and change the system. You can listen here:
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Complexity ‘experts’ and incontinent thinking
I have often said organisations are not complex systems, they are unnecessarily complicated systems. For goodness sake, organisations are man-made, we can’t make complex systems but we can sure complicate the way we work. And we do.
It was Deming who opened my eyes to the ‘complications’ created by command-and-control management. It was he who asserted we should understand and manage our organisations as systems. It led to the development of the Vanguard Method. I’m confident that the success of the Vanguard Method was an influence in creating a market for anyone who calls themselves a systems thinker.
Regardless of the truth of that, on the people-centred-services scene today we have ‘experts’ who assert that the way to make a system change requires us to ‘embrace complexity theory’ and this, they say, requires dialogue, conversations and the development of trust as a starting-place. They think it’s all about inclusion.
Absolute nonsense. I’m not anti-inclusion but I know that if interventions are limited to what I call rational means, talking, you won’t change mental models. I know because I’ve been there. It is more likely to generate conflict. Trust is an outcome. I know that when a group of leaders study their organisation as a system they see the same things, the reality cannot be denied, they change their mental models collectively. Trust is the result. They have the same understanding, the same knowledge, they have shared the experience of utter incredulity of the wrongness of their theories-of-management in use. They jointly see a new and compelling opportunity. They become energised to act.
I’m going to tweet about some of the mind-numbingly incontinent assertions being made about complexity and people-centred services. I need to get it off my chest.
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Get the antidote
I feel for the managerial sheep being dipped in the systems-change-by-inclusion-complexity junk. Anyone who is alert and thinking will be having doubts, particularly around ‘what do I do on Monday?’ Inevitably some people will get religion, mesmerised by the mystery and the promise, and the only way to satisfy their thirst will be to buy what is sold as ‘what to do’ by the evangelists. Oh dear.
So, WTF, I want to help. In the last few months our clever IT talent has resurrected our Do-It-Yourself Fundamentals programme, originally developed in the days of CD-ROM technology. It has all the basics of how to study service organisations as systems. It gets you to the starting-place for effective change, no talking, no sharing, inclusion not required, just getting knowledge; knowledge that will blow you away.
And it’s at this time, when you have the knowledge, that you have to think about inclusion; who to include and how to include them. This is where people often make a mistake, forgetting how they learned (by studying – normative) and assuming others will understand through presentations (talking – rational). DIY Fundamentals explains all of that but most importantly it enables you to do the right things in terms of what to study and how to study it. Do that well, let the knowledge you gain determine who to include and how to include them, and then you’re off. And, as a consequence, you’ll know why the complexity-experts’ arguments are junk.
And here’s the thing: DIY Fundamentals is as cheap as chips. You will be astonished at the price. But hey, we want to get more good thinking going. Get it here:
DIY Fundamentals – Vanguard Consulting Ltd (beyondcommandandcontrol.com)
In case you are wondering, DIY Fundamentals can be applied in any transactional service.
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The dreamers won’t last long
The complexity-thinkers’ incontinence, best described as talk, guesswork, hope and experimentation, will be killed off by the current managerial systems in health and care, as happened to the Buurtzorg ‘pilots’ in the NHS. Last year I did a podcast explaining why the pilots failed and, more importantly, why Buurtzorg was an outstanding success in the Netherlands. (Jos De Blok, the Buurtzorg innovator liked it 😊)
You can listen here:
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Speaking in Oslo
After over two years of Zooming around the world rather than zooming (get it?) I have been invited to speak in person for the Learning Organisation Society in Oslo. I thought I ought to let my Scandinavian readers know. More here:
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The Vanguard Method and people-centred services
Our work with people-centred services continues to grow. The pandemic helped in as much as it led us to create all the education content in electronic media. If you don’t know about this work Jo Gibson gave an overview in this (free) webinar:
Jo’s webinar focuses on the incredible economics of better (systems) design. If you are interested in the Vanguard Method and people-centred services, for either improving or integrating services, take a look at our Systems Leadership programme here:
Systems leadership programme – Vanguard Consulting Ltd (beyondcommandandcontrol.com)
Thanks for reading!
John