Posted by Jean Matthews

Wanted to share this marvellous absurdity with some like minded people.

 

Speaking to someone from the Inland Revenue the other day who explained how they were now operating on ‘production line’ principles. They now have 11 minutes to deal with each piece of mail. Regardless of the number of issues and alterations in the 'letter' they have to move on to the next one after 11 minutes, even if it is not finished. It explains a recent telephone call I had with the IR a couple of weeks ago (they were very obliging and pleasant I might add)

 

Apparently if you are unable to ‘conform’ to this target you will not be considered for promotion…..what a sad state of affairs. What I cannot imagine is the knock on effect of this to customer care and staff morale. I’m only grateful the NHS haven’t gone this far! …….. surgey could get very mess....urrgghh

Just a small 'fishy' story i found worth sharing... hope that you all like reading it.

The Japanese have always loved fresh fish. But the waters close to Japan has not held many fish for decades. So to feed the Japanese population, fishing boats got bigger and went farther than ever. The farther the fishermen went, the longer it took to bring in the fish. If the return trip took more than a few days, the fish were not fresh. The Japanese did not like the taste.

To solve this problem, fishing companies installed freezers on their boats. They would catch the fish and freeze them at sea. Freezers allowed the boats to go farther and stay longer. However, the Japanese could taste the difference between fresh and frozen and they did not like frozen fish.

The frozen fish brought a lower price. So fishing companies installed fish tanks. They would catch the fish and stuff them in the tanks, fin to fin. After a little thrashing around, the fish stopped moving. They were tired and dull but alive. Unfortunately, the Japanese could still taste the difference. Because the fish did not move for days, they lost their fresh-fish taste. The Japanese preferred the lively taste of fresh fish, not sluggish fish.

So how did Japanese fishing companies solve this problem?
How do they get fresh-tasting fish to Japan?
If you were helping the fish industry in Japan, what would you recommend?

Read further for the answer..... ;-)

I've been saying this for some years now.... its good that its now mainstream press..

• Simon Caulkin, management editor
• The Observer,
• Sunday August 3 2008

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/aug/03/5

Posted by Jean Matthews

A recent debate on BBCs Philosophers Zone discussing the subject of anarchy set me thinking about Complexity.

Are complexity thinkers anarchists? Anarchy means ‘without a ruler’ and concurs with the notion that all forms of ‘government’ [management] are oppressive and should be abolished and somehow I connected this image with the work DNA Wales does with companies….ooops.

 

The notion of anarchy seems to have acquired a negative image but fundamentally the philosophical argument falls between the notions of individual autonomy and the authority claims of the ‘State’

 

Looking at businesses, complexity promotes the primacy of individual autonomy? Anarchy is stimulated by removing ‘management’ It may be that managers do not necessarily disappear but they must become part of the anarchic network of individuals. The idea is to remove the top down command and control structure that can be oppressive to innovative thinking. Are we stimulating equality or diversity?

 

Complexity thus puts a positive complexion on anarchic working conditions as it seems to recognise that the raw individualism suggested by anarchy is not sustainable - the tension generated by diverse worldviews spontaneously stimulates self-organisation and patterns of accepted behaviour through local negotiation and perhaps novel ways of working together generating a notion of democratic consensus. …does this happen naturally in societies – more importantly was this recognised in the fire alarm company in the Wales@Work programme

 

Is true democracy borne from allowing anarchy?  But how do you keep democracy at an edge of chaos position. Can it naturally sustain this position through diversity and system dynamics or will it ultimately stabilise and degenerate into a new command and control –like structure?   

 

 

Posted by Jean Matthews

Have just read about this in TimesOnline….what do you think?………advice from businessmen not caught up in the rational management paradigm of the Western world

Singing and dancing Masai warriors may not be everyone's idea of canny businessmen, but the wisdom and leadership skills of the Masai offer valuable advice for businesses operating in increasingly difficult economic times and hostile environments.

One of the key aspects of their culture is a sense of community. It keeps them together; it makes them stronger – and everyone has a say. Young or old, all members of the tribe are given high levels of responsibility and they take pride in themselves and the part they play in the community. At a recent event when asked by a member of the audience what qualities the Masai look for in their leaders, Emmanuel, one of the Masai elders said: "patience, courage and the ability to ask questions".

The Masai say that the same philosophy can be applied to business. "One head is not so wise" is a saying at the core of their culture and they believe that businessmen and women shouldn’t be too proud to seek advice from other members of their organisations, no matter how junior. Companies should also think nomadically by clarifying their cattle (that’s customers and capital), defining their green pastures (marketing opportunities), and focusing on getting the two together.

Their advice is

1. Don't get into a fair fight - you might lose. Find out what you're good at, where you can beat the competition, and focus on that. Play to win.

2. Take the lead. Luck is not a strategy. Leadership in tribal terms is about courage. Have the courage to take difficult decisions.

3. A formula for survival and success does not exist in a book.

4. Change or die.

For further information link to ….

 

·                                 

Hello....

I've just finished a talk with a company who shall remain nameless, and I picked this 'old-age' jokes, that just seemed to pour out of the meeting, wasn't sure at one point if it would end. Hope you like these that I can remember;

"the more sand that escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it"

"as you grow older, you lose interest in sex, friends drift away, your children often ignore you and you become invisible to the opposite sex. There are advantages to age of course, but these are the outstanding ones"

"the great comfort of turning 40 is the realisation that you are now too old to die young"

"old age at least gives me an excuse for not being very good at things that I was not very good at when I was young" (I like this one!)

"by the time I have money to burn, my fire will have burnt out"

I sure this is enough...... made me laugh.... but the one that did so the most was "we lose our youth as we grow old, but immaturity stays with us for life"....

PT

"The Chinese room experiment from John Searle says that syntax is not the same as semantics: a symbol-processing machine like a computer can never be properly described as having a "mind" or "understanding" , regardless of how intelligently it may behave. The poor guy in the Chinese room can translate perfectly following the set of rules, but he does not understand a word of what he translates.

Since Marvin Minsky's "Society of Mind" we know that a society of agents is probably a better model for human intelligence. What happens if we replace the guy in the Chinese room by the population of a whole country or nation?

If an entire nation systematically organizes itself to operate just like a brain, with each individual replacing a group of neurons, then the system will act like a real mind, with mental states, consciousness,etc. The problem is that such a simulation must be fastenough. Let us assume it is fast enough for the moment. Different parts of the population may represent different things. Although no individual knows Chinese, the population as a whole can know the meaning.

The population might collectively feel pain/joy by loosing/winning members, while no individual member of the population experiences any pain/joy. If the population is large and complex enough, can it represent and recognize itself? Do we have a spirit of China "hovering over the room" in this case? How would a recognition or representation of itself look like?"

Well its exactly one week after having my back 'sorted' and I feel fine. I am still a little tired but this may be from the fact of the operation or more likely the body not use to being confined to one place (and 'rest'). Although rest is certainly not on the cards for me as people have found that I'm 'sitting target', contactable, in the UK and not doing much, so able to advise, read and help with their work. All good fun (for the moment).

I have to just say that BUPA (Spire) hospital and staff (ALL) were just stunning. I had a nurse who looked after me during my stay, their experience was of course from the old NHS so they could do and did just about everything. Highly professional, caring and fun. The food was great also....yes I know a hospital with five star food. The lady who did breakfast even changed the menu for me ( I got Bacon and eggs for breakfast).....simply wonderful. NHS managers take note...they are making money, they haven't introduced management systems, they have simply allowed the professional to take charge.....

More to follow...... but why do managers want to mess with things they have no idea of....

 

Just to let you know that I will be off work until at least 3rd August 2008. I'm going into have my back sorted, so a new man will appear very soon ;-)

Please contact Phil for all your DNA needs.

Cheers
Paul

I have to just say a big public thank you to the people below. If I could have bottled their energy yesterday in regards to the passion in changing traditional thinking I would be rich;

Dr Paul Stevens (former IT VP at GSK.... now a happy free man)
Paul Argile (CEO Flight Directors)
Prof. Elizabeth McMillan (Research Fellow OU)
Dr Ysanne Carlyle (OU)
Paul Byard (CEO MAS Wales)
John Ward (DNA Agent)
Jean Matthews (PhD Glamorgan & DNA Agent)
Kath Ringwald (SL GBS)
Dr Rachel Mason-Jones (The Boss GBS Strategy/Supply Div.)
Andrew Hunt (Senior Consultant)
Prof. Hugh Combs (Accounts - we need one)
Gemma Collins (BBC)
Prof Joyce Liddle (NTU)
Prof Alan Lovel (Head of School GBS)
John Batten (SL & DNA Agent)
David Kerle (JW Morris)
Phil Crocker (DNA Co-ordinator)
Sue Mittchel (Finance Officer)
Sue Bevan (GBS)

The success experienced yesterday would not have happen if anyone of the above were absent.

THANK YOU!
Paul
PS... the titles don't matter that much....