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Reblogged from projectlibero.wordpress.com

Hi, I’m sure we’ve met before, I’m Jon. You’ve maybe read some of my writings here and guest appearing on other blogs? I’ve been doing that series on Narrative Coaching recently.

Am I the guy who made a couple of short films? Yes, that’s me, I like a beer, take a few photos and enjoy riding my bike. You recognise me now don’t you?

Except you don’t, not really, because there’s something I didn’t tell you. I didn’t know how to, or even where to start, because you see once I’ve told you this piece of information there is no going back. I can’t put the genie back in the bottle. Once I press publish on this it’s done. It’s been coming for a little while, the elephant sitting in the corner of my blog.

My name is Jon and I live each day with a diagnosis of Manic Depression. These days we call it Bi-Polar disorder. Twenty years ago it was just another guilty secret which the doctors swept under the carpet. Read more

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Given the choice I like to walk in London. I find I see so much more. Like this Royal London Free Hospital School of Medicine For Women. I am pleased to see that they have left the original plaque, even if they have at least renamed the establishment.

Later on I am approaching Buckingham Palace only to find that The Mall is shut to all traffic apparently in preparation for the Olympics. Access is barred by guards, with no suggestion of any alternative route. Given that it is a major tourist attraction a clear map of the alternative routes would have been a good idea. And yet, all the way down Birdcage Walk it was the same: barriers, guards and no-entry signs. Without explanation or advice on alternative routes.

For me Buckingham Palace has always seemed inelegant, and I am passing it on my way to a lunch time meeting, with friends old and new. We are meeting at Bumbles in Buckingham Palace Road. It is my first time there and it was excellent, the staff were helpful , the atmosphere was good, and the three course fixed price menu at £10 was really very good.

Sadly my next eatery was to be nowhere near as satisfying. Another three mile walk across town via the ever lovely St Paul’s found me in near to Liverpool Street. Here I was meeting up in the Costa coffee house. I often use Costa’s – they’re normally clean and convenient places to meet. This time something was wrong. The normally slick and reasonably quick service was clumsy and appallingly slow. Five times I was asked what I had ordered. The manager who was taking the orders, seemed to have no formal way of letting the baristas know what was needed. He simply spoke to them, over the noise of the steaming coffee machines. They kept getting it wrong, so time goes by, they then forget what was ordered, the manager forgets what I ordered, so he asks again, and again… Add to all this yesterday was a warm day and they had run out of ice. Fifteen minutes after I arrived I finally got my much needed iced-tea.

Given this chaos it is amusing that the person I am meeting is a process design specialist

Anyway, many thanks to my eating and drinking companions, Vandy, Doug, Mark P and Mark B. I had a great day.

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Once finished it is again checked by a third quality control team. This entire process takes three days. The supercar is almost finished. The final stage is for a fourth and final round of quality checking – which takes a further nine days! During which time it is thoroughly checked and tested, and any remedial work is done.

Three days to build it: nine days to quality assure it. It is as if the Toyota Production System had never existed. For sure this is a relatively small-scale factory but still I cannot help wonder that if it was built right first time, while it may take a little longer to build, but would take far less time overall. And probably be a better product too.

On the other hand people are still buying them… and I for one wouldn’t turn one down if offered

Incidentally, the lovely Lego Batmobile is from here

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If over 3000 people have read one or more of these blog posts, even if only 10% of visitors get some help from it; then I have helped some 800 people. And that is why I do it.

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In 2009, Zoe Pemberton, then aged ten, put her grandmother up for auction on eBay ostensibly as a joke.  As part of the description she described her grandmother as “annoying and moaning a lot”. She also said that she was “cuddly” and “likes word searches”. The public bid up to £20,000 until the lot was taken down. If you believe that our criminal justice system is the grandma of every common law system of the world then it seems that she is about to be auctioned off. News is that the Government intends to consult on a new plea bargaining system after big business suggested that the UK should copy the US. At the same time, amongst lawyers and commentators, opinion of the US plea bargaining system is at an all time low.

Read more…

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I’ve summarised them here, but really you need to read the whole piece:  www.forbes.com/…/james-t-kirk/

1. Never Stop Learning

“You know the greatest danger facing us is ourselves, an irrational fear of the unknown. But there’s no such thing as the unknown– only things temporarily hidden, temporarily not understood.”

A rebel at Star Fleet academy, he famously hacked a simulated battle to make it winnable, Kirk was also described as a “walking stack of books”.

Have Advisors With Different Worldviews

“One of the advantages of being a captain, Doctor, is being able to ask for advice without necessarily having to take it.”

It would be hard to imagine two more different worldviews than those of the emotionless Spock, with his passion for logic, and Dr. McCoy, caring, humane and driven by values and gut feeling.

Be Part Of The Away Team

“Risk is our business. That’s what this starship is all about. That’s why we’re aboard her.”

Kirk was always part of the team that did the job on the planet, taking the risks and seeing the issues at first hand.

Play Poker, Not Chess

“Not chess, Mr. Spock. Poker. Do you know the game?”

Take risks, bluff when necessary or expedient. The world operates by chance rather than rules.

Blow up the Enterprise

“‘All I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by.’ You could feel the wind at your back in those days. The sounds of the sea beneath you, and even if you take away the wind and the water it’s still the same. The ship is yours. You can feel her. And the stars are still there, Bones.”

James T Kirk was devoted to his ship, the Enterprise. A ruling passion he would sacrifice anything for it. Ultimately he saw that this passion had had its day and a change was needed. A particular situation required the Enterprise be crash landed in order for the greater mission to continue.

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I received it from EDF, my new energy supplier, saying they had a message for me. They didn’t tell me what the message was, they simply asked me to visit their website, where I would be able find out what their message was. This was oddly exciting, perhaps I had won a year’s free electricity in competition I hadn’t noticed. So I went to their website. However, when I tried to login, I found that I had forgotten my password. To reset it I needed to remember my memorable date, and I couldn’t!  I tried all the memorable dates I could think of without success.

Now virtually every other site for which I have a password has a facility to reset the password by e-mail. Sadly, not this one and I have to phone them. This did not sound good, call centres of national companies are rarely fun to reach. I was not to be disappointed. When I phoned them, I got a message that said EDF are improving their call centre and that they are experiencing excessive delays. The recorded voice suggested I use their website… which of course I can’t log in to, which is why I am phoning them. And so, I send an e-mail, and receive a promise that they will reply to me within 10 days.

Meanwhile of course I have no idea what their original message was. I then find out – I receive a letter telling me that my first direct debit had not gone through on time and I owed them some money. In order to pay this I need to use my account number, which they state I can find from my last statement or bill. But I’ve not had one, since I just joined them. Oddly they didn’t include the account number on the letter they have just sent me. This reluctance to supply me with information I need is beginning to look like  pattern.

I try phoning again, and again, and again, and again. I email them again. I owe them some money, and I don’t want my power to be cut off . Though still I get no reply to either my phone calls or my emails.

Coincidentally, I am then at a seminar at the Royal Society of Arts. John Seddon, the noted systems thinker, is there and is talking about what he calls ‘Failure Demand’. I know something of this. In the case of EDF my electricity supplier, the demand is the number of calls and e-mails I have made to their call centre, which was increased by the failure of their processes to allow me to reset my password.

I can imagine the conversation in EDF’s head office:

“Let’s reduce the demand on our servers by getting our customers to reset their own passwords without bothering us. We’ll make them remember a memorable date as well as their password.”
“And then let’s make it really difficult for them to reset their password if they forget their memorable date. We’ll make sure they remember their password the next time!”

I’m prepared to bet that the department that made the decision regarding the passwords has nothing to do with the call centre, and cares nothing about the call centre’s excessive workload, or the way they have just increased it still further.

Little wonder EDF feels the need to improve their call centre. Perhaps it would have been cheaper to improve their processes. Which of course is what systems thinking and Seddon’s concept of failure demand is all about.

Post script: The EDF call centre recorded message and I are now on first name terms, and I still haven’t been able to pay my outstanding bill.

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