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'It is much better to do the right thing wronger than the wrong thing right'

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Book reviews

Whac-a-mole projects

April 25, 2022 By Howard Clark Leave a Comment

At one point I was asked to deliver a project in a high-risk, highly-regulated service. It was an area that I hadn't worked-in before and I was pretty anxious to do no harm. Reading through the internal documentation; previous consulting reviews (including one from the big three), reports and project documentation, the organisation had repeatedly tried to solve these problems. … [Read more...] about Whac-a-mole projects

Whac-a-mole projects

January 22, 2019 By Howard Clark Leave a Comment

At one point I was asked to deliver a project in a high-risk, highly-regulated service. It was an area that I hadn't worked-in before and I was pretty anxious to do no harm. Reading through the internal documentation; previous consulting reviews (including one from the big three), reports and project documentation, the organisation had repeatedly tried to solve these … [Read more...] about Whac-a-mole projects

Reflecting upon Personas

June 8, 2021 By Howard Clark Leave a Comment

Personas have become ubiquitous in many organisations, and are typically used as part of the digital development cycle and latterly transformation programs. Project Managers and interventionists come across this tool more frequently and since 2010 I have seen them used in six different public, private and third sector organisations. For some time I have wanted to do a little … [Read more...] about Reflecting upon Personas

Designing and doing in a traditional programme environment

January 3, 2020 By Howard Clark Leave a Comment

As services improvement specialists the ability to explore, understand and adapt to the different situations that we find is critical. And sometimes the pieces of work that we take-on are ‘make it happen’ tasks in traditional project and programme environments. Intended outcomes have been specified and work has been broken-down and packaged-up as part of a large program, with … [Read more...] about Designing and doing in a traditional programme environment

Beyond Command and Control by John Seddon

October 29, 2019 By Howard Clark Leave a Comment

If you are interested in profound thinking on transformation, change and improvement then I recommend John Seddon's ‘Beyond Command and Control’ (2019). And for those of you who have read the precursor 'Freedom from Command and Control' (2003), prepare to be surprised. This book marks a genuine departure in both tone and style and I believe it to be Seddon's best work. For its … [Read more...] about Beyond Command and Control by John Seddon

To understand effectiveness university leaders should study demand

April 25, 2019 By Howard Clark Leave a Comment

One of the quickest ways for university leaders to understand the effectiveness of their services is to study demand. When done right, such studies will provide a student perspective that can act as a sophisticated way to reframe student services. Studying demand in a university As a consultant I conducted a demand analysis (adapted to meet constraints and to fit within … [Read more...] about To understand effectiveness university leaders should study demand

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Book reviews

June 8, 2021

Personas have become … [Read More...] about Reflecting upon Personas

October 29, 2019

If you are … [Read More...] about Beyond Command and Control by John Seddon

February 22, 2019

If you are … [Read More...] about Freedom from Command & Control

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Recent Posts

  • Whac-a-mole projects
  • Reflecting upon Personas
  • Designing and doing in a traditional programme environment
  • Beyond Command and Control by John Seddon
  • To understand effectiveness university leaders should study demand

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