Organizational Innovation by Integrating Simplification: Learning from Buurtzorg Nederland

by Sharda S Nandram

This book presents the theory of integrating implification and it provides a profound evidence based study of Buurtzorg Nederland. The case itself, forming the building block of the theory, has received tremendous interest in the Netherlands and abroad. This is the first international book on Buurtzorg Nederland and the first one departing from a management multidisciplinary perspective. The book demonstrates theory building by using the Grounded Theory Methodology as a way to contribute to management theory. Integrating simplification gives room for context specific implementation of organizational innovation to different industries.

242 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 14, 2014

Reviews

[Petter Wolff · Rating 2 out of 5]

"This book has provided an explanatory view for the client care system at Buurtzorg". Well, in my view, that "explanation" is worth close to zilch, and you'd be hard pressed to be able to use it for further "scientific research designs", as hoped. The book tries to describe Buurtzorg through existing theoretical lenses (i.e. models and/or frameworks for management of organizations), but the scientific worth (as in testability or verifiability) is very, very low (by my judgment). There might be qualities for those who love new management models in theory but do not practice, but for me (I have no intention of getting that far into academia) it seems that these models will have little use for anyone trying to replicate Buurtzorg, in healthcare or other areas. And by Jove, Buurtzorg is all about practice (or crafting, if you will), and less theorizing!

But oh, the absolutely worst part of the book is the language. Its level is high school or intermediate, which means there's barely a single sentence that passes as "likely written by a native speaker". Which means it's just grating to read - like listening to an out-of-pitch tune when you have perfect pitch yourself (I'm not saying I have absolute pitch for English, but it's definitely at a higher level than what's granted to the language editor of this book). So, by this measure, this is all but a good read.

From what I gather, you will get a lot more mileage by checking out the often referenced study by Pool at al. "Eerst buurten, dan zorgen" (2011) instead, unfortunately that's in Dutch only (I presume). You've read "Reinventing Organizations" (Laloux, 2014) already, of course. The three breakthroughs of Teal Organizations is a simpler and stronger framework than anything presented here. I get the impression that every piece of information in this book is obtainable through other outlets with immensely higher readability and no loss of (valuable) theoretical grounding.

I should grant the author that the reflections in the final chapter has some merit, though.

[Cecilia Lina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book! It took me ages to read it, because i stopped at every sentence to marvel at how very important these things are! It actually hurts to think about how badly organized the health care system is and how it would be so much better if following the principles of this book!

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A study in simplicity with takeaways for any organisation that involves people.

If you're involved with any kind of complex organisation - and quite possibly complicated ones - you'll find something to take away from this book.

What do I mean by complex/complicated? Any effort that draws on more than a few dozen people trying to achieve an overarching goal, often has bureaucratic elements.

In the complex organisation it can be a blocker, in a complicated one it can hold back delivery of the intended outcome altogether. Basically, the work put in is not aligned with the vision of what should come out of it.

This comprehensive case study of a Dutch care organisation (Buurtzorg) delves into:
- how they created self-managing teams - at scale;
- encouraged on-going problem solving;
- leading to delivery of better, cheaper and more reliable care.

I'd venture that many of these approaches are transferable to other fields.

The book also has a useful section on the potential limitations of the overall organisational model which is refreshing.

It is priced as an academic title - and laid out as such - which makes for slightly less accessible reading. Nevertheless, worth a run through. You may also want to check out the talk that the founder of Buurtzoorg (Jos de Blok) gave when he accepted the 2014 RSA Albert Medal. (Incidentally how I first came across this work). It should be easy to find with quick search. Enjoy.

[Buurtzorg Australia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic operational understanding for the Buurtzorg philosophy.