Systems Thinking in the Public Sector: The Failure of the Reform Regime... and a Manifesto for a Better Way

by John Seddon

The free market has become the accepted model for the public sector. Politicians on all sides compete to spread the gospel. And so, in the UK and elsewhere, there's been massive investment in public sector 'improvement', 'customer choice' has been increased and new targets have been set and refined. But our experience is that things haven't changed much. This is because governments have invested in the wrong things. Belief in targets, incentives and inspection; belief in economies of scale and shared back-office services; belief in 'deliverology... these are all wrong-headed ideas and yet they have underpinned this government's attempts to reform the public sector. John Seddon here dissects the changes that have been made in a range of services, including housing benefits, social care and policing. His descriptions beggar belief, though they would be funnier if it wasn't our money that was being wasted. In place of the current mess, he advocates a Systems Thinking approach where individuals come first, waste is reduced and responsibility replaces blame. It's an approach that is proven, successful and relatively cheap - and one that governments around the world, and their advisers, need to adopt urgently. "A refreshing deconstruction of the control freakery of the current performance regime. It could do for thinking on business improvement what An Inconvenient Truth has done for climate change." Andrew Grant, Chief Executive, Aylesbury Vale District Council "This is the must-have book. It correctly identifies why the present regime is failing our citizens and customers, but more importantly it gives the reader a proven method by which to bring about real improvement in service performance and cost." Dr Carlton Brand, Director of Resources, Wiltshire County Council "This book is uncomfortable, challenging and very direct. It offers huge learning and insight... A superb read." David McQuade, Deputy Chief Executive, Flagship Housing Group "If ministers, local authority leaders and chief executives only read one book this year this is it. A true beacon of sanity in an increasingly insane regime; ministers should read this and recognise the error of their ways." Mark Radford, Director of Corporate Services, Swale District Council

Genres: Business, Design, Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published April 11, 2008

Reviews

[Ferhat Culfaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. Must read for anyone in the public AND private sector on how to design for demand and eliminate failure demand and boost value demand. Lots of analogies to TPS (Toyota) and critiques of ABC costing methods. Plenty of examples of waste gets created despite good intentioned targets from top down. Great arguments against command and control style management and more emphasis on localism and initiative given to workers.

[Wmba Dams · Rating 1 out of 5]

Based on the summary he does not know what systems thinking truly is and gets bogged down in bureaucratic political ideas which he mistakes for actual thinking.

Until one understands the fundamental law of systems:
You cannot optimise the system by optimising subsystems
then they will keep making the same mistakes.

The corollary might be easier to grok:
optimising the subsystem will suboptimise the total system.

Trying to make any one thing the best will always take away from the results of the total system. Everything must be balanced for the best outcome not by what political group yells the loudest or what department head is best at building his little empire.

[Tom Robbins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was useful in gaining an insight into how the public sector generally works. It talks about its major failures such as over-valuing the need to comply with central government targets and inability to fulfill people's actual needs. This book is really useful for anyone currently working, or is interested, in the civil service / public sector.

The book was easy to read and not too pretentious. It is well organised and the text is broken up well. However, I did feel like it was just one big rant and there wasn't much clear evidence to back up all the author's claims.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is actually quite an interesting read for any manager willing to approach it with an open mind, although in denouncing target setting, auditing, and inspection, the author is swimming against the tide in terms of the UK public sector. He does an excellent job in highlighting the deficiencies of the current system, but is less convincing in suggesting solutions.

[Martijn Onderwater · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading this book I realised that I am also a Command & Control thinker. Not by choice, but because 'that is the way it has always been'. I never considered the consequences. Time for a rethink! I wonder how many of these (now) mad situations I will encounter in the next few weeks :)

[Alanmoorenz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This guy has worked out why nothing works and has single handedly set out to fix it.......wow!

[David Thrale · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to be a better manager, and enjoy your work more - you must read this.

[Prof Jake · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good introduction to using systems ideas in management. Read Seddon's first book, Freedom from command and control, first to gain a bigger perspective on his work and ideas.

[Lesley Fulford · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay. It is no different to the plethora of other improvement methodologies out there. What it does do is reinforce that systems should be designed to purpose.

[Kate Millin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very anti the target setting culture and advocates good systems and trusting staff to do the job