One ounce of emotion beats a ton of scientific evidence. It’s all about “the babies….”

Posted on May 19, 2013 by whatsthepont

Last week I attended an event organised by The Alliance for Useful Evidence and Wales Public Services 2025 (#a4ue on Twitter). The aim was to work out how you get policies developed and practices delivered that are better informed by evidence. The problem seems to be that millions of pounds (of taxpayers money) is spent on things for which there is limited evidence of success.

There were lots of views about how you collect better evidence and a bit of ‘hand wringing’. Why is it that evidence doesn’t get used properly? To paraphrase; “We produce compelling, factually accurate evidence yet the politicians ignore it and make decisions based on political values, not the evidence we put in front of them……”.

This situation could apply almost anywhere. Head down to your Local Council Planning Committee and you probably won’t have to wait too long before you see the Committee Members overrule some technically correct, fully evidenced advice from the Planning Officer. A cruel but compelling spectator sport.

In their defence I’d say its not just politicians that are ‘guilty’ of this, and in fact, it’s more to do with how you communicate the evidence. Here’s a personal experience.

Lets clean up the Gas Works. About 20 years ago I was working in environmental protection when a proposal to clean up a former heavy industry site landed on my desk. This was an imaginative and cost effective proposal that would deal with the huge quantities of toxic waste that had blighted a local community for over a 100 years. In three years time the site would be regenerated, creating space for new clean employment opportunities and a community recreation facility. What could possibly go wrong?

The Public Meeting. Imagine this, a village hall packed with about 100 local citizens and a bunch of experts sat on the stage. The experts had absolutely tons of carefully researched scientific evidence about why this proposal was a good thing:

Long term risks to health from the site would be removed;
Risks during cleanup would be minimal and well managed;
Economic benefits during the clean-up would be significant (jobs);
Long term job opportunities were predicated;
River water and ground water quality would improve significantly;
The Environment and biodiversity in the valley would be improved; and
Sustainability was constantly mentioned.

This was a very logical, rational, well balanced and fully evidenced argument to proceed with the scheme. As a trained scientist I was completely convinced.

The Counter Argument. A lady stood up at the back of the room and yelled “what about the babies……?”. She then proceeded to describe in graphic detail a case of birth abnormalities that had occurred close to a waste management facility in a nearby community. That situation was completely different to what we were talking about, but that didn’t matter. The damage had been done. The carefully prepared evidence had been rendered useless by 30 seconds of pure emotion. That’s where I learnt the phrase, “one ounce of emotion beats a ton of scientific evidence”.

As I recall, the clean up of the site was delayed for several years (of continued pollution) while an agreeable compromise was reached.

Why don’t we accept what experts say? In this seminar I heard Dave Snowden talk about how you need to be prepared to accept new ideas. Patterns of recognition need to be developed beforehand so that you can accept the new idea. If we don’t recognise what is being offered we are more likely to reject it straight off. I’ll dig out my notes from the session and put together a more substantial post.

For me the learning from “what about the babies…”, has great relevance to the ‘useful evidence’ debate. It’s all about choice. Whether you are a local citizen, policy maker, delivering a service or a politician you have the choice of ignoring or using evidence. Understanding that people will make choices about what they absorb, no matter how scientifically accurate, is worth thinking about if you are trying to get people to use your ‘really useful evidence’.

So, whats the PONT?

People can choose what evidence they accept. Scientific ‘fact’ does not automatically equal acceptance.
How evidence is presented is important if you want people to understand and accept it. Recognition of something familiar is important.
Emotion will beat evidence and facts, just remember “the babies……”

Picture Source: Just a thought. The evidence bag in the picture says ‘to be opened by authorised personnel only’. I wonder how much other evidence is given this ‘experts only’ status!

Linked posts: How Florence Nightingale used infographics to convince Civil Servants and Politicians that they needed to improve sanitary conditions to reduce deaths during the Crimean War. http://whatsthepont.com/2013/01/27/florence-nightingale-the-mother-of-infographics-btw-she-was-also-a-nurse/

Meetings are the symptom of bad organisation. Yes, but no, but maybe?

Posted on April 14, 2013 by whatsthepont

For anyone who works in a large organisation this will resonate. You can back it up with comments you might have heard over the years, like; “meetings suck the life-force out of me”, “that’s two hours of my life I will never get back” and “that was a big waste tax payers / shareholders money”.

Top tip for really dull meetings: pretend you have to visit the bathroom. Go and do some useful work, then return just before the end of the meeting. Nobody will have the courage to ask why you took so long.

Back to the full quote by Peter Drucker, “meetings are the symptom of bad organisation. The fewer meetings the better”.

The point seems to be that meetings represent a failure to properly plan and organise what you are doing. As a result you end up in meetings trying to fix things that haven’t worked. Ultimately if you have to spend time in meetings, you aren’t doing the things that really matter like: making products or delivering services.

There is plenty of research and figures to back up the idea that meetings are a problem. This paper by Romano & Nunamaker analyses a huge amount of the research written about meetings and presents some depressing findings:

Many reviews and surveys reveal that meetings dominate workers and managers time and yet are considered to be costly, unproductive and dissatisfying.
The number of meetings and their duration has been steadily increasing.
Studies of managers and knowledge workers reveal that they spend between 25%-80% of their time in meetings.
Self estimates of meeting productivity by managers in many different functional areas range from 33% – 47%.

I said it was depressing. Just imagine you are one of those knowledge workers or managers who spend 80% of their time in meetings, of which only 47% of that time is productive. That’s over 40% of your time in work, 2 days a week, doing something that is useless (and we worry about people wasting time on social media…….).

This lack of achievement and the frustration that goes with it has to have an impact upon your level of engagement and sense of job satisfaction. This paper by Rogelberg et al in Human Resource Management (March-April 2010) makes the link between overall job satisfaction and meeting satisfaction. It goes on to suggest that meeting satisfaction could be used as part of job satisfaction measures and employee engagement.

If you fancy a more in-depth look at this topic, and potential solutions, one of the co-authors of the paper, Joseph A. Allen runs the Centre for Meeting Effectiveness Lab at Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska. There are some useful links on the page to work that the Lab is doing.

So, we need to ban all meetings! (Not quite yet……Rambo)

This could be one response to the ‘meetings problem’. As attractive as it might seem (to some people) it might actually make things worse. Meetings are very necessary for transparent decision making, relationship building and knowledge exchange. I’ve argued before that knowledge exchange is a social process and meetings are a good place to achieve this. What we need is better meetings.

Having better meetings depends upon better process and people’s behaviour. Before any of this you need to be confident that you need the meeting in the first place, which links back to the Peter Drucker quote, “the fewer meetings the better”.

Meeting process and behaviours are two things I plan to write some posts about soon. In the meanwhile some more meeting quotes: (there are thousands on the web)

“A meeting is an interaction where the unwilling, selected from the uninformed, led by the unsuitable, to discuss the unnecessary, are required to write a report about the unimportant.” Kayser
“An employee who needs permission to buy a box of paperclips can spend tens of thousands of dollars worth of employee time on bad meetings.”

So, what’s the PONT?

Meetings are very necessary for many good reasons like; transparent decision making, relationship building and knowledge exchange.
The numbers and duration of meetings for managers and knowledge workers is increasing.
The costs of bad meetings in lost productivity and reduced staff satisfaction are huge. We need to have better meetings, starting now.

Picture Source: http://venturevillage.eu/make-meetings-effective. Some useful tips here on how to make meetings more effective.

An old favourite.

Vardre RFC, Venice of the Swansea Valley? Re-visiting old rugby grounds

Posted on April 7, 2013 by whatsthepont

For over quarter of a century I spent Saturdays playing rugby on many of the pitches across South Wales (all generally in the lower divisions). Unfortunately I didn’t pay a lot of attention to the places I was visiting. Before the match I was usually too anxious and afterwards, well it was usually dark, I was exhausted and occasionally ‘over refreshed’.
Recently I’ve had the joy of accompanying my middle son to rugby games with Pencoed RFC Youth (not a club I ever played for….. it’s a long story).
This has allowed me to see things differently and appreciate some of the interesting quirks and oddities of South Wales Rugby Clubs.
This week was a trip to Vardre RFC, which can be found at Clydach in the Swansea Valley.

Lovely Clydach. This is Vardre RFC, at the confluence of the Lower Clydach and Tawe Rivers. The Club could well be a prototype for the Tardis. You enter a small door off Clydach High Street, pass through the modest bar and then get swallowed up by an enormous function room; not what I was expecting. There are also extensive changing rooms underneath the function room, but nowhere near the pitch.
Listen carefully if you ask anyone in the club for directions to the pitch. Last time I heard anything so complicated, with as many bridges, canals and water, I was in Venice at the Rialto Bridge.

Here’s the first of the bridges. A lovely centuries old cast iron affair over the Clydach to Swansea Canal. You might have noticed the enormous chimney in the background. That’s ‘The Mond‘. The largest Nickel refining plant in Europe, which has a long association with the area. Some local ‘characters’ were sat at the right hand end of the bridge, thoughtfully placing their huge quantity of empty beer cans in a recycling sack.

Bridge number two. Crossing the River Tawe this time. The bridge looks quaint on a sunny day, but I really wouldn’t fancy it at night when the river is in flood. It’s also single file, so if the rugby teams are coming the opposite direction you’ve got a long wait. Don’t look down either. Some of the wooden planks have seen better days.

Waters-Meet. Excuse the self-indulgence here. This is the point where the waters of the River Tawe, Lower Clydach and the overflow from the Canal meet. As a former student of water quality this is a text-book situation. Where is the mixing zone? Where do you collect representative water quality samples? Why are there so many foreign beer cans on the river bank?

Bus Route? This perplexed me. When I eventually found the rugby pitch I encountered a bus shelter. Hugely vandalised, but still a very modern bus shelter with electronics and one of those screens for real-time updates. We don’t even have those in the village where I live and this was in the middle of a field! I can only speculate that it was some creative ‘re-purposing’ as a team dugout by the Vardre RFC, Pitches (sub-committee). Alternatively a cover up for some late night, over enthusiastic e-Bay bidding.

Grandstand View. Continuing the ‘re-purposing’ theme I tried out the grandstand, a single story, lean-too tin-shed affair. In keeping with many other South Wales rugby grounds I think the building materials may have been ‘borrowed’ from the local industrial facility. No picture unfortunately, but you do get a good view of the pitch, and the second ‘re-purposed’ bus shelter (also vandalised).

Rugby Action Shot No1. Our number 7 making a break, just before he got isolated in the tackle and was penalised for not releasing the ball.

Rugby Action Shot No 2. Our number 7 demonstrating the classic line-out overthrow (aka failing to catch the ball). We did actually win the game though.

So, what’s the PONT?
1. Should Vardre RFC be incorporating a Gondola alongside the Magpies on the club badge given that they are the Venice of the Swansea Valley?
2. Where did Vardre RFC Pitches (sub committee) get those bus shelters from?
3. Will the Pencoed No7 be selected for the League match against Mumbles RFC next weekend? (btw, No 7 is my son. He is cool with this).

Expatiation, Innovation, Adaptation, Continuous Improvement and Hyperbole. It’s dictionary time

Posted on March 10, 2013 by whatsthepont

If hear another person loudly proclaim that their incremental improvement to an existing activity, process or product is ‘INNOVATION!’ I will scream (quietly to myself…..). Small enhancements are not innovation.

To be fair the language is a bit confusing and I’m not alone. This article on the British Quality Foundation blog by Paul Sloan draws the comparison with politicians who trumpet every piece of routine spending as ‘significant new investment’. The hyperbole (exaggeration to create emphasis) has permeated the world of improvement, causing confusion which doesn’t do justice to the real innovation some people are achieving. So here are some explanations:

Continuous Improvement & Kaizen,
Adaptation,
Exaptation, and
Innovation.

Continuous Improvement. CI for short does what it says on the tin, an ongoing effort to improve services, products or processes. There is a strong emphasis on the incremental (little changes) in this approach, alongside the importance of feedback from the users of the product or service.

If you fancy jazzing things up (and impressing your colleagues) you could describe this approach as Kaizen, the Japanese for Good Change, (Kai = Change, Zen = Good). I very much like Kaizen. It recognises that the people who do the work are best placed to identify the required improvements and implement them. The emphasis here is that changes are small enough to be implemented by an individual worker or at team level, which has additional benefits linked to employee engagement. Remember that this is not radical innovation or change on a massive scale.

Adaptation. A term from biology which refers to how a living organism changes to become better suited to its environment. The example of how humans adapted to live and hunt in groups, because it was more efficient is often used to illustrate adaptation.

A service delivery example would be the process of paying bills. This has adapted from; face to face, to postal, to the current online processes. You could argue the difference between continuous improvement and adaptation is about scale of the change, but it is a bit subjective.

Exaptation. Another term from biology. This refers to the process of using something that has been developed for one purpose, to achieve something completely different. The classic example is feathers which were apparently developed as a temperature controlling feature that then turned out to be very useful for flying.

A more recent example Dave Snowden described is the car in a plastic bag, which apparently originated during the Bangkok floods. One enterprising individual drove their car into a large plastic bag that had been used to protect new furniture. Now lots of people in Bangkok have car size plastic bags; available for use in future floods.

The act of taking something that was developed for one purpose and using it in a completely different setting is where exaptation differs from continuous improvement and adaptation. A bit like lateral thinking.

Innovation. Looking at my 1970′s Pocket Oxford English Dictionary, ‘sixth edition’ (schoolboy stuff, but it’s what’s shaped me), innovation is ‘bringing in novelties’. Novelties are, ‘new things, strange, hitherto unknown’. The ‘new’ part of innovation is fundamental to what it’s all about, even down to the Latin origins of the word novus = new.

It seems fairly straightforward to me that incremental improvements to an existing activity is not innovation, I hope you agree (or maybe not and it’s just the pedantic schoolboy in me that has resurfaced). If you fancy some more on this topic, links at the end of the post.

Finally, back to the Paul Sloan article where he suggests introducing two new terms; ‘radivation’ for radical innovation and ‘incrovation’ for making improvements to existing products. I know my spell checker is struggling with the concept, I wonder if the rest of the world is ready for the change?

So what’s the PONT?

There is a big difference between something completely new (innovation) and incremental change (continuous improvement).
Understanding and using the most appropriate description helps with understanding.
Hyperbole can creep into all sorts of conversation, beware.

Links: More detailed explanation of exaptation From Dave Snowden . http://cognitive-edge.com/blog/entry/5573/exaptation-managed-serendipity-part-i/

Links to other things I’ve written: Is best practice the enemy of innovation http://whatsthepont.wordpress.com/2012/11/11/is-best-practice-the-enemy-of-innovation/

Do some organisations kill off new ideas?http://whatsthepont.wordpress.com/2012/12/23/idea-antibodies-do-some-organisation-have-an-autonomic-immune-response-that-kills-ideas/

Encouraging innovation with Belbin Resource Investigators .http://whatsthepont.wordpress.com/2013/02/03/encouraging-innovation-use-some-naive-experts-belbin-resource-investigators-and-send-them-back-to-the-floor/

Photo source: Dog floatation device. For other flood inspired exaptations and adaptations have a look at this site. http://blog.dothegreenthing.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/tumblr_lugcvlDfUk1r6pia1o1_500.jpg

Photo source: Car in the plastic bag article from China Car Times. http://www.chinacartimes.com/2012/07/guandong-government-wraps-cars-plastic-bags-avoid-typhoon-damage/

Rituals, routines and how to polish shoes

Posted on March 2, 2013 by whatsthepont

This isn’t something you see very often in our house. Four pairs of shoes (size 8 -13) all nicely polished and lined up by the front door. It was a nostalgic reminder of a ritual from growing up.

Sunday afternoons as a schoolboy were about my shoe cleaning ritual. It had started with my rugby boots and developed into an epic task of cleaning as many pairs of shoes as I could find. I really used to relish the process of:

Finding the shoes (it was the sort of house where people abandoned their shoes rather than take them off);
Cleaning off mud and other detritus;
Applying the polish;
Removing excess polish;
Buffing them up to get a nice shine; and
Placing the finished article in a neat row by the kitchen door, ready for Monday morning.

As a physical activity it wasn’t particularly demanding, just a routine I repeated, but it did allow me time to think. Thinking about the week that had passed and preparing for the week ahead. There was actually a lot of other stuff going on as part of this ritual, which only really makes sense to me now:

Taking care of valued possessions. The act of cleaning the shoes was about making sure they were fit for purpose. Also prolonging their useful life through repair and maintenance. I really did cherish my rugby boots.

Taking care of others. Thinking back I did enjoy the thought of having my siblings, mother and grandmother wear shoes I had looked after for them. My strongest sense of pride however came from cleaning my father’s shoes, even the terrible tan colour ones I could never find a polish to match. (My brother once threw up in those shoes – something weirdly symbolic in that I’m sure).

Making the best use of my time. This probably came from my time in the Cub Scouts. I always used to feel justified that I had done something useful with my time on a Sunday evening, setting me up for school on Monday.

My kids claim that they know nothing about the process of polishing shoes, due to my poor parenting skills they inform me. Apparently they aren’t alone.

I had to buy some polish in a local shop this week which was slightly odd. First off the polish was kept behind the counter. I can’t fathom out why. It’s hardly dangerous medicines or high cost like the vodka they keep there. Perhaps it was because they didn’t know what shoe polish is? The young guy serving said that he had never used shoe polish and asked how it worked. I did explain. I then got a guided tour of his £90 trainers that last him about six months. Great, I was heading off to polish some shoes I’ve used for two years and have had re-soled and re-heeled twice. I walked away with the distinct impression that he thought I was some weird old codger.

For the benefit of my local shop worker and my kids, here’s a video on how to polish your shoes. I hope they watch this. On their behalf I have picked one of the better videos with a really cool guy, with cool clothes and nice hair. Perhaps they will learn something from him rather than me.

On a positive note, I did notice that my middle son had cleaned his rugby boots last week, first time ever I think. OK, the sink was full of mud and the draining board was covered in grass, but it’s a start. At least he’s stopped asking his grandmother to do it.

So, what’s the PONT?

Rituals and routines are important as a way of making sense of the world around us.
They can also help surface memories and patterns of how to do things. It helped me get back into the school week, perhaps I should resume it for work?
Training shoes have a lot to answer for.

Photo Source. It’s one of mine, as are the smallest pair of shoes.

Jefferson’s Taper. A 200 year old perspective on the internet?

Posted on February 17, 2013 by whatsthepont

This is a real gem from 200 years ago that has a great deal of relevance today.

Thomas Jefferson made the following reference to the ‘taper’ (a candle) in a letter to Isaac McPherson, August 1813.

“He who receives ideas from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine receives light without darkening me. That ideas should freely spread from one to another over the globe, for the moral and mutual instruction of man, and improvement of his condition, seems to have been peculiarly and benevolently designed by nature, when she made them, like fire, expansible over all space, without lessening their density in any point, and like the air in which we breathe, move, and have our physical being, incapable of confinement or exclusive appropriation”

The full letter (available here) discusses the merits of the patent system and was part of a debate around how innovation was being restricted by perceived controls over the exchange of ideas and knowledge.

Two centuries on you could almost argue that we have reached a pinnacle in knowledge exchange with the development of technology that allows:

Instant global connectivity and collaboration;
Very low information storage costs;
The ability to quickly and easily reproduce exact copies of information;
Virtually zero transmission costs; and
Things Jefferson couldn’t have imagined such as webinars, videos, Skype etc.

200 years on and Jefferson’s Taper description stands up as a reasonable explanation of what the Internet provides. Did Thomas Jefferson write the first specification for the internet?

“…..ideas should freely spread….over the globe…, like fire, expansible over all space, without lessening their density in any point, and like the air in which we breathe …..incapable of confinement…..”

One final thought, as important as the taper is, without the flame it serves no purpose. A single unlit candle produces as much light as a million unlit candles. I suppose the same is true of the Internet. Without data, information and ideas it’s just a jumble of wires and hardware.

So, what’s the PONT?

Many good ideas concerning knowledge exchange have been around a very long time.
A taper without a flame is of little use. The flame is necessary to the taper as are ideas to the exchange of knowledge.
Without data, information and ideas, Jefferson’s Taper and the Internet are just hardware.

Previous Jefferson Post: http://whatsthepont.wordpress.com/2013/02/09/busmans-holiday-the-jefferson-memorial-wastewater-treatment-and-root-cause-analysis/

Picture Source: Jefferson Memorial, Washington DC.

Interesting Links: Jefferson’s Taper Letter: http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/a1_8_8s12.html

Cardiff University Lecture on Jefferson’s Taper: http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/share/newsandevents/events/history/distinguished-lecture-jefferson-taper-and-the-future-of-books.html

Busman’s Holiday. The Jefferson Memorial, Wastewater Treatment and Root Cause Analysis.

Posted on February 9, 2013 by whatsthepont

To avoid any confusion with my friends I need to put something on the record:

I did not take my wife on a visit to a wastewater treatment plant (sewage works) on our honeymoon.
We had a lovely time camping in a second-hand tent at St Cast, Brittany, NW France.
I did visit the Barbados Wastewater Treatment Plant – alone – whilst we were on holidays in the Caribbean a few years later (it was fantastic).
I did visit several other wastewater treatment plants whilst overseas on holidays during the following years (they were also very interesting).
Yes, this activity was associated with my job at the time so it could be labelled as a Busman’s Holiday, but my wife never came on any of the visits, she’s far too sensible (bet you are now thinking I’m a real catch……).

Fast forward almost 20 years…….. Washington DC Hotel, family holiday with the kids.

Me: “Come on kids, get ready, we are off to see the Jefferson Memorial”

Oldest Son: “Ah yes, Thomas Jefferson, Third President of the United States, principal author of the Declaration of Independence, born 1734, etc etc etc…… ” (He’s still talking)

Wife: “Yes, it’s where Howland Blackiston from the Juran Institute filmed that classic video on root cause analysis, The 5 Whys.”

Me: “Yeah, I really want to go and see if there are any spider webs left”.

Younger kids: “Please can we stay here and watch Sponge Bob on TV?”

Two points to note here:

The 5 Whys video is a great one to watch if you are interested in root cause analysis and the 5 Whys technique. I’m not going to explain it and spoil things; I suggest you watch the 60 second video. By the way I did see plenty of spider’s webs at the Jefferson Memorial.
This was a sublime moment when my wife and I were completely in tune and thinking about the same thing (that wasn’t kids related). We had both been exposed to the 5 Whys video during separate work activities and were genuinely excited about going to see the real place (well I was). A joint busman’s holiday, lovely.

Fast forward to summer holidays 2013 (Back to the Future)

It turns out we are going on holiday somewhere that doesn’t excite me very much. I’m not really a posh hotel sort of person. I’m not one to complain either, which is probably why I enjoy the hardships of cycling with my friend Geof. But I am someone who sees opportunity in even the direst of situations.

Good news! The place we are going has some interesting industrial facilities nearby AND some wastewater treatment operations. Even better they are really good at continuous improvement and staff engagement. I know a few people in the country who may be able to arrange a visit for me (and eldest son, he can tell them all about Jefferson). I am truly excited about the prospect of this latest busman’s holiday; hopefully I can share my learning experiences in some future posts.

It really is a bit like back to the future. My wife plans to go swimming with dolphins while I’m off at the industrial complex. I thought she did that in the Caribbean?….. whatever, roll on summer!

So, what’s the PONT?

There is opportunity for learning even in the most unlikely of circumstances.
If you enjoy something it doesn’t feel like work, or a busman’s holiday.
Having a few different interests to your partner isn’t such a bad thing.

Busman’s holiday: Definition from http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/busman%27s_holiday

Etymology: First recorded in 1893 in the UK. The idea is that a bus driver going off on a holiday, would take an excursion by bus, thereby engaging in a similar activity to work.

Noun: busman’s holiday. A holiday or vacation during which one does something similar to what one does as work

Interesting links:

5 Whys and Root Cause Analysis a the Jefferson Memorial http://www.oahhs.org/quality/lean-transformation/jefferson-memorial-root-cause-analysis.doc

Why you need to ask Why? http://www.ideachampions.com/weblogs/archives/2011/05/some_years_ago.shtml

Howland Blackiston Juran Institute video. The 5 Whys. http://youtu.be/IETtnK7gzlE

Picture Source: Lego Bus http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=lego+london+bus&hl=en&tbo=d&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=4QsWUYmcFufY0QXnsYDQCw&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=768&bih=929#biv=i%7C12;d%7C_0gRqkBD9u9ZTM:

Is Best Practice the Enemy of Innovation?

Posted on November 11, 2012 by whatsthepont

Here’s a confession. Before I go to bed I like to watch an episode of How It’s Made.

There is something very soothing about manufacturing processes. The logical sequence, efficient systems, robotic arms, complete repeatability, high levels of certainty and quality products are like a comfort blanket before I go to sleep.

Unfortunately the world I wake up to isn’t quite like this, generally it’s all a bit more confusing.

This mirrors some of the confusion around best practice and innovation. Frequently I hear; ‘organisations must be more innovative’ rapidly followed with ‘organisations must implement best practice’. But how do the two fit together, particularly if you’ve got other voices saying ‘best practice is the enemy of innovation’?

Here’s the Wikipedia definition of best practice: ‘a method or technique that has consistently shown results superior to those achieved with other means, and that is used as a benchmark. ……..used to describe the process of developing and following a standard way of doing things that multiple organizations can use’.

This, and many other definitions imply to me that ‘best practice’ is the single and ‘best’ way of doing something, it’s not ‘pick and mix’. If this is the case, how can an activity be improved if it’s already ‘the best ‘? Standardisation also features. If this is the case, how do you innovate in an environment where everything is carefully fixed, controlled and repeatable?

So, is it true, best practice really is the enemy of innovation?

There are a few examples that support this argument. Possibly the most well-known is about the inventors of ‘Post it’ notes, 3M. There are many commentaries about the decline in their ability to innovate following the introduction of Six Sigma techniques. This case study from The Design Council talks about ‘over zealous management techniques stifling creative thinking’. The application of Six Sigma within the 3M R&D function was preventing innovation.

This article from Business Week, talks about the tension between Six Sigma ‘control’ vs innovative ‘freedom’. They say that Six Sigma control is great for standard or routine processes in manufacturing and the scale-up of new products. However, Six Sigma was a disaster for innovative new products at 3M. Is this an example of best practice overkill?

Innovation is not Best Practice is a thought provoking perspective from Professor Alf Rehn from the University of Manchester Business School. The section on ‘The Problem with Best Practice’ defines best practice as, “stuff that worked in the past“. He makes the link with work on human development and suggests that the drive to seek and stick with ‘best practice’ is ‘programmed’ into humans as a survival instinct.

This idea that the human brain is programmed to look for and accept best practice (the quickest solution) is picked up by Stephen M. Shapiro in his book, ‘Best Practices are Stupid’. Check out this video Stephen talking about ‘expertise is the enemy of innovation’.

Finally here’s a sporting example, Dick Fosbury. Prior to 1968 Olympics, high jump best practice was going over the bar sideways or face first. Dick Fosbury failed to comply with the prevailing best practice went over backwards, and the result is history. Since smashing the world record the ‘Fosbury Flop’ has been the accepted best practice for the high jump, and even inspired a commemorative Silver Dollar.

Back to the confusion, where this started. I think there is a place for best practice. In the world of manufacturing and ‘How it’s Made’ it’s a key part of success. I am very happy that the engines of planes I fly in are built and maintained by Six Sigma enthusiasts. However, in other environments I’m not so sure. There are multiple ways to approach the complex issues faced by public services. It can be counter-productive to adopt a; ‘one size fits all’, ‘adopt or else’, best practice approach in these situations. At the very least it will probably be the enemy of innovation.

So, what’s the PONT?

The phase “best practice” is a widely misused and poorly understood. Before its used people should be clear about what they mean.
There is evidence that the ‘over zealous’ application of ‘best practice’ type management thinking and techniques can stifle innovation.
There is an important place for best practice, but it’s dependent upon the context, which needs to be understood.

Picture source: US Olympic High Jump Silver Dollar. Best practice ignored! http://www.usmint.gov/historianscorner/?action=coinDetail&id=29524

Maybe cats had the high jump sorted out long before Dick Fosbury?

Ricoh Gemba Mat, the best of Ohno Circles, Gemba Walks and Employee Engagement.

Posted on November 3, 2012 by whatsthepont

Reblogged from What's the PONT:

Gemba Mat is an improvement tool which combines the ideas behind Ohno Circles, the Gemba Walk and enhances them through employee engagement. I think it is incredibly effective, not just as an improvement tool but also in how it engages and develops people. I saw Gemba Mat in use at Ricoh in Telford during an IdeasUK networking event. Thanks to Chris Nicholls from Ricoh for allowing me to share this.

Pulpo á Feira – Party Time! (Unless you’re an Octopus)

Posted on October 28, 2012 by whatsthepont

Some things are inevitable, death, taxes and peer pressure from your cycling companions to eat octopus when you get to Santiago de Compostela. I knew it was coming from about 200km outside of Santiago when “Pulpo” started appearing on menus. When my travelling companions shifted their enthusiasm for strange land based animal products to scary looking oddities from the sea, I knew there would be no escape.

I’m no food critic, so this is a straightforward description of my encounter with ‘Pulpo a Feira’, or ‘octopus at the party’ (literal translation), not much of a party if you happen to be the octopus!

First some things I wasn’t going to do:

Eat it cold in a tapas bar. The prospect of cold octopus sucker on toast freaked me out slightly.
Attempt any of the specimens on offer in restaurant windows. I saw some of these beauties two days running.

Even my basic understanding of seafood tells me the fresher the better. So…… It was off to Santiago’s Open Air Market to eat and party like a local.

Santiago de Compostela Open Air Market Pulpo recipe:

Take one octopus and tenderise. Two options here;
- Bash it with a rock, or
- Some elaborate freezing process (check out the recipe)
Remove the inedible bits (again check out the recipe)
Throw octopus into a huge vat of salty water and boil until tender.
Remove and cut into small pieces with a scissors and place onto a wooden dish.
Season with paprika, salt and olive oil.
Serve with wine and bread (optional).

The results:

It was quite chewy, but that’s ok. The paprika, oil and salt are necessary; otherwise I don’t think it has much of a taste. It was quite filling, definitely best shared with a few others.

I’m not sure a Pulpo á Feira stall would take off in Pontypridd Market. Geof reckons it’s more the sort of thing they would go for in Swansea.

Check out the pictures of the Santiago de Compostela Open Air Market, Pulpo a Feira experience, Party Time!, (unless you’re the octopus). Vegetarians may not want to proceed NSFV (not safe for vegetarians).

So, what’s the PONT?

Stick with the locals at the Market when it comes to eating unusual things.
Check out the alternatives before giving in to peer pressure – so glad I didn’t try that cold octopus sucker on toast.
Perspective is everything. A party it might have been – for everyone except the octopus.

What's the PONT

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Pulpo á Feira – Party Time! (Unless you’re an Octopus)

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