Systems Approaches for Continuous Improvement in Public Sector

1. Systems Approaches for Continuous Improvement Amanda Gregory Centre for Systems Studies Hull University Business School United Kingdom

2. Institute for Continuous Improvementin the Public Sector (ICiPS) • Our visionA public sector with a culture of and self sufficiency in the application of continuous improvement (CI), delivering benefits for all • We will: • work with our members and others to develop understanding of the current state of play • connect the public sector with academic and other resources, and • championing and commissioning research • We will support : • Improved knowledge and understanding through research • Cross cutting CI initiatives • Combined wisdom & knowledge enhances self sufficiency • Central portal to knowledge and resources • Practical advice & guidance • Common standard for CI professionals • Career progression path • Place the public sector at the forefront of CI

4. The dominant approach to policy-making was mechanistic and reductionist Control and predictability Relinquish Focus on evidence of what works which presumes that context is relatively unimportant

5. Complex Adaptive Systems Highly inter-related Many components Feedback Complex Unpredictable

7. We’ve got to move from Machine Age Thinking to Systems Age Thinking In a civil service or government framework learning is interpreted as needing to acquire new knowledge or skills Russell Ackoff People who are promoted to higher positions of authority interpret their promotion as a validation of their knowing best. Politicians who are elected interpret it as an endorsement of their views which not only closes the door to learning, it also closes off the possibility of understanding other perspectives Jake Chapman Image from : http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Russel_Lincoln_Ackoff.jpg

8. The way to go Soft Systems Methodology Peter Checkland Image from: http://www.lums.lancs.ac.uk/images/70.jpg

9. Tsoukas and Hatch (2001) reflect that complexity is ‘not only a feature of the system under study (first-order complexity) but also a matter of the way we organize our thinking about such systems. Hence we enter the domain of ‘the thinker thinking about complexity (second-order complexity)’ The system definition is inside us The referent is out there

10. The ideas resonated and made sense But despite the enthusiastic reception for the ideas there has been very little substantive shift in either policy or management styles within government… Many people had started to try out systems approaches without realizing there was a theoretical basis for them Good timing

11. Lean Systems Thinking Soft Systems Methodology Road less travelled The way ahead

12. Lean Systems Thinking Current capability of response is governed by the flow of core processes A system has a purpose that should be defined in the context of what matters to customers REMEMBER: The starting-place for change is measurement. If you have not measured a process before studying it, how can you know whether it is worth improving, and how can you judge any improvement? The performance of a system will be governed by what predictably happens at the points of transaction with customers in terms of demand and response John Seddon Image from: http://neupc.procureweb.ac.uk/past/speaker-john-seddon.php

13. CHECK PLAN DO Current system performance Redesign Vanguard’s Lean Systems Thinking’ an analysis of the what and why of the current system an exploration of potential solutions to eliminate waste implementation of solutions incrementally and by experiment

14. Customer Journeys - Example

15. Some Criticisms of Lean • Assumes that a customer can be identified and that processes can be designed to meet their needs. But what about when a system serves multiple customers with conflicting needs? • Gives an impoverished picture of the organisation (emphasises rational design of processes at cost of culture and power) • Can be corrupted into a tool for autocratic management • Can reduce a systems ability to respond to changing circumstances

16. Road less travelled Soft Systems Methodology The way ahead Lean Systems Thinking Continuous Improvement

17. The CI Philosophy Processes Lean Systems Methodology √ Culture & Values Soft Systems Methodology, Boundary Critique √ Structures System Dynamics, Management Cybernetics X

18. Traditional approaches to organisation were inspired by the way God controls his nine orders of angels in the celestial hierarchy • And the results have been impressive… • rigid, slow response to change • autocratic ‘meddling’ • duplication / redundancy of actions • conflicts caused by silo based thinking • breakdown in communications • people out of touch with events • We need to think creatively if we are going to come up with an alternative that supports CI…

19. Morgan’s Organizational FormsMorgan, G. (1989) Creative Organization Theory, Sage, London.

20. Challenges • Complexity • Diversity • Variety • Autonomy • Control

21. Stafford Beer’sViable System Model Maximum autonomy of the parts within the cohesive whole… http://cybsoc.org/wosc/SBeer_HvF.htm

22. Env Amplify Ops Mgt Attenuate

23. Policy Wider Env Intelligence Env Env Control Co-ord Audit Ops Ops Mgt Mgt

24. North Yorkshire Police as a Viable System

25. Recursion Two Selby Division as a Viable System

26. The UK’s Notional Transnational Organised Crime Fighting System Brocklesby (2011)

27. Wise Words Most people imagine that the present style of management has always existed, and is a fixture. Actually, it is a modern invention – a prison created by the way in which people interact System designers and planners must go forwards in heroic mood Charles West Churchman William Edwards Deming Images from: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/doifinder/10.1057/palgrave.jors.2601825 & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming