Systems Thinking in the Public Sector: The failure of the reform regime... and a manifesto for a better way
Author
John Seddon
Publication Date
April 2008
Publisher
Triarchy Press Ltd
FROM AMAZON.COM: 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.

Systems Thinking in the Public Sector
Filed under: public service, systems, value demand, failure demand.
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One Comment
Jeff Howard on June 14, 2010 10:05pm
Lauren posted a review on her blog last year.

Seddon describes “systems thinking” as an approach that considers the organisation as a whole and taking the customer view from the outside looking into the organisation. The main task for a systems thinker is to truly understand what is happening in the system. By studying the flow of work and realising how everything works end to end from the customers point of view.

Also, she posted a follow up a few months ago on "Delivering Public Services that Work."

Systems Thinking in the Public Sector: The failure of the reform regime... and a manifesto for a better way
By John Seddon
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  1. In the beginning... the emergence of a new ideology
  2. Do people want 'choice'?
  3. From particular case to general rule: ministers managing benefits
  4. The present style of management
  5. Systems thinking: a better way to make the work work
  6. Purpose — measures — method
  7. An irrational belief in targets
  8. 'Deliverology': the science of delivery, or dogmatic delusion?
  9. Taking the value out of policing
  10. Failing those who need care
  11. A gloomy vision: public-service factories
  12. Is 'Public Value' the answer?
  13. Is 'citizen empowerment' the answer?
  14. The regime: systemically incapable of doing the right thing
  15. Reforming the regime