If this sound like a strange concept, please read on and we’ll explain our reasons behind posing the question

In nature, physics, anything, we see that systems like equilibriums. Call it Newton’s third law, or yin and yang, call it what you like, but a system likes an equilibrium. Add a new variable and the system will look for a new equilibrium. We’re going to recount a conversation we had with an operational head (Bob) while we were working as Quality Program Manager in the public sector many years ago to illustrate the point. At the time we’d been using the EFQM framework to provide focus for business improvement and this had worked reasonably well at the initial level of engaging people to ask the right questions and challenge the status quo. Anyway we went to see “Bob” to review the progress of some of the projects that had been initiated, so we had something to report and send up the line. Obviously it was in our interest to find some positives, because that would reflect well on us. So we went to see “Bob” and was quite soon asked a strange question

“Shaun, can we have a little chat off the record”
“Erm, OK, if you like”

“Good. I need to get some things clear, and I don’t want to play games with you”
“Right …”

“ I was just wondering where all this EFQM malarkey is likely to lead, and what’s the best way to tackle it. Things have gone pretty well so far, there have been some nice ideas coming through from staff and it seems to have had a positive effect on a lot of people, but I can see problems ahead and I need to ask you what you think is the best way to tackle them”
“What sort of problems?”

“Well, the type of improvement projects we’ve set up so far have been a lot of … well, you called them ‘quick wins’ in your presentation last week. Simple stuff like reorganising the workspace to make life easy for people, redesigning forms to make them easier, that sort of thing”
“Right”

“Only last week I thought I detected in your presentation that this might only be a sort of ‘phase 1’ and you mentioned something along the lines of ‘better faster cheaper’ at a more fundamental level”
“Well, yes, that’s what it’s all about. In fact, they weren’t my words, that’s what the Cabinet Office actually wants. They want better value public services and they need to see stuff like this delivering tangible results in pounds and pence”

“Yes I understand that – that’s the problem”
“What do you mean?”
(more…)