Journal Entries
diary of a rebellious bureaucrat 1
Posted Sep 29, 2006
Our management tell us that we must break out of our silos. To me, a silo is a grain store and the idea of breaking out suggests at least one of those demolition vehicles with a ball on a chain. What they mean is that government departments are basically big, messy organisations made up of people in little teams which don't talk to each other.
They reckon they can solve this problem by reorganising us. They say that this will exploit the synergies between this aspect of the Department's work and that. Poppycock! There are a hundred and one ways you can organise a big government department.
What actually happens is that there is a period of chaos while everyone moves around and nobody knows who's doing what or who's sitting in what desk. Only God and Gordon Brown know what all this costs. Then, everything settles down again.
And the silos grow back, because silos are created by people who find it easier to communicate with people they know than people they don't. That's the trouble with designing organisations. They are difficult things because they are made up of people.
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Latest reply: Sep 29, 2006
Diary of a Limp Green 1
Posted Sep 23, 2006
I cycle down to the shops, feeling smug as I chain my bike by the trolley stack, while other people queue to park their cars. However, panniers are awkward things to carry at the best of times and mine are heavy by the time they are full of vegatbles. I leave Waitrose without closing my panniers properly. A mango falls out and rolls across the car park.I hurry to catch it and stuff it back in the pannier. Next, a white cabbage falls out and rolls to a stop beneath the trolleys. Fortunately, a helpful young assistant retrieves it for me. I reflect that, to everyone else, I probably resemble some kind of eccentric bag lady.
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Latest reply: Sep 23, 2006
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