The answer is… When we build our first Trojan Horse. I’ll explain why in a minute, but first a “lovely ramble down to an important point…” The Coal Dust Cresta Run. When I was growing up one my favourite playgrounds was the old quarry at the top of the street. It had been partially filled […]
The James Reason Swiss Cheese Failure Model in 300 Seconds
James Reason Swiss Cheese Model. Source: BMJ, 2000 Mar 18:320(7237): 768-770 A while ago I was part of the Cardiff pilot of Practical Strategies for Learning from Failure (#LFFdigital). My job was to explain the James Reason Swiss Cheese Failure Model in 300 seconds (5 minutes). This is what I did. The Swiss Cheese Model of […]
Speaking Truth to Power Pt2. Messengers: Sycophants, Axe Grinders and The Brave
Cassandra. She knew the truth but was never listened to… Stop for a moment and think about this question. “What happens to the people who give bad news, or tell an unwelcome truth to the people in charge?” [PAUSE] Now think about the question in relation to all of the books you’ve read, all of […]
Speaking Truth to Power Part 1. 2500 years of Shooting the Messenger
I was going to start this post with a link to the opening scene from the film Gladiator. You know, the bit where Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe) is waiting pensively for a messenger to return from telling the German Barbarians to surrender. All around his Roman Legions prepare for battle (very dramatic). The messenger does […]
Be. More. Human. The Killer App v Designing Out The Idiot
Huge thanks to Mark Schaefer for the midweek boost at Academi Wales Summer School. It was a fantastic gallop through ‘everything you need to know about social media marketing’, there’s a great graphic of the presentation at the end of the post. Its the third time I’ve seen Mark speak and as previously; he […]
“Launching an Imperfect Service”. An unlikely conversation at the cashpoint (ATM)
Picture this. Friday night and I’m queuing at the village cashpoint (ATM). An unrecognised voice behind me pipes up with… “that bloke from Bromford was good last week, I liked what he said about launching an imperfect service” The ‘bloke’ in question was Paul Taylor. It turns out that my fellow cashpoint user and I had […]
Do we need a Public Services, ‘Museum of Failed Products?’
Most commercial products new to the market fail. Fact. Most change programmes fail. Fact. Most initiatives in public services work perfectly. It’s completely different here….. Really? I may have upset some people, with those assertions, so I’d better explain myself. Most Commercial Products Fail – The Museum of Failed Products. I’ve mentioned this before. Basically […]
Loving and Learning from Failure. Great idea, but how does it work?
“Accept that failure will happen and learn the lessons”. That could be a classic from the dictionary of “easy to say, hard to do” inspirational quotes. You know the ones, they get posted all over Facebook with backgrounds of epic landscapes or golden sunsets. I fully agree with the sentiment, but how does this work in a […]
“Failure is not an option…..” Daleks, the enforcers of Best Practice.
I don’t think this is an actual Dalek quote, but it should be….. “Failure is not an option…. exterminate!” I’m back to pursuing learning from failure after listening to an episode of The Life Scientific on BBC Radio 4, featuring Professor Dame Wendy Hall. In response to a question (27mins) on why the UK doesn’t […]
Failure Models and NUMB3RS. How do you get from backwards look to real time learning?
If you’ve seen the television show NUMB3RS you may have the impression that it is possible to mathematically predict complex situations. Gather some NUMB3RS (data, information etc), apply a relevant mathematical model, calculate the next occurrence of the event and catch the perpetuator in the act. All you need is the application of some fiendishly […]
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