Lance Fennell
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Comment on: Walker v Seddon - the debate goes on
David Walker is right about one thing: there is a political context. When things go wrong it would be a brave politician who answers media questions, 'It's OK because we're using systems thinking now, so things will get better". Being that it is often counter-intuitive, systems thinking isn't easily understood at first (as David Walker demonstrates), and telling the Daily Mail that targets are being abandoned (the subtext being that it's now a freeforall) would be political suicide. The myths that there are always economies of scale benefits, that targets improve performance and that managers and civil servants know best simply because of their status are deeply ingrained in the national psyche. I have heard politicians say 'I know the targets make things worse, but you don't get elected if you don't have targets for improvement'. John Seddon's question the AC should ask gets to the heart of what customers care about; the problem is that politicians are likely to care more about getting elected.
