Four Stories of Systems Change
I spent August — December 2019 working with The Children’s Society to prototype how they might operate differently to better achieve their strategy, which includes being systems-led. I have struggled with the academic nature of a lot of systems change writing. Like everyone, I’ve personally experienced broken systems, but I haven’t seen (or perhaps haven’t noticed) many examples of tangible systems change and how it was implemented. Until I worked with The Children’s Society.
Swarming to solve problems
In Kanban, when some necessary thing is happening too slowly, the team “swarms.” Everybody stops what they’re doing and collaboratively solves the problem. No blame; no accountability; no individual responsibility; just working as a team to get the job done.
— Allen Holub (@allenholub) June 13, 2020
How to explain to CEOs why fixing the plumbing matters
At the London Office of Technology and Innovation (LOTI), this is not an academic question. The need to find an answer is both real and pressing. For while LOTI’s activities are primarily driven by each borough’s Chief Information or Chief Digital Officer (CIO and CDO), ultimately, we need to demonstrate value to the CEOs whose organisations we aim to help.