John Seddon Quotes & Sayings

command-and-control management has created service organizations that are full of waste, offer poor service, depress the morale of those who work in them and are beset with management factories that not only do not contribute to improving the work, but actually make it worse. The management principles that have guided the development of these organizations are logical - but it's the wrong logic. The — John Seddon

Maximizing the ability to handle variety is central to improving service and reducing costs. The systems approach employs the ingenuity of workers in managing and improving the system. It is intelligent use of intelligent people; it is adaptability designed in, enabling the organization to respond effectively to customer demands. Workers — John Seddon

It is an unquestioned assumption that managers should have and set targets and then create control systems - incentives, performance appraisals, budget reporting and computers to keep track of them all - to ensure the targets are met. In Toyota, these practices simply do not exist. To — John Seddon

As managers develop the systems approach, they learn to use computers for the things they are good at and to the contrary avoid using computers for things that people are good at. The consequences are fewer computer systems and more control. I — John Seddon

The measures themselves are easily distorted to suit reporting purposes. — John Seddon

I have learned that as soon as you introduce controls on human behavior, you lose the game, particularly when those controls are at odds with the work. — John Seddon