Freedom from Command and Control: Rethinking Management for Lean Service [Hardcover]

John Seddon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 12, 2005 | ISBN-10: 1563273276 | ISBN-13: 978-1563273278

"Command and Control is failing us. There is a better way to design and manage work - a better way to make work work - but it remains unknown to the vast majority of managers."

An adherent of the Toyota Production System, John Seddon explains how traditional top-down decision making within service organizations leads to managers who are detached from employees and remote from operations. He demonstrates that decision-making based on purpose-related measures (such as putting customers first and improving services) can help managers reconnect with operations, see waste, and exploit opportunities for improvement. Through extensive case material, he differentiates between command and control and systems thinking and illustrates how the latter leads to improved service, revenues, and staff morale. He also posits that the service industry is fundamentally different from manufacturing, and shows how Toyota production principles must be transformed for application in service organizations.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Productivity Press (August 12, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563273276
• ISBN-13: 978-1563273278
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #810,116 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A missed opportunity., March 6, 2010

By 

Haim Toeg "reader" (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Freedom from Command and Control: Rethinking Management for Lean Service (Hardcover)

I have just finished reading this book, and I have to say it could have been one of the most important books on service management and improvement I read in a long time. Sadly, John Seddon seems to have missed the opportunity to make this book a seminal text in the services business, for the following reasons:

1. Mr. Seddon has very strong, almost religious, beliefs in his methodology and the Vanguard system he promotes. So much so that he has to identify enemies and burn them at the stake, repeatedly. His enemies range from supporters of competing methodologies, solution vendors, consultants, and worst of all 'managers', who he has to discredit and put down every other paragraph. John, they are your potential audience, I'd think you want them to read your book and adapt your system, no?

2. Despite his strong belief in his system, Mr. Seddon does not disclose many details on how to actually make it work. The book is more a series of anecdotes with several nuggets of knowledge here and there, rather than a foundation for implementing a services improvement project based on its teachings

3. Mr. Seddon and his publishers have not invested in editing, therefore the book does not read well, the paragraphs are frequently a non-flowing collection of sentences, words and phrases are put between quotes unnecessarily and many sections read like a collection of presentation bullets rather than a well thought of and assembled story

4. The book is produced cheaply, using rough, thin paper and too narrow margins, leaving too little room for writing comments. For a book that costs as much as this one does this is inexcusable.

I believe Mr. Seddon should have asked himself the same questions he promotes in this book: "what is the purpose of this book?" and "how would my customers want to see it delivered?", and while the answers would not have changed the excellent message they would have definitely made his book much more usable and influential.

Despite this, I give the book four stars, due to the important message it carries.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New tactic for service firm management explained, February 14, 2007

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Freedom from Command and Control: Rethinking Management for Lean Service (Hardcover)

This brief book offers a lot in a small package. Although the customer-driven systems management strategy that John Seddon outlines is hardly new, he offers a fresh discussion about applying it to service organizations. Although this management tactic has proven itself indisputably, many managers and most organizations will find it radical. The author clearly, concisely illustrates its merits with numerous examples from a range of industries, with particular reference to the successful Toyota Production System. However, Seddon is frank about the kind and degree of opposition that reform will encounter. He also debunks other management systems in light of this approach. We highly recommend this book to all managers with the note that you can only implement its findings if you enjoy the full support of top management.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to Lean service organizations, December 30, 2009

By 

David Peterson "Lean Facilitator" (Spokane, WA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Freedom from Command and Control: Rethinking Management for Lean Service (Hardcover)

A fairly short (200 page) text that interprets and presents Lean techniques developed for manufacturing into specifics that can be immediately applied to service businesses. I have hightlighted and dog-eared almost every page in this book and refer to it often to help direct the focus of my work. I highly recommend it and have purchased copies for the other managers in my group.