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Freedom from Command and Control Paperback – January 1, 2003

by John Seddon (Author)

4.5 61 ratings

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This is a management book that challenges convention and aims to appeal to a wide target audience. Seddon argues that while many commentators acknowledge command and control is failing us, no one provides an alternative. His contention is the alternative can only be understood when you see the failings of command and control by taking the better - systems - view. There is little in the book that you would find in a normal management curriculum. Seddon is scathing and controversial about leadership theorists, maintaining that leadership is being able to talk about how the work works with the people who do it. The book provides practical advice and examples of how to put this into place. Packed with illustrations of the unintended consequences of command and control thinking, you will be amazed that management of our organizations should be so appalling. You will see how customer service is poor and carries high costs and that changing the way the work is designed and managed will result in lower costs and better service. But, as Seddon points out, these are things managers cannot "see" from their current position. Managers don't know what they don't know. Seddon's case is that taking this view teaches managers to change their thinking, and he shows how the very observations they make when understanding what he calls "the what and why of current performance as a system" become the building blocks of the systems solution. And also illustrates the solutions for the cases he uses.

Print length

300 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Vanguard Consulting Ltd
Publication date

January 1, 2003
Dimensions

6.14 x 0.75 x 9.06 inches
ISBN-10

0954618300
ISBN-13

978-0954618308
See all details

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vanguard Consulting Ltd (January 1, 2003)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 300 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0954618300
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0954618308
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.7 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.14 x 0.75 x 9.06 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,518,145 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,081 in Management Science

Customer Reviews:
4.5 61 ratings

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4.5 out of 5

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Olivier A

Great book

Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2006

If you are working in the service area and wonder why the service you provide is so bad despite all efforts, read this book.

You will learn how to get reconnected with your customers, create value for them and improve your staff morale and profits.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Jan Höglund

The better way has a different logic

Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2017

This is a book about a better way to make work work. The focus of the book is on the translation of the principles behind the Toyota Production System for service organizations.[1]

The better way has a completely different logic to command-and-control, and that, perhaps, is the reason it is difficult to understand. People interpret what they hear from their current frame of reference, so what they hear is not necessarily what is meant.[2]

The cornerstone of command-and-control is the separation of decision-making from work. Command-and-control is based on top-down hierarchies where managers manage people and money. Managers make decisions on budgets, targets, and so on.[3]

The command-and-control management pioneers were Frederick Taylor (scientific management), Henry Ford (mass production), and Alfred Sloan (management by numbers). The issue is not that command-and-control was without value, but that we have not continued to learn. The problem is a problem of thinking.[4]

Taiichi Ohno at Toyota developed a radically different approach the management of work.[5] Instead of top-down command-and-control management, Toyota uses local control at the point where the work is done.[6] This philosophy is fundamentally different. The attitude is no longer to make the numbers, but to learn and improve.[7] It requires power-with, rather than power-over, and runs counter to the underlying hierarchical command-and-control philosophy.

People who work in a command-and-control environment become cogs in the machine. Management makes the decisions and manages the scheduling, planning, reporting and so on. It's an environment that works with information abstracted from work.[8] Integrating decision-making with the work produces a totally different management infrastructure.[9]

Measures are usually derived from the budget in command-and-control organizations. Moreover, connecting work to arbitrary measures creates the need to have additional people scheduling work, reporting on work, and making demands on those who do the work. Separation of decision-making from the work is the defining logic for command-and-control-management.[10]

Integrating the information needed with the work itself changes the point of control, from external to internal, and, consequently has a positive impact on motivation. Optimizing the flow leads to lower costs because you only do what you need. Moving the locus of control to the worker makes it possible for him or her to perform different work depending on what is needed.[11] Moreover, if something goes wrong it can be seen and corrected at once.[12]

In manufacturing you 'get away with' command-and-control because the products you make are standard. Traditional command-and-control responds to variety by establishing procedures, standards, and the like. The consequence is enourmous amounts of waste when applied to service organizations.[13] Maximizing the ability to handle variety is central to improving service and reducing costs. This can only be done by intelligent use of intelligent people, where workers are connected with customers in self-organizing relationships.[14]

Diversity of flow is the hallmark of good service. In managing flow the work itself is the information, and this in turn comprises the information required to direct operations in the work. It is an unquestioned assumption in command-and-control that managers should have and set targets and then create control systems to ensure the targets are met. In Toyota these practices simply do not exist. To make service organizations work better, they need to be taken out.[15]

The Toyota system exemplifies economies of flow, which is a step beyond economies of scale. The concepts associated with the economies of scale have governed management thinking for the last century and more.[16] Economies of flow represent a challenge to current beliefs. It is a challenge of of such a scale that this becomes the most important hurdle for managers to get over. The ideas themselves are simple, logical, and practical. However, they are different, unfamiliar, and, as a consequence, often perceived as a threat. They are certainly counterintuitive to the command-and-control mindset.[17]

The management principles that have guided command-and-control are logical – but it's the wrong logic. The better way has a different logic. John Seddon uses the entire book to eloquently explain this better logic.

Notes:
[1] John Seddon, Freedom from Command and Control: A Better Way to Make the Work Work (Vanguard Consulting Ltd, 2005, 2nd edition), p.23.
[2] Ibid., p.8.
[3] Ibid., p.8.
[4] Ibid., p.9.
[5] Ibid., p.15.
[6] Ibid., pp.15--16.
[7] Ibid., p.16.
[8] Ibid., p.17.
[9] Ibid., p.19.
[10] Ibid., p.19.
[11] Ibid., p.20.
[12] Ibid., p.21.
[13] Ibid., p.21.
[14] Ibid., p.22.
[15] Ibid., p.22.
[16] Ibid., p.22.
[17] Ibid., p.23.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Neil Jamieson

Would you like work to work?

Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2006

John's book applies the Toyota lean manufacturing system to service organisations. Key is the end-to-end flow, from the customer perspective. For those familiar with Theory of Constraints there are some echoes between the two.

In this book, John carefully corrects some misunderstandings about the Toyota system and its roots. He also uses ample examples of why management frequently creates processes that create waste. And then managers wonder why there are inefficencies. The viscious circle then completes with new processes to analyse the previous ones. Yes, more waste results!

Business needs to be dynamic, flexible and focussed on value adding tasks. John shows a way to focus on just that. With the UK phenomenon for accountants to be MD's/CEO's, its a tough sell though. Decades of command and control through the management factory and solutions that constrain the business are difficult to shake off. People are after all frequently rewarded for adding accreditation, process or reporting to the cost base. All is not lost though, for there are young, enterprising businesses growing that will - with guidance like John's - manage to grow, be customer focussed and efficient.

A useful book for a those concerned with rising costs and falling service, especially if you are willing to do something about it!

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

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JN

The operational bible for customer focussed operations in the financial services sector

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 27, 2014

Verified Purchase

If you work in the financial services sector and you want to change your business processes for the better, look no further than this book. In my 30 years of insurance broking, I have been throughout many operational, process and technology changes, almost none of which have fully delivered their intended benefits. I lived through working with John Seddon's team at Vanguard on implementing change using the approach in this book and it works like nothing else. It is truly empowering to those who do the work to change it for the better. For those managers who revel in being all knowing and directing everyone, however, here comes the revolution !

5 people found this helpful

Amazonのお客様

著者の専門分野であり、わかりやすく書かれている

Reviewed in Japan on February 2, 2013

Verified Purchase

make a work workというタイトル末尾の表現は一瞬笑いましたが、中身はきっちりしていてよいです。

Translate review to English

M. Ectors

Best management book I read in years.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 13, 2010

Verified Purchase

This is not the typical book about how to use a tool, technique, etc. to manage better. It is actually quite the opposite. It is provocative and wants you to draw conclusions about the errors you have been making during years. If you are not afraid to read a book that is controversial to say the least, this is your book...

Jan Höglund

The better way has a different logic

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 4, 2017

Verified Purchase

This is a book about a better way to make work work. The focus of the book is on the translation of the principles behind the Toyota Production System for service organizations.[1]

The better way has a completely different logic to command-and-control, and that, perhaps, is the reason it is difficult to understand. People interpret what they hear from their current frame of reference, so what they hear is not necessarily what is meant.[2]

The cornerstone of command-and-control is the separation of decision-making from work. Command-and-control is based on top-down hierarchies where managers manage people and money. Managers make decisions on budgets, targets, and so on.[3]

The command-and-control management pioneers were Frederick Taylor (scientific management), Henry Ford (mass production), and Alfred Sloan (management by numbers). The issue is not that command-and-control was without value, but that we have not continued to learn. The problem is a problem of thinking.[4]

Taiichi Ohno at Toyota developed a radically different approach the management of work.[5] Instead of top-down command-and-control management, Toyota uses local control at the point where the work is done.[6] This philosophy is fundamentally different. The attitude is no longer to make the numbers, but to learn and improve.[7] It requires power-with, rather than power-over, and runs counter to the underlying hierarchical command-and-control philosophy.

People who work in a command-and-control environment become cogs in the machine. Management makes the decisions and manages the scheduling, planning, reporting and so on. It's an environment that works with information abstracted from work.[8] Integrating decision-making with the work produces a totally different management infrastructure.[9]

Measures are usually derived from the budget in command-and-control organizations. Moreover, connecting work to arbitrary measures creates the need to have additional people scheduling work, reporting on work, and making demands on those who do the work. Separation of decision-making from the work is the defining logic for command-and-control-management.[10]

Integrating the information needed with the work itself changes the point of control, from external to internal, and, consequently has a positive impact on motivation. Optimizing the flow leads to lower costs because you only do what you need. Moving the locus of control to the worker makes it possible for him or her to perform different work depending on what is needed.[11] Moreover, if something goes wrong it can be seen and corrected at once.[12]

In manufacturing you 'get away with' command-and-control because the products you make are standard. Traditional command-and-control responds to variety by establishing procedures, standards, and the like. The consequence is enourmous amounts of waste when applied to service organizations.[13] Maximizing the ability to handle variety is central to improving service and reducing costs. This can only be done by intelligent use of intelligent people, where workers are connected with customers in self-organizing relationships.[14]

Diversity of flow is the hallmark of good service. In managing flow the work itself is the information, and this in turn comprises the information required to direct operations in the work. It is an unquestioned assumption in command-and-control that managers should have and set targets and then create control systems to ensure the targets are met. In Toyota these practices simply do not exist. To make service organizations work better, they need to be taken out.[15]

The Toyota system exemplifies economies of flow, which is a step beyond economies of scale. The concepts associated with the economies of scale have governed management thinking for the last century and more.[16] Economies of flow represent a challenge to current beliefs. It is a challenge of of such a scale that this becomes the most important hurdle for managers to get over. The ideas themselves are simple, logical, and practical. However, they are different, unfamiliar, and, as a consequence, often perceived as a threat. They are certainly counterintuitive to the command-and-control mindset.[17]

The management principles that have guided command-and-control are logical – but it's the wrong logic. The better way has a different logic. John Seddon uses the entire book to eloquently explain this better logic.

Notes:
[1] John Seddon, Freedom from Command and Control: A Better Way to Make the Work Work (Vanguard Consulting Ltd, 2005, 2nd edition), p.23.
[2] Ibid., p.8.
[3] Ibid., p.8.
[4] Ibid., p.9.
[5] Ibid., p.15.
[6] Ibid., pp.15--16.
[7] Ibid., p.16.
[8] Ibid., p.17.
[9] Ibid., p.19.
[10] Ibid., p.19.
[11] Ibid., p.20.
[12] Ibid., p.21.
[13] Ibid., p.21.
[14] Ibid., p.22.
[15] Ibid., p.22.
[16] Ibid., p.22.
[17] Ibid., p.23.

10 people found this helpful

Huw Davies

A brilliant insight into flow, waste and measures

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 6, 2014

Verified Purchase

An eye opening take on how to use TPS in the service sector and how to avoid using measures as targets. Brings to life how we should move away from top down and specialist function. This is for people who want to really deliver sustainable change that saves money and improves customer service.

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Freedom from Command and Control Paperback – January 1, 2003

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