The Gray Monk

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November 20, 2004

Going Postal

Is the newly published title of Terry Pratchett's latest. I am convinced he's been sat in the same briefings that I have had to endure ever since the place became infested with professional "managers". He has recorded their New Management Speak exactly.

Does he pay Royalties to the Government instead of Tax, I wonder?

One passage is almost verbatim from the reports prepared by the Whitehall Wankers on "modernising" the Fire Service - complete with all the completely meaningless or wildly ambiguous phrases. In another he has summed up almost exactly why the service will fail to deliver in about ten years time. This is the problem with a management that does not understand how or why something works, they "manage" only the numbers so everything that cannot be reduced to a number is, in their view, unimportant or irrelevant. Then, when it does bite, they blame it on the technician.

This is, in a nutshell, what is wrong with almost every business and public service in this country. It is being managed by people who know absolutely nothing about the function it provides and who measure everything by the numbers. When the numbers don't add up, they re-arrange them until they get the answer they want. Routine maintenance has been replaced by a culture of fix it when it breaks. Staffing levels have been cut so that leave, sickness, and other legitimate absentee activity can no longer be adequately covered - so functions go unperformed while the incumbent is away. Damage accumulates while the workforce is told how much their efforts are appreciated - but "we are "restructuring" to improve productivity and you are no longer required" - unless you are another seat polisher and pen pusher - there's always room for more of those.

Go read "Going Postal" for yourselves. Have the laugh, and then have a careful think about what it is actually telling you about the way things are run in our society. God help us all, but Pratchett has revealed the very ugly heart of the matter all too plainly!

Posted by The Gray Monk at November 20, 2004 11:44 AM

Comments

Posted by: Russell Newquist at November 22, 2004 05:40 PM