Freedom from Command and Control: Rethinking Management for Lean Service

John Seddon

CRC Press, Aug 12, 2005 - Business & Economics - 256 pages

"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.

Contents

• Once upon a time in manufacturing: 1
• The customer service center as a system: 11
• Redefining the purpose measures and method of work: 35
• Better measures better thinking: 51
• The breakfix archetype: 71
• Learning to see learning to lead: 95
• Customers people who can pull you away from the competition: 129
• Do these hold water?: 149
• Watch out for the toolheads: 177
• Revisiting Taylorism: 197
• The better way to improve public services: 201
• Endnotes: 225
• Further Reading: 231
• Other Publications: 232
• Index: 233
• About the Author: 238

Bibliographic information

• Title: Freedom from Command and Control: Rethinking Management for Lean Service
• Author: John Seddon
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: CRC Press, 2005
• ISBN: 1563273276, 9781563273278
• Length: 256 pages
• Subjects: Business & Economics / Quality Control; Technology & Engineering / Manufacturing