Lean and Agile - Issue 8 25th January 2021

Intro

Apology to start 2021

I have to start with a sorry. Shortly before Chirstmas my dog became ill (we lost our 2 earlier dogs earlier in the crappy year that was 2020). I have been incredibly busy looking after her for a few weeks and as a result some work had to be put to one side. So there have been a few episodes that have been missed over the new year. I apologise and hope you understand. Normal service is resumed and here is the newsletter again. A bit eclectic due to sourcing a number of links from conversations at UKGC21 last week. Happy new year to you all and let's make 2021 the year we beat COVID and recover back to a normality of delivering excellent services and processes.

News

Procurement after Brexit | The Institute for Government

There were so many sessions on procurement at UKGC21 I felt I needed to include a procurement link. Procurement pre Brexit in my opinion is broken let's have a look at the impact post Brexit.

Public procurement – how public sector organisations buy goods, works and services – is a big business and is currently governed by EU rules.

In 2018/19, UK government spent £292 billion[1], more than a third of all public spending, on procuring goods, works and services from external suppliers. The total public procurement market in the EU, to which UK firms have access as part of the transition period, was worth £1.5 trillion in 2015.

The rules that govern public procurement will change after the UK leaves the transition period. That will in turn change how much market access UK businesses will have to procurement markets in the EU, and EU businesses to the procurement market in the UK.

Epidemiologist looks to the past to predict second post-pandemic 'roaring 20s' | Coronavirus | The Guardian

It is almost exactly one year since the coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 was identified by Chinese scientists as the source of a new, lethal respiratory illness.

Since, more than 1.5 million people have died globally, economies worldwide have shut down multiple times and societies have isolated in their homes and watched holidays pass without the closeness of family and friends. Ahead of us is a year undertaking the most logistically challenging public health campaign ever.

Where to donate your computer to local people: community reuse projects in the UK - The Restart Project

During the pandemic, our need to stay connected remotely increased. But not everyone has an adequate device to access the internet. One poll of teachers revealed that 88% had students they believed were falling behind due to lack of access to online learning. And others are also in need of a functioning device.

Events

A Mission to Make Virtual Parties Actually Fun | WIRED

We've been in this pandemic for a while now, and we've sort of gotten used to a primarily virtual social life. Meetings and classes on Zoom are adequate, the catch-up call while you tidy your kitchen works quite well, and the coworking video with the sound off is surprisingly effective. I've actually enjoyed being able to attend panels with people who otherwise wouldn't be able to be in the same location. But there’s one thing that still glaringly doesn't work—the virtual party.

20 Reasons Why Virtual Events are Better Than Live

Golden Spiral attended the RSA Conference in San Francisco in February, 2020. Talk of a shutdown was all the buzz. Extra conference hosts clad in blue blazers stood their posts at every escalator in the Moscone Center wiping down the rails with disinfectants with the vigilance of acolytes.

One of our podcast guests who travels internationally for ESET, Tony Anscombe, wondered, in our pre-recording banter, what the shutdown would do to his business. Flying back to Nashville felt a little like catching the last helicopter out of a small Washington State town before a volcano erupted.

Continuous Improvement

Creating a Culture of Quality

In surveys, 26% of consumers say they have used social media to air grievances about a company and its products. And this issue isn’t limited to the consumer space—75% of B2B customers say they rely on word of mouth, including social media, when making purchase decisions.

Ideas

Knowledge Management e-learning Resource

This was referenced in a great session at UKGC as a resource to start looking at tools for knowledge management Introducing the Knowledge Management Learning Resource Introducing Knowledge Management and the Knowledge Management Framework

The Last Target Operating Model You’ll Ever Need™ – Matt Edgar writes here

For context, Joel writes about “working for a big high street bank. The brief is to redesign the ‘end to end mortgage experience’. The timescale is to reach a business case, with a roadmap of delivery waves to achieve minimum viable product, within 6 weeks. ”

He floats the idea of a Target Customer Experience as counterpoint to that change management staple, the Target Operating Model.

Erasing personal data from second-hand devices - NCSC.GOV.UK

Out with the old, and in with the new!

At this time of year, you may be looking to get rid of older gadgets that you no longer need, but which someone else can still use. Or you might be in the market yourself, for a second-hand device that's still new to you.

Either way, you'll want to be sure you're starting fresh. So the NCSC has published new guidance to help you erase the personal data from second-hand electronic devices that you're either getting rid of, or taking on.

Digital transformation strategy 2.0 - Public Purpose

First, that digital government is government, the digital economy is the economy and a digital society is society. The notion that there are two realms, the digital and the analogue, and that they remain separate and distinct, hasn’t been true for a while and it certainly isn’t going to be true for the next 10 or two years. The next digital transformation strategy should unequivocally demonstrate that digital transformation isn’t the point. The point is the transformation of government – its role, purpose, function, leadership and operations.

Bits or pieces?: Why Agile, Lean and Six Sigma must die ...

You need to use the appropriate methods according to how evolved the component is. Since most companies have no form of maps (i.e. no understanding of position AND movement) or confuse box and wire diagrams (e.g. IT systems diagram, Value Stream maps, Business process maps, Kaplan Strategy Maps - which all have uses) with maps then generally there is no hope of this happening. If you're going to insist on acting blindly and picking a one size fits all method then choose Lean. It's far from ideal but better than focusing on the other extremes.

Personally, I'd learn to map and use all the methods. Personally, I think the idea of being ALL agile, ALL lean or ALL six sigma should die.

Business Design for an Agile world | by Andrew Besford | Andrew Besford

In government, we’re finally starting to put user needs first in the same way. We want to design (or re-design) services so that we can rapidly react to user feedback. We want to operate as a living system, which continuously reacts to all user needs, including those of our policy colleagues.