October 7, 2007
In recent work with such
chronic, complex social
problems as homelessness
and recidivism among released
prisoners, we have noticed
an interesting trend: Political
leaders who seek to assist
drug addicts in living productive
lives often become addicted
to policies that increase
the very problem they are
trying to solve.
For example, the well-intentioned
policy of providing temporary
shelters for people who
are homeless can undermine
the development of permanent,
supportive housing by reducing
visibility of the homelessness
problem and diverting funds
away from a more lasting
solution. "Get tough"
sentencing for drug users
can lead to further marginalization
of ex-offenders when they
are released, making it
even more difficult for
them to overcome their problems
and lead productive lives.
These findings will be detailed
in upcoming reports in the
topical
issues section of the
AST Resource Library.
September 7, 2007
Crisis management or firefighting
typically overwhelms time
spent on developing and
implementing strategy. For
example, the internal R&D
group of a major health
care chain that was responsible
for introducing new information
technology asked "Why
do we spend so much time
fixing software bugs and
fending off additional demands
from our customers?"
The group learned that its
very tendency to raise expectations
of customers about the potential
of its products kept it
in firefighting mode (for
a fuller description of
the case, go to Marilyn
Paul and David Peter Stroh,
"Managing
Your Time As Leader".
Another study of new
product development organizations
revealed that
conceptual activity required
to plan new releases is
often displaced by requirements
to solve problems in the
current release. Moreover,
the study suggests that
a one-year increase in workload
of 25% can permanently put
an organization into firefighting
mode! To learn more about
how to reduce firefighting,
you are invited to attend
a workshop, "Only
You Can Prevent Firefighting",
at the 17th annual Pegasus
Conference in Seattle November
5-7, 2007.
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