Same Old Same Old
If you keep doing things the same way, expect the same results!Just got off the phone to a friend who is now the CEO of a bank in the UK. Apparently, the FSA have increased the number of filings required. Of course, we don't know whether these should always have been filed, or whether they will help the FSA to do its job better. However, it could just be a case of "shutting the stable door after three horses have bolted and beating the horses left".
I used to be hated amongst the back-office jobsworths for asking why returns were needed and what they did with them, as I rarely received any feedback (except when the return was late). I would never suggest that these returns were being used to justify keeping people in jobs, or were being stored up as evidence to cover someone's nether regions in case something went wrong. Far be it from me to do that. However, if a return is required, it costs time and money to produce, review and action. Too many returns seem to be required for the sake of it. If you stick your head above the parapet and ask why, you get into trouble.
Management reports should improve our ability to manage. We need to ensure that they contain sufficient information to be useful. As technology and processes change, so should reports. We should not merely invent a new one in a better format and add it to the existing list. In the end, you end up with so much information that you either cannot use it or go into "analysis paralysis".
It is the head in the sand mentality that got us where we are, and those who did dare to question the status quo should perhaps be listened to in case they have a point. After all, if you can't justify the need for a return, what good is it? As for my friend, he will no doubt produce said returns for what purpose we still don't know.
Labels: Strategy
posted by William Martin @ 23:24
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