Hi folks,
At 06:17 AM 26/03/99 -0600, Bill wrote regarding police forces:
>Others took a different tack. In essence, they "violated" the discipline
>of systems thinking in order to prove their point - they took each of the
>five disciplines separately. They argued that each of the disciplines can
>be at work in a mechanistic organization AND can be a benefit to the org.
In previous organisations I have seen some success - limited of course -
to doing this. One implemented changes to learning activities-
predominantly reducing structired training and encouraging self-directed
learning - and decided that it was a LO. Of course it wasn't, but there
where some gains to the organisation from braking down that belief that
learning in a course setting was more effective. Unfortunately the
implementors in this org didn't get the systems thinking bit!
>Prompted in part by this, I considered Paul's question by first asking if
>a police force is indeed a command and control structure. I'll venture to
>say it is not. In contrast to a military structure, officers get together
>at the beginning of a shift and reinforce their shared vision. Once they
>hit the streets, decision making is decentralized and decisions are made
>"on the spot" (albeit according to established protocols) and in that
>moment, there is nothing the chief can do to micro manage the situation
>(expect maybe a hostage situation).
The Western Australian Police Service is a mixture of the old
command/control approach and some more relaxed practices. This org is
currently going thru a devolution of responsibility process - in a very
careful and controlled way. For example there is an ongoing push to make
Officers in Charge of stations accountable for results, but they have no
say as to staffing - either overall levels or who they are allocated. This
is part of a move to localised service delivery, working with the
community, but the moment there is a problem decisions revert back to the
centeralise command structures and heads roll. If an officer on the street
makes the "wrong" they are heavily punished for it apparently.
There is capacity for individuals to work together as a team and so team
learning is the aspect of LOs that I see benefiting this org in the short
term.
>Although they may ride in one man/woman cars, they can quickly form into a
>team if the situation warrants. Officers seem to generally share a simular
>mental model. They continuously train; personal mastery (admittedly tilted
>to the profession aspect of the officer) is active.
Personal mastery as long as you follow the rules and get it right! For
example while many organisations encourage staff to use the internet, here
access is very limited, with swift penalties if you should access a site
not work related. There is a distinct lack of trust in people doing the
right thing (I suppose dealing with criminals promotes this) so they
restrict your opportunity to do so. There is some conflict in this org
from the differing mental models between your old style cops and the
newer, often more educated cops - and this reflects in my mind the on
going conflicts between old and new style policing. The org direction
clearly outlines the need to change - and in my mind is consistent with
the LO model, but it is early days.
>Systems thinking is where it (police force as LO) appears to fall apart
>although that perception may be a more a function of not understanding a
>police force any better than I do.
I am new to this org so these are my tentative views (and mu opinion
only). I am facilitating the HR planning process for the Service which is
a key process for changing how people are treated. One thing I'd like some
input into is how to communicate the environmental scanning results and
the plan arising out of a planning day with staff from all areas of the
Service, in a way that other people can see the connections between where
we are, where we are going, and the changes that need to occur along the
way. Perhaps a one pager? Any ideas/models I could use?
Cheers
Nicky
--Nicky Kain <pd84241@wapol.gov.au>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>