Unaccountability Machine

Unaccountability Sink - this is exactly what you would find in modern business and public services...If you are a company owner, or servant of the public entity or even government, or just a manager of any level - this is for you.Of course, you can polish you area and finetune you personal Unaccountability, or...Find a way how this problem could be addressed.And if you do not want to address "Unaccountability Sink" problem - it is a matter of time when your company or service will suffer significantly (as we see with some e.g. aviation manufactures today), and possibly you personally.This book is highly recommended to all who are in the management and/or lead e.g. projects, initiatives, units, companies.

Most often grand theories of “why the world is why it is” rely on bad-faith actors as the drivers of some malaise or other, or grossly simplify the human experience, or take some other shortcut which therefore doesn’t chime with my experience of life.Davies, instead, has managed to produce a wide ranging and entertainingly written book which left me nodding my head in agreement, or with jaw dropped in enlightenment at a concept I thought I knew and understood being looked at from a different and enlightening perspective. I think he nails his diagnosis of a lot of the problems we face.I potentially hoped for more time spent on how to fix organisations filled with “accountability sinks” but perhaps that’s my own challenge to face!Strong recommend.

Loved the book - easy to follow the magic of the VSM, explained without diagrams, surely a miracle! Clearly explains the thinking of Stafford Beer who was forefront in recognising the problems of complexity... bizarrely, several LOL moments.

The book has a great premise, starts well, but peters out into superficial platitudes.The author identifies a growing trend in large organisations to replace personal accountability with processes, meaning that no one is accountable for mistakes: the examples are vivid and blackly amusing (especially squirrel shredding at Schiphol Airport). This is accompanied by an introduction to cybernetics, which was new to this reader, and the writings of Stafford Beer. So far so good.Unfortunately, the rest of the book is about the shortcomings of accounting and economics, and the baleful effects of shareholder value, management consultants and private equity. This is well-trodden ground and doesn’t help us reach a satisfying conclusion. Instead, the author points at the things that have gone wrong and eventually admits that cybernetics doesn’t shed much light on possible solutions.Disappointing.