Barnet Council and management for dummies

All organisations have problems, make mistakes and cock things up. Only a fool thinks such things never happen. That said, the difference between a well run organisation and a badly run organisation is that a well run organisation learns from its mistakes. Barnet Council has had a whole string of major cock ups. I counted 23 since this blog started. The sad truth is that the organisation is dysfunctional, so doesn't learn. As someone who runs a successful business and mentors people, I thought I'd just give Barmet Council a few tips on why they continually fail.

1. Refusal to acknowledge problems. Local bloggers and residents have often identified issues long before the council has recognised that there are problems. If the council proactively engaged, many issues could have been avoided and others would have been far less damaging. As it is, Barnet only admit issues when they become catastrophic.

2. No one takes responsibility. In the 8 years I've written this blog, not once has a single Barnet Counciilor said 'I'll take responsibility for this and I'll sort it out' therefore there is no leadership.

3. Blame culture. Every time there is a problem, the politicians in charge find an official to act as scapegoat. They are paid off and sign non disclosure agreements, so we never find out what went wrong.

4. No continuity. Barnet employ consultants and contractors, who last a couple of years and take the knowledge with them. That is why mistakes are repeated.

5. Giving the wrong people important jobs. Barnet is full of people who are totally out of their depth and don't even understand the issues. Senior councillors rely on officers to do everything and are scared to challenge them.

5. Outsourcing. The council has lost control of decision making. They rely on companies who are only involved for profit, to make key decisions. The council cannot function without these companies as the capability has been lost. The companies know this and so have no commercial pressure to perform.

This is why Barnet now has become a by word for incompetence.