Targets are inevitably counterproductive
Thanks to Public Strategy, I came across an interesting article by John Seddon on Avoiding Avoidable Contact. The article is a vigorous attack on the UK Cabinet Office for putting out new guidance on how government bodies should set targets for reducing avoidable contact (contact with the public that does not generate real value, e.g. enquiries about what an official letter meant or when a query is going to be dealt with etc). One key element of the attack is a general rejection of the UK gov...