So, I'm invited to a business meeting. It's to discuss a new club they want to start on the Science Park where like minded business leaders get together to discuss the life the universe and everything.
It starts well then they say that when we join up we need to do a psychometric test. I balk at this for no reason other than my bullshit meter hit the redline.
I said "I refuse to believe that the intricacies of the human mind and personality can be quantified in 25 questions". We have a debate and I let it rest because the rest of the meeting is quite good.
Then he gives some example reports. At the back there's something called a 'Jungian Analysis' (Jungian was there, not sure about 'analysis'. I say "Is this anything to do with Carl Jung?", "Yes - it's all based on his principles".
At this stage I make my excuses and leave.
My question is, am I being harsh? Does Jung have something here?
I'm going to take a stab that it's based around principles from the Myers-Briggs test (which itself is based loosely around Jung), although they tend to make them a little more "fluffy" than previously.
I find a good rough and ready check is to get hold of the results sheets - do you see negative words in it at all? (Lazy, unmotivated, angry, no initiative etc.)
Yeah, I think it is based on Myers-Briggs. I've just done the test and I'm awaiting the results. When I get them I'll let you know how nutty I am.
These things are amazingly popular but I can't see them as being any more accurate than basing findings on people's star signs!
They used the Myers-Briggs test where my wife works to sort people into different personality types and abilities.
The idea was to make sure that each team had the right mix of 'types' in it so it would perform better.
I found it to be a load of nonsense, but then again, there is a lot of nonsense in business management!
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You're not wrong there! I used to work for Nat West, once Britain's most profitable bank. Following the introduction of "modern" management practices, the company went into a steep decline until it was eventually taken over by RBS. Buzz-words, time and motion twats, rationalisation, redundancies, removal of benefits and endless, childish campaigns to improve quality of service, which actually took the remaining, thoroughly pissed-off staff away from their desks for hours a week, all contributed to the malaise.Originally Posted by John Jackson
It's utterly stunning how much management crap is spouted these days. The quick-fix mentality is idiotic and gaining ground.
Anyone here ever done a 'brown paper' exercise?
ARRRGGHHH!
Tell me more...
[/quote] Something along these lines tk?
I know what I'd have put in my brown paper bag; I'd have been helping to keep the streets clean at the same time.
Something along these lines tk?
I know what I'd have put in my brown paper bag; I'd have been helping to keep the streets clean at the same time.
[/quote]
No, it's a consultancy cost-cutting exercise, usually costing thousands in consultancy fees, which always amuses me.
Basically, every under-performing/over budget department in a company has to log every single tiny detail of every single process in their daily workload, and the overall processes are then written up onto huge swathes of brown paper which have been stuck on the walls. The brown paper comes in a long roll, so the entire department's function ends up on what looks like a timeline. Members of the department then comment on what's on there using post-it notes to interact with the damn thing.
Then the consultants analyse it and point out where time and/or money is being wasted. For example, the brown paper exercise might uncover the fact that two people are doing a similar process by hand because one of them isn't trained in the computer system and they both need to do it the same way. So, the consultant would recommend that both roles are made redundant and one new role created that requires the use of the computer system. Or he might say that the department is spending twice as much time inputting data because the computers are slow, so if the company invested in a new computer system, they could get rid of one inputting person.
It's nothing to do with psychometric testing, I just wanted to moan about it :D
It goes into the pot though as 'business woo'. It's not mystical, it's not based on energy paths or feng shui, but it's an example of where people replace common sense with business process and consultancy.
Thing is, common sense is free, consultancy is expensive.
I don't mind consultancy if it doesn't result in redundancies or pissing off good staff. But any new Belbin-inspired, 'thinking outside your experience box' crap is frustrating for all concerned (except the consultant as he walks away with ten grand for a day's work). Glad I'm out of that machine. I am, of course, a consultant myself, but the good kind.
If my business gets big enough that I totally lose sight of what important, and I decide to hire consultants to come and talk crap at my staff, remind me about this thread, everyone.
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