1. Parkinson’s Law
and Bureaucracy 2.0
Jonas Söderström • Intranets2014 • Sydney
The digital workplace: How to avoid

2. @jonas_blind_hen
#intranets2014
#bureaucracy2
#stupidsystem

3. 1994 –

4. Create new document

5. Photo: Maria Ålbrant

6. Enterprise
software sucks

7. The digital workplace
as a cause
of stress

8. Angry, stressed,
frustrated with IT
3400 2012
M T W T F

9. Biggest source of
frustration in the office?
1. Slow web applications
2. Computer
3. Printer
4. Boss
5. Meetings
1000 2012

10. Sydney Morning Herald, 20 May 2014

11. Sydney Morning Herald, 20 May 2014

12. 0
5
10
15
Insecure 24h work On alert Dangers
26 %
Causing stress
IT Systems
3700 2013

13. from 145 to 313 clicks
With new system
Renew weapons licence
mean 2 hr 52 m
Write 1 report, shoplifting

14. Typical
causes

15. Too many
systems

16. Treserva (social security system)
WebbSotis (old social security system)
Giraff (internal invoicing)
Horisonten (accounting)
Prognosprogram (economy)
Winst (procurement portal)
Rappet (client reports)
Personec (HR reports)
Time Care (work schedule)
Winlas Webb (temps worked hours)
Time Care pool (assigning temps)
Lisa (accident reporting)
Adato (rehabilitation process management)
Offentliga jobb (recruiting)
Telephone self-service system

17. Karolinska University Hospital
Library, Feb. 18
110 employees
117 systems

18. Systems are
different

20. Liza reports hours worked in two systems:
one uses point, the other comma
1.5 hrs 1,5 hrs

21. 1.5 hrs 1,5 hrs
What happens if she uses a comma
in the system that wants a point?
1,5 hrs

22. System ignores comma and records
15 hours, without any error message.
15 hrs

23. • Put in vacation plans - how often?
• Hard to learn
• ”...how did you handle this system, then?”
• Even if each system is used quite seldom …
• … some system is used each month or week.
Used seldom, but ...

24. x-ray delta one/flickr under a cc-license
YOUR
PROJECT

25. The user’s
experience
pchweat/flickrundercc-license

26. Burden
of vigilance

28. stupidsystem.org:
The doctor that rocks the mouse
Photo: Henrik Ahlén

29. Inferior
design

30. 1 2 3 4
Next >>
Basket Shipping Confirm Pay

31. How to pay the invoice?

32. But people
are also
ingenious

33. Photo: Richard Gatarski

34. Photo: Richard Gatarski

35. Chores,
not work

36. Process managment
Documentation
”Command and
control”

37. Controls my work
”in an annoying
and unreasonable way”
8000 2012

38. ”... all the software
designed to save us from
administrative
responsibilities turned us
into part- or full-time
administrators”
David Graeber

39. IT
command
&
control
+

40. Cognitive load
on an entirely new scale

41. Sand Hill 2012 Enterprise systems study
17% end user productivity loss
300
”The economic value
of losses outweighs
100% of total IT spend.
Ouch.”

42. How can
this go on?

43. ”...we are
stifled by
administrative
systems”
Professors and teachers
at Uppsala University

44. –1%
+6%+5%
+4%
+3%
+2%
–2%
+1%

45. C Northcote Parkinson

50. Parkinson’s law

54. Bureaucracy 2.0

55. Bureaucracy 1.0 Bureaucracy 2.0

56. Growth of bureaucracy
+6 %

57. VALUEI suggest, IT systems are often really not about this.

58. POWERIt’s about power for management.

60. does NOT set
concrete goals for
new business system
85 %
ComputerSweden 2010

61. 40 %
abandonedf.ex. Chaos studies, Standish Group

62. ”No clear reason or idea
behind the IT system”
8000 2012

63. What
to do?

64. What you need
to consider

65. See the whole
picture

66. Fight
bureaucracy
... even when it’s wrapped in IT.

67. is like trying to get
the toothpaste back
into the tube
Fighting bureacracy

68. Find real
business
impacts... not ”functions”!

69. JeremyToeman/Flickr
If nobody is
using it, it
doesn’t matter
how many
smart functions
it boasts.
Value – positive impact –
from IT is created in use

70. JeremyToeman/Flickr

71. Cognitive load is real.
You’re responsible.

72. The whole team
should observe
users.
Photo: Richard Gatarski

73. Demand ”consumer-
grade usability”

74. © Jan Gulliksen, Bengt Göransson and Åsa Cajander
15 years

75. But it’s not just
about the interface.

76. Are you really
empowering users?

77. Empowerment
Trust
Self-organizing
Freedom
Control
Distrust
vs

78. See the whole picture
Cognitive load is real
Are you really
empowering users?
Once again:

79. Further reading 1
David Boyle:
The Human
Element
Gary Hamel:
What matters
now
John Seddon:
Freedom from
Command &
Control

80. Further reading 2
Gojko Adzic:
Impactmapping
impactmapping.org
Henrik Kniberg:
How we got rid of time reports
– a story of waste elimination
http://bit.ly/1m7424d

81. Sources & links
Investing in mental health pays off, study shows
(May 20, 2014)
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/investing-in-
mental-health-pays-off-study-
shows-20140519-38k7p.html#ixzz32PFP9UsT
”Enterprise software is the land that UX design forgot”
Breaking Through the Enterprise-UX Disconnect
http://blogs.gartner.com/brian_prentice/2014/01/29/
breaking-through-the-enterprise-ux-disconnect/

82. 17% end user productivity loss:
2012 IT Adoption Insight Survey Reveals Disturbing
Level of Enterprise Productivity Loss (March 5, 2012)
http://sandhill.com/article/2012-it-adoption-insight-
survey-reveals-disturbing-level-of-enterprise-
productivity-loss/
David Graeber on administration
”Of Flying Cars and the Declining Rate of Profit”
The Baffler, March 2012
http://thebaffler.com/past/of_flying_cars
Mental health failing costs business $11b
(May 20, 2014)
http://www.smh.com.au/national/mental-health-
failing-costs-business-11b-20140519-38k5r.html

83. Thank you!Mail:
jonas.soderstrom@inuse.se
Twitter:
@Jonas_Blind_Hen
Site:
stupidsystem.org
inuse.se
Slideshare:
Jonas_inUse