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Whether it be one-stop-shop call centers or unified intake through a shiny website, without dealing with the core issues of throughput and quality, all your customer experience efforts make no difference. Those of you who have spent a little time reading John Seddon will know that he likes to rail against call-centers. He explains how they did not achieve what they were designed to do, and that most of the increase in usage by customers is “failure demand”, customers having to call again because they were not satisfactorily served the first time. What Seddon is weak on is why the service centers do not accomplish their goal. In this article, I will give my explanation using the Theory of Constraints. ...

When the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread across the globe, many of us were sent home by our employers. A considerable proportion of us will remain there for at least the next year. Moving home took a lot of effort, but I do not think the transition is over. In this article, I will explain why. Before we get to the main argument, let’s first think about a couple of theories that I will tie together to make my point. ...