Alan Stanton
In the interest of HYGIENE
Haringey's new Logo meets Haringey's new Values in an appropriate place at the Council's Civic Centre.
A captive audience - one at a time of course - are cheered up immensely with timely reminders that:
1. Haringey's leading politicians and top managers are human and they care.
The human claim is true, We've seen the movie. Do the leading politicians and senior managers care? Plainly they care about themselves and their ambitions. Further I cannot say; I've no evidence for even a vague guess.
2. They are accountable and take responsibility.
Well, again from experience, this does indeed happen very occasionally when something goes seriously wrong and scapegoats are needed.
3. They are ambitious and push the boundaries.
Hopefully they'll break through the boundaries very soon: with leading politicians leaving public life; and the top managers pursuing their careers elsewhere.
4 They are professional and the borough's ambassadors.
The leading elected politicians are amateurs and this shows. . Currently, Haringey's top managers are paid high professional salaries. As for the being the borough's ambassadors, I hope people outside the Council see through Haringey's List of platitudes Values .
The Law of the Nonsensical Negative
Luckily, sensible people realise that these sorts of motivational posters and most of the rest of what they put out is just PR guff. The kind of inanity about which the late Simon Hoggart coined the phrases the Law of the Nonsensical Negative. (He also used the phrase: the Law of the Ridiculous Reverse.)
(Source: Guardian 27 September 2010.)
Simon Hoggart's Law states: if the opposite of a statement is plainly absurd, it was not worth making in the first place".
(Source: Guardian 8 May 2013.)
Not So New
A Barnet resident kindly sent me a copy of the 24 February 2012 "Weekly Message" to all staff from Nick Walkley. He was then Barnet's Chief Executive . He then came to Haringey.
Mr Walkley seemed to like his slogans grouped in fours.
His 2012 message refers to Barnet's "People Values". Also a quartet of management-speak banality.
Barnet Council's values: ►Be Human; ► Be Trustworthy; ►Value Diversity; ►Be Collaborative.
In the interest of HYGIENE
Haringey's new Logo meets Haringey's new Values in an appropriate place at the Council's Civic Centre.
A captive audience - one at a time of course - are cheered up immensely with timely reminders that:
1. Haringey's leading politicians and top managers are human and they care.
The human claim is true, We've seen the movie. Do the leading politicians and senior managers care? Plainly they care about themselves and their ambitions. Further I cannot say; I've no evidence for even a vague guess.
2. They are accountable and take responsibility.
Well, again from experience, this does indeed happen very occasionally when something goes seriously wrong and scapegoats are needed.
3. They are ambitious and push the boundaries.
Hopefully they'll break through the boundaries very soon: with leading politicians leaving public life; and the top managers pursuing their careers elsewhere.
4 They are professional and the borough's ambassadors.
The leading elected politicians are amateurs and this shows. . Currently, Haringey's top managers are paid high professional salaries. As for the being the borough's ambassadors, I hope people outside the Council see through Haringey's List of platitudes Values .
The Law of the Nonsensical Negative
Luckily, sensible people realise that these sorts of motivational posters and most of the rest of what they put out is just PR guff. The kind of inanity about which the late Simon Hoggart coined the phrases the Law of the Nonsensical Negative. (He also used the phrase: the Law of the Ridiculous Reverse.)
(Source: Guardian 27 September 2010.)
Simon Hoggart's Law states: if the opposite of a statement is plainly absurd, it was not worth making in the first place".
(Source: Guardian 8 May 2013.)
Not So New
A Barnet resident kindly sent me a copy of the 24 February 2012 "Weekly Message" to all staff from Nick Walkley. He was then Barnet's Chief Executive . He then came to Haringey.
Mr Walkley seemed to like his slogans grouped in fours.
His 2012 message refers to Barnet's "People Values". Also a quartet of management-speak banality.
Barnet Council's values: ►Be Human; ► Be Trustworthy; ►Value Diversity; ►Be Collaborative.