We're taking a bit of a breather while the world rearranges its underpants. Meanwhile, the other blog is here.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Board games

I've been tidying up and bumped into a pile of notes from back when I was implementing the People's Network. That was a fun period (not!!!), with lots of chatter between library systems folk all trying to solve the same technical problems in the teeth of the same management and cultural issues. Had it existed at the time we would have filled the blogosphere and still not got up to the technical problems.

One week a few of us, being distinctly pissed off with our managers, picked up a passing reference to snakes and ladders and designed our own People's Network-o! board games. One colleague's design was suitably complex; the following provides a hnt of the complicated gavotte he came up with:

2: PN1 and paperwork sent elsewhere in the department. Miss a turn.

3: Management Group agree to discuss People's Network. Go to Square 7.

4: Management Group busy measuring shelves. Miss a turn.

5: Submit PN1 form late. Go to Square 7.

6: Produce workable budget spreadsheet. Go to square 10.

7: Management Group busy measuring shelves. Miss a turn.

8: Reconciling NOF requirements and Library Service policy. Miss a turn to try and find a policy.

9: Remove non-admissable match funding and secure network budget. Go to square 11.

10: Spreadsheet corrected by senior managers. Go back to square 9.

11: Budget figures still don't add up/ Go back to square 6.

And so on for 70 squares.

Another colleague produced a board of devastating economy:

1: Submit project proposal to management team. Go to square 2.

2: Go back to square 1.

3 comments:

The Topiary Cow said...

Glad you got everything squared away.

On a plaintive off-topic note, Cow wonders why with 153 visitors from America and countless other countries also represented on your front page blog visitor count....why so often is Cow the only one posting comments?

Moo?

Kevin Musgrove said...

Most of the rest are painfully shy, or scared of managerial retribution (the UK contingent).

I've given up on having any sort of career and my mortgage is nearly paid up so I don't give a shit any more.

The Topiary Cow said...

Ah. Painfully shy. Yes, many Topiary suffer from the same affliction. That's why people think Topiary are just yard decorations.

Moo!