tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6254362504495980377.post496390583098178776..comments2024-03-20T12:03:26.126+00:00Comments on Thin Pinstriped Line: Thoughts on the NAO 2012 Major Project ReportSir Humphreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08704774192275240783noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6254362504495980377.post-74472123814320750822013-01-24T17:48:26.920+00:002013-01-24T17:48:26.920+00:00If DE&S really wanted to retain/recruit Projec...If DE&S really wanted to retain/recruit Project Managers and CDM was good to his word, one would have to wonder why one of his immediate savings measures this year was to disband the "upskilling team" in Abbeywood and cease the Project and Programme management licensing scheme. <br /><br />You don't have to look far to find incoherence in DE&S.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6254362504495980377.post-73948247269485607962013-01-23T20:28:09.919+00:002013-01-23T20:28:09.919+00:00@TD
Yes please, that would be great.
In (slightly ...@TD<br />Yes please, that would be great.<br />In (slightly tangential) pre-payment, I found this you may like:<br /><br />http://www.henrythornton.com/content/upload/files/Middleton_2006_-_Effect_of_Defence_RD_on_Military_Equipment_Quality.pdf<br /><br />Its the research which informed the findings in our Technology and Defence and Industrial Strategy white papers, about the value of money spent on research 10-25 years before the equipment actually makes it to the front line.<br />The use of statistics is fascinating (not a comment you hear often that), and the whole document well worth a read not only for the methodology but also for the conclusions.<br />Cheers.Anthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07384593323102710174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6254362504495980377.post-49263568393314578112013-01-23T20:10:39.555+00:002013-01-23T20:10:39.555+00:00@Derek
Is that why Bernard Gray is pressing for a ...@Derek<br />Is that why Bernard Gray is pressing for a GoCo, so that the power to appoint and set salaries of the (fewer but better rewarded) staff can be set by him, without reference to Government pay scales?Anthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07384593323102710174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6254362504495980377.post-11808147442137355572013-01-23T17:12:30.573+00:002013-01-23T17:12:30.573+00:00I am sure I read some research a while ago that lo...I am sure I read some research a while ago that looked at the very difficult job of comparison and it boiled down to saying that the UK controls costs better than most but the USA controls time into service better<br /><br />I know, stop laughing at the back<br /><br />Will have to see if I can dig it outthink defencehttp://www.thinkdefence.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6254362504495980377.post-49423355127803127232013-01-23T10:34:23.559+00:002013-01-23T10:34:23.559+00:00No matter what the criticism on MoD value judgemen...No matter what the criticism on MoD value judgements, Sir Humph and many commentators all to frequently fall back on restrictive HR policies as a significant reason. Those problems also come down time and time again to pay and rations.<br />If the top floor has accepted that lifetime costs are an acceptable level of a value judgement with kit, despite the huge sums which it now has to reveal, why can't it accept the same approach to the true value of key personnel?.<br />Industry, quite frequently, has had to confront these issues. One has to recognize power and deal unemotionally with it. It wrecks HR policies which are besotted with rank, orderly and rational pay levels and pecking order, but that has to be done and rationally contained to the job spec concerned. Back in the 80's it applied to computer programmers. Industry is now down by the head with software programmers.<br />This policy buys you time to maintain operational efficiency and develop alternative strategies. I could bore you further, but the MoD obviously has serious problems with its cultural paradigms and has to change. Derek McBridenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6254362504495980377.post-54683176672946170762013-01-21T12:38:41.989+00:002013-01-21T12:38:41.989+00:00There is always much talk of delays in MoD project...There is always much talk of delays in MoD projects, but you need to ask why these commentators, such as the appallingly incompetent Public Accounts Committee, NAO and senior MoD staffs themselves, never ask why many complex projects are delivered to time, cost and performance. <br /><br />Why do they refuse to learn these lessons or, in fact, ever point out these successes? The answer is simple. Those who have failed have been promoted beyond their level of competence and the successful project managers are held back. The former don't want the successes analysed because it would artificially raise the bar, when their sole aim is to dumb MoD down so their own incompetence isn't made too obvious. <br /><br />So, Humphrey, I disagree when you say things like "It is really only now that we are beginning to grasp the bigger picture". Demonstrably, there are very many in MoD who grasped this a long time ago and regard it as a no-brainer - after all, it used to be a pre-requisite to being promoted to a project manager post. But, by "we" if you mean the MoD hierarchy, I agree. Most of them have a long way to go to attaining the basic competencies expected of the most junior project manager. That's what direct entry and grade skipping achieves. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6254362504495980377.post-39594363916977723672013-01-21T00:22:14.342+00:002013-01-21T00:22:14.342+00:00Thank you.Thank you.Anthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07384593323102710174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6254362504495980377.post-16359763565213728332013-01-20T23:38:45.385+00:002013-01-20T23:38:45.385+00:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07384593323102710174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6254362504495980377.post-51148609749237986092013-01-20T13:03:59.744+00:002013-01-20T13:03:59.744+00:00Ant - I dont want to get into a national slagging ...Ant - I dont want to get into a national slagging match, but I'd suggest we do very well relatively speaking. <br />Our challenge is to introduce kit that is often leading the way and we have to not only design and develop it, but also iron out the bugs and integrate it. Nations buying off the shelf from proven designs experience challenges, but less pronounced than some of our own. <br /><br />In terms of defence procurement, take a look at somewhere like the US, India, Latin America to see nations where aspirations to buy equipment are not often matched by credible timescales. I'e blogged before about the problems facing the US Navy, and in Latin America, Brazil has been trying to procure a SSN for decades. <br /><br />Proper procurement isn't just about saying 'here is some money, lets project manage something into existence'. Its about having the technology, the ability to succesfully use it and the long term ability to support it into service. We do very, very well at it compared to a lot of other countries. We chose as a nation to focus on where things go wrong, ignoring that things like ASTUTE are some of the most complicated pieces of equipment in the history of mankind.Sir Humphreyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08704774192275240783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6254362504495980377.post-48799788530751555542013-01-19T20:10:35.502+00:002013-01-19T20:10:35.502+00:00Sir Humphrey
Thanks for the post.
Re: lets not for...Sir Humphrey<br />Thanks for the post.<br />Re: lets not forget just how much we do well, particularly when compared to most other nations.<br />That was a tantalising last shot: how well do we do do comparatively, exactly?<br />The press and everyone whinges, in an archetypal British way no doubt, that we are rubbish and always have been, which can't really be true. Can you expand on our comparative strengths and weaknesses please?Anthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07384593323102710174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6254362504495980377.post-67087191090613155312013-01-19T19:31:23.735+00:002013-01-19T19:31:23.735+00:00Very good post that clears up the deeper meanings ...Very good post that clears up the deeper meanings of these headline grabbing costs.<br /><br />We are indeed only feeling the pain inflicted by choices taken a decade ago, like the lag system with the weather... no doubt the 2010 SDSR's true face will only come to the fore in a decade or more, and I mean with savings and costs... not the empty berths, aircraft hardstands and barracks that initially grabs peoples attention..<br /><br />I would think it would be one of the MoD's main chores; to manage projects and sub departments that create the vast and far reaching machine that is the MoD. <br />One cannot simply place a officer in charge for a couple of decades and expect that to clear the mess up - I would say there already are staff (civil and uniformed) who have been attached to a project for some considerable time, but doing this has drawbacks; there must be reasons why TrT's idea has not been implemented. <br />mikenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6254362504495980377.post-59186671801363562622013-01-19T18:11:44.758+00:002013-01-19T18:11:44.758+00:00Personally, I'd argue the MoD doesnt do "...Personally, I'd argue the MoD doesnt do "project management" at all.<br /><br />The Type 45 project began in 1985, if not earlier.<br />The first ship was commissioned in 2009.<br /><br />Ideally, an OF-5/6 officer would have been put in charge of the project, and stayed in charge for 20 years.TrThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07316335177828136131noreply@blogger.com