Why competitive bidding ensures too much is spent for too little
Competitive bidding is the problem, not the solution September 5, 2012 CALGARY, AB, Sep 5, 2012/ Troy Media/ – How do you go about spending too much for too little? It’s not easy. Most people have a predisposition against this kind of thing. Fortunately,...
How to avoid accountability while demanding it of others
Real leadership doesn’t hide behind the auditors August 16, 2012 CALGARY, AB, Aug 16, 2012/ Troy Media/ – Issues and controversy are piling up like rail cars in an organizational train wreck. In the past two months we’ve had poor food quality...
Premiers’ health care report strong on fluff, weak on innovation
Is the the best the best and brightest can do? July 29, 2012 More Bottom Line CALGARY, AB, Jul 29, 2012/ Troy Media/ – One thing wrong with the report on health care, From Innovation to Action, released during the premiers’ conference held in Halifax...
Why products get better and service gets worse
Service standards are really a means of avoiding accountability July 17, 2012 CALGARY, AB, Jul 17, 2012/ Troy Media/ – Remember when getting a 100,000 miles of your car was considered a miracle of sorts? Those invited to bear witness performed the ritual...
How your voice is corrupted in citizen satisfaction surveys
How satisfied are you? June 18, 2012 CALGARY, AB, Jun 18, 2012/ Troy Media/ – Some years ago, the City of Calgary conducted a multi-million dollar effort to engage citizen’s in the development of a new transportation strategy. The Go Plan used consultations,...
There is a difference between BS and a BSc
Testing is the crucible of science May 18, 2012 CALGARY, AB, May 18, 2012/ Troy Media/ – “All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better,” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson. That’s because learning only happens through experiment,...
Welcome to the world of con-munications
In war, the first casualty is truth. In politics, it rarely sees life April 17, 2012 CALGARY, AB, Apr. 17, 2012/ Troy Media/ – In the midst of the robocall scandal Postmedia columnist Andrew Coyne tweeted that “everyone in politics is trying to con...
Never trust a statistical ranking
Measuring education system performance March 13, 2012 CALGARY, AB, Mar. 13, 2012, Troy Media/ – It’s that time of year when across North America we begin reporting on the performance of the educational system. In Canada, the Fraser Institute’s rankings...
Alberta health review gets one small piece of the puzzle right
The review will now go through the political wringer March 6, 2012 CALGARY, AB, Mar. 6, 2012, Troy Media/ – A year ago, I authored The Decline of Health Services in Alberta, an analysis of the issues plaguing Canadian health care, drawing heavily on...
Curing health care
Our health care issues won’t be solved by yesterdays thinking February 15, 2012 CALGARY, AB, Feb. 15, 2012/ Troy Media/ – With all the talk of healthcare recently, people can be forgiven for thinking something is being done to address issues...