Briefly noted, a comment on the un-creativity on display related to the London Tube Strike.

How uncreative can you get? I blame both the government AND the union. There was ample time to work this out. To quote Marlon Brando in the Godfather “how did it ever get this far?” Just like in the Mafia, sometimes people want a war. I can only assume that both sides did actually get what they wanted, a strike.  I’m sure both sides would disagree.

Who pays? The British people in hardship and lost opportunity.

In creative problem solving one thing must be in place before you begin: actually wanting to solve the problem. This is not the case here, both sides have something to gain in having the strike happen. I couldn’t say who is more at fault; it’s a complex problem. I do know it won’t get solved until all involved truly want to solve it.

Aren’t times tough enough without disrupting the economy further? In what ways might this have been prevented? Now there’s a question that screams for a public brainstorming session.

This is not merely inconvenience. London’s bid for a World Cup was put in jeopardy — and Scotland Yard tried to prevent 62,000 ticket-holding fans from traveling to tonight’s game (England versus Andorra) at Wembley stadium. The game will happen, but to a meager crowd, and that’s going to look bad for the World Cup bid. And of course millions of normal people’s lives are affected; their jobs, their pay, time spent away from family, and adverse impact on the struggling businesses they work for.

Two factoids related to the un-creativity at hand:

1.) Boris Johnson, hizoner the Mayor of London, has not personally met with RMT (the union, RMT – the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Worker). He’s left the whole thing up to bureaucrats (specifically the London Underground and Transport for London)  — who are not empowered to negotiate pay. Not exactly hands-on management eh? Rumors are flying that Boris himself intervened behind the scenes and reneged on an agreed upon deal at the last minute. Say it ain’t so Boris!

2.) The union put a last minute demand on the table to reinstate to fired workers. One worker had been caught stealing, the other opened the doors on the wrong side of the train. Perhaps there were extenuating circumstances in both cases, but on the face of it, it looks unreasonable. RMT boss Bob Crow frames it a lot differently, of course.

So, fault aside, while Boris and the union fiddle, London burns — because of un-creative problem solving.