🔧 Stop Gluing Frameworks Together. Start with a System.
A post by our guest editor, John Worthington. In two recent USM Professional Masterclasses—each filled with seasoned service management professionals—one theme kept surfacing: “How do we map our familiar practices—like ITIL®, PMBOK®, or SIAM®—to the US
USM and the Key to Happiness
A post by our guest editor, John Worthington. Ok, the real reason for happiness today is it’s Friday! Today’s OSC Meetup included a fantastic presentation by Sakari Kyrö from HappySignals. It made me think of how profiles have different contexts. Sakar
ITIL vs. USM? You’re Asking the Wrong Question
A post by our guest editor, John Worthington. Why a Unified Management System is What the Enterprise Really Needs Now A recent white paper by GPS17 Consulting presents one of the best-balanced comparisons I’ve seen between ITIL and the Unified Service
🌀 Dynamic Balance in Modern Service Management: A Yin-Yang View of USM
A post by our guest editor, John Worthington. s service management professionals, we constantly walk a tightrope between structure and flexibility — between the need for repeatable control and the desire for adaptive execution. This isn’t conflict. It’
Principles, Practices, and Fragmentation
A post by our guest editor, John Worthington. In every USM Foundation class, we spend time distinguishing principles from practices — and for good reason. They’re not just different concepts; they’re different forces. Principles unify. Practices divers
🔄 The Mountaintop Fallacy – Part 5
A post by our guest editor, John Worthington. Rebuilding from the Middle Out How USM enables overlays, unlocks value, and holds the system together “Buy the ticket, take the ride.” — Hunter S. Thompson We’ve reached the summit. You’ve seen how strategy
🧱 The Mountaintop Fallacy – Part 4
A post by our guest editor, John Worthington. What Is a Real Management System (and Why You Don’t Have One) Why frameworks, tools, and certifications aren’t enough You’ve been told you have one. Maybe it’s called your ‘Service Management Platform’. May
🧠The Mountaintop Fallacy – Part 3
A post by our guest editor, John Worthington. Perspectives from the Trenches Why the Executive, the Architect, and the Practitioner All Miss the Same Thing In every organization, we all occupy layers—whether formal or not. Strategy folks. Designers. Bu
🧠From Muddling Through to Managing Simply: Re-Thinking the Corporation in the Age of AI
A post by our guest editor, John Worthington. Every once in a while, something sparks a chain of thoughts you didn’t expect. For me, it was a recent post by Dean Meyer, reflecting on his mentor, Dr. Charles “Ed” Lindblom — the Yale professor who first