I look forward to reading these! I wouldn’t underestimate the importance of making decisions, alongside leadership. A wise former boss, who once worked at top of a finance ministry (not in UK), said he always focused on the 30 decisions that need making every day.
Polly - You are so right about Duck, muck and coffee: the essential hard work needed to govern well, and the superficiality with which many politicians (and analysts) look at the task. In my past work in countries in perennial conflict (I am talking Somalia, not yet the US or the UK), advocates of reform would point to the essential role that trusted public institutions can play in sustaining the belief that disputes can be resolved without recourse to violence. Trouble is, creating these trusted institutions takes years, and requires attention-spans and patience that have eluded most politicians and aid agencies. You can think of effective institutions as mediating devices: as spaces in which you can argue your case and get a decision. It may not be one you like, but if you trust the institution, you will tend to accept the verdict. A law court is one such institution. So is a national budget. So too is an electoral law. When institutions with national reach are seen as legitimate, the data shows that people will rally behind them: they become accepted pieces of a mosaic of peaceful daily negotiations, and that mosaic is the essence of the state. Legitimacy, though, is conferred by endless repetition creating predictability, creating trust. And this takes a long time—it also takes leadership, vision and above all, honesty by political leaders towards those who have chosen them.
People are all different. Some want to be stars and stamp their feet if not chosen while others work hard in parliament and their constituency providing ideas and solutions. As long as there is a team working together with respect government can work. Paddling hard quacking all the way.
Thank you for this. My current experience of political leadership is failing on the encouraging others to ‘join in’. Head over the parapet - feeling fairly much alone.
Indeed. "its the system" is a common quote from those attempting the task of public sector reform and transformation. But what does this really mean? Those of us that have been working to reform and transform using systems thinking have learned that the principles that operate within the paradigm of senior decision-makers do indeed create the artefacts that create the system we work within, including the management approaches.
We have to uncover these principles and paradigm if we want to have a hope of shifting them to create new ways of designing, managing and working, or else we simply make no headway. Understanding the research that has gone into this we find that there is a seminal event that caused this system to emerge. And not only that, but that we retain this system paradigm today. We call it New Public Management (NPM).
Do we have the ability to shift way from NPM? The answer is, if we can identify it and banish it, then yes we can. This has been occurring in various parts of local government for many years. And that could happen across the whole of the public sector.
I tend to read social media through the lens of understanding that the posts that make me angry have, in all likelihood, been deliberately placed there (most probably for payment) specifically to make me angry. Stepping away from it & engaging with the real world reminds most of us that, on the whole, people are fundamentally good.
My family are working through Radio 4’s ‘Café Hope’ as a reminder of that:
Love it Polly. Optimism! Populists have identified a problem which is more than can be said for others. At least they recognise that something has to change. No wonder they are popular. I am quite persuaded by making a start in small things. Potholes is my thing right now. That’s the cyclist in me. Why don’t orgs raise some money and pay contractors to fix the roads out of funds. Spray a stencil that says “fixed by <logo>”. If the org was an opposition party it’s a semipermanent election campaign message.
I look forward to reading these! I wouldn’t underestimate the importance of making decisions, alongside leadership. A wise former boss, who once worked at top of a finance ministry (not in UK), said he always focused on the 30 decisions that need making every day.
Polly - You are so right about Duck, muck and coffee: the essential hard work needed to govern well, and the superficiality with which many politicians (and analysts) look at the task. In my past work in countries in perennial conflict (I am talking Somalia, not yet the US or the UK), advocates of reform would point to the essential role that trusted public institutions can play in sustaining the belief that disputes can be resolved without recourse to violence. Trouble is, creating these trusted institutions takes years, and requires attention-spans and patience that have eluded most politicians and aid agencies. You can think of effective institutions as mediating devices: as spaces in which you can argue your case and get a decision. It may not be one you like, but if you trust the institution, you will tend to accept the verdict. A law court is one such institution. So is a national budget. So too is an electoral law. When institutions with national reach are seen as legitimate, the data shows that people will rally behind them: they become accepted pieces of a mosaic of peaceful daily negotiations, and that mosaic is the essence of the state. Legitimacy, though, is conferred by endless repetition creating predictability, creating trust. And this takes a long time—it also takes leadership, vision and above all, honesty by political leaders towards those who have chosen them.
Love this.
People are all different. Some want to be stars and stamp their feet if not chosen while others work hard in parliament and their constituency providing ideas and solutions. As long as there is a team working together with respect government can work. Paddling hard quacking all the way.
Thank you for this. My current experience of political leadership is failing on the encouraging others to ‘join in’. Head over the parapet - feeling fairly much alone.
A really important article!
Indeed. "its the system" is a common quote from those attempting the task of public sector reform and transformation. But what does this really mean? Those of us that have been working to reform and transform using systems thinking have learned that the principles that operate within the paradigm of senior decision-makers do indeed create the artefacts that create the system we work within, including the management approaches.
We have to uncover these principles and paradigm if we want to have a hope of shifting them to create new ways of designing, managing and working, or else we simply make no headway. Understanding the research that has gone into this we find that there is a seminal event that caused this system to emerge. And not only that, but that we retain this system paradigm today. We call it New Public Management (NPM).
Do we have the ability to shift way from NPM? The answer is, if we can identify it and banish it, then yes we can. This has been occurring in various parts of local government for many years. And that could happen across the whole of the public sector.
I tend to read social media through the lens of understanding that the posts that make me angry have, in all likelihood, been deliberately placed there (most probably for payment) specifically to make me angry. Stepping away from it & engaging with the real world reminds most of us that, on the whole, people are fundamentally good.
My family are working through Radio 4’s ‘Café Hope’ as a reminder of that:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001xwqx
Love it Polly. Optimism! Populists have identified a problem which is more than can be said for others. At least they recognise that something has to change. No wonder they are popular. I am quite persuaded by making a start in small things. Potholes is my thing right now. That’s the cyclist in me. Why don’t orgs raise some money and pay contractors to fix the roads out of funds. Spray a stencil that says “fixed by <logo>”. If the org was an opposition party it’s a semipermanent election campaign message.