My weekly posts Where political control really sits I’ve regrouped the UK public-sector workforce by where ultimate political control really sits. The picture is strikingly centralised, and “local delivery” is not the same as local control. A place that cannot move money, authority, measures or rules has delivery responsibility, not control. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/antlerboy_relationalpublicservices-publicservices-systemschange-share-7493586434503929856-ITxo/ The walls come … Continue reading Transduction – leading transformation – Issue #234 →

(rewiring for local relationality 3/3) Introduction Join the debate on linkedin athttps://www.linkedin.com/posts/antlerboy_relationalpublicservices-publicservices-systemschange-share-7493586434503929856-ITxo/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAACuq-oBecVFDW6PCf3lkoG-peMeuLBeoho Do you know where real control sits in the UK's public services? I was at a fantastic event for people involved in governance of public services - smart, well-informed, dynamic, the people who make a real difference and who keep public services safe, … Continue reading Where political control really sits →

(rewiring for local relationality 2/3) Join the debate on linkedin at https://lnkd.in/p/ecDP6wCJ Relational public services are no longer short of advocates. What they're missing is an account of why they collapse. We keep showing the attractive picture. The walls are down. People work across boundaries. Staff use judgement. Citizens are encountered as people rather than … Continue reading The walls come back: why relational public services fail after they work →

(rewiring for local relationality 1/3) Introduction Join the debate on linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/posts/antlerboy_publicservices-devolution-systemschange-ugcPost-7492848069080809472-rh-w/ To rewire, you start with the existing wiring as it's developed over time. It's a blunt metaphor; I tried a blunt test. Do you think it's helpful? Which public bodies can plausibly exercise a directly elected mandate to depart materially from UK … Continue reading Rewiring the state as a control problem →

I can take two poems of Larkin on a good day, two and a half before I slap him shut and throw away, ‘Jesus Christ, man!’ The clear-eyed monster who knows he is blind whose love spills poison. Who wants such monstrous love? The book I inherited from my father.

My weekly posts On rewiring the state – travelling second class through Purgatory – (It’s not the hope series, part four) I’m excited by the promise of real devolution, local fiscal authority and public services organised around place. But exhausted, damaged institutions cannot be ordered into another heroic transformation. The climb needs base camps: time, … Continue reading Transduction – leading transformation – Issue #233 →

An internal account of an internally racialised encounter I rush to 9am doctor’s appointment having had to faff a lot longer than I expected to get an EV cable to release. As someone who’s very sensitive to power dynamics and social tension, I find it hard to be out of control and see the implicit … Continue reading Finding the elegant line →

It’s not the hope series, part four - Join the conversation on LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/posts/antlerboy_dante-emerges-from-the-inferno-he-looks-share-7489458365564227584-Tm7P/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAADUV_eUBZSxZvFpx70OV050F6K5HM2MhTMo Dante emerges from the Inferno. He looks up – and sees not the starry veil of heaven, but a mountain. It’s another metaphor for ‘Rewiring the State’. Isn’t it exciting?! Devolution by default (I’m way of the slogan though). Local fiscal … Continue reading On rewiring the state – travelling second class through Purgatory – (It’s not the hope series, part four) →