You’re being told it’s simple – it’s not. Local government reorganisation doesn’t have a roadmap. It’s a sketch of a shifting landscape drawn while you’re already knee-deep in the swamp. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/antlerboy_devolution-complexity-leadership-activity-7311054485890453504-9zQ3?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAACuq-oBecVFDW6PCf3lkoG-peMeuLBeoho Join the discussion on LinkedIn.
You’re being told it’s simple – it’s not.
Local government reorganisation doesn’t have a roadmap. It’s a sketch of a shifting landscape drawn while you’re already knee-deep in the swamp.
Let’s map the mess together.
We’ve been talking to councils across England as they prepare for the next phase of hashtag#devolution – and many are realising this isn’t just about structure.
It’s about navigating complexity, making decisions under pressure, and holding on to and building identity, relationships and purpose.
Councils are expected to redesign structure, culture, accountability and delivery while continuing to serve real communities with real needs. And no, a neat programme plan won’t cut it.
In our recent webinar, we shared a visual tool we’ve developed to help. A map—not of the territory, but of the terrain. Inspired by Venkatesh Rao’s internet maps, it captures the political dynamics, economic pressures, transitional pain, and cultural shifts that councils will face on the path to unitary status.
It includes the Peninsula of Bloody Hard Work. The Economics Archipelago. The Oasis of Leading. The Swamp of Structural Overwhelm. And more.
Mapping the mess doesn’t solve it – but it gives you perspective. You can see the whole system, locate yourself in it, and decide where to focus. The point isn’t to simplify. It’s to equip ourselves to act wisely in hashtag#complexity. That’s how real hashtag#leadership happens in hashtag#localgovernment.
This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for local government—and the worst possible time to lose our nerve. We’ll be running further sessions on how to build your own version of the map – and how to use it to navigate reorganisation without losing sight of place, purpose, and relationships.
If you’re wrestling with your own version of this challenge, I’ll happily take you through the map in a free half-hour session. We’ll sketch your landscape together, and make some sense of it.
What part of your current system are you being told is “simple” but clearly isn’t?
What’s the weirdest bit of your reorganisation journey no one warned you about?
chosen path 