My weekly posts
Reading James Plunkett’s piece, I kept thinking about how strange it is that modern states still imagine they govern through decisions. Mostly they govern through reduction
I’m struck by how modern states pretend to govern through decisions when they really govern through reduction. Reality is compressed as it moves from frontline encounters into notes, metrics, dashboards and political narratives. The centre gains coherence but loses understanding; the edge keeps the messy knowledge that makes services work. Reform often fails because it destroys these translation layers, mistaking adaptive scar tissue for inefficiency while chasing impossible certainty through data. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/antlerboy_the-centre-is-from-mars-the-edges-are-from-activity-7460354986712039424-lO28?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAACuq-oBecVFDW6PCf3lkoG-peMeuLBeoho
The same structural bottleneck now appears almost everywhere: science, public services, consultancy, software, universities and politics
I’m fascinated by how the same bottleneck appears across institutions: they are full of expertise, but lose the ability to combine the right knowledge across boundaries. Tools meant to manage complexity harden into filters, rewarding legibility, compliance and signalling over learning and contact with reality. As the world grows more complex, institutions reduce variety instead of absorbing it. The real challenge is building organisations that are permeable, adaptive and coherent without collapsing. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/antlerboy_the-centre-is-from-mars-the-edges-are-from-activity-7460354986712039424-lO28?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAACuq-oBecVFDW6PCf3lkoG-peMeuLBeoho
An admission. Lynne Walley asked how much of my recent writing is actually me, and how much is ChatGPT
I’m now admitting that AI contributes up to 25% of my writing process, often perhaps a quarter of the work but it does vary hugely. I use it to recall, organise and reshape ideas, then rewrite heavily to restore judgement, meaning and my own voice. It feels less like outsourcing than another part of my cognitive ecology. What worries me is the flattening of language and the accelerating content flood I’m helping create. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/antlerboy_i-read-scott-odells-island-of-the-blue-activity-7460599789932548096-BFTs?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAACuq-oBecVFDW6PCf3lkoG-peMeuLBeoho
Thesis: you can tell the decade a WEIRD management model came from by what it fears – and the remedy it prescribes.
I’m suggesting that each management era reveals itself through what it fears and how it tries to respond: disorder with hierarchy, complexity with adaptation, fragmentation with alignment, delay with speed, stagnation with innovation, and disintermediation with connectivity. In the 2020s, the fear is epistemic failure: institutions struggling to perceive reality coherently. That may be why cybernetics, sensemaking, trust and adaptive learning feel urgent again. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/antlerboy_thesis-you-can-tell-the-decade-a-weird-management-activity-7459610782557777924-DtK4?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAACuq-oBecVFDW6PCf3lkoG-peMeuLBeoho
Courses and events
Introducing the RedQuadrant Local Government Reorganisation hub
Local Government Reorganisation is coming fast. By April 2028, every new authority must be safe, legal, and fully operational. That means statutory officers secured, ICT cutovers rehearsed, services live, and residents experiencing seamless continuity. The RedQuadrant LGR Hub is the only model that guarantees readiness while embedding lasting capability. With a single accountable structure, governance at its core, and capability pillars across adults, children’s, SEND, ICT, finance, housing, and place, the Hub ensures no gaps, no surprises. Three outcomes, every time: Safe and legal on day one; Visible assurance and confidence in delivery; Future-ready capacity with transformation built in. Find out more now: https://www.redquadrant.com/lgrhub
Commissioning Compass: systems assessment for change
Our newly launched tool, the Commissioning Compass, helps you to assess your commissioning system and form an action plan for improvement. It’s available for free via our Teachable site – try it now! link.redquadrant.com/commissioningcompass
Next National Commissioning Academy
We’re building our cohort for the next national commissioning academy – our flagship commissioning programme from the PSTA. Register your interest now: https://link.redquadrant.com/nextacademy25
What I’ve been reading:
Congratulations to Andrew Humphreys. who has stepped into a new role as SAVVI Delivery Manager.
The SAVVI project, (short for Scalable Approach to Vulnerability via Interoperability) is about helping public services identify, assess, and support people at risk of poor outcomes, whether that’s homelessness, child poverty, or even being unable to evacuate during a flood. By developing open data standards, practical guidance, and innovative tools, SAVVI enables a truly coordinated, multi-agency response. You can read more on Andrew’s role, and on the project, here: https://coda.io/@savvi/welcome/exciting-news-from-the-savvi-team-313
Things I shared on socials:
Could failure demand be a helpful lens for improving healthcare?
Alison Turner: Could failure demand be a helpful lens for improving healthcare? https://www.linkedin.com/posts/evidentlyalison_failuredemand-valuedemand-nhs-activity-7460946534977794049-Mhk1?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAACuq-oBecVFDW6PCf3lkoG-peMeuLBeoho
Creating space for honesty is not the same as being equipped to hold it.
Creating space for honesty is not the same as being equipped to hold it. Benjamin P. Taylor learned that the hard way. He was running a training session with a group of consultants sailing through the exercise while everyone else who had done it before them had been visibly stressed and struggling. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/workshopswork_leadership-corporateculture-psychologicalsafety-activity-7460954627593838594-Kbzx?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAACuq-oBecVFDW6PCf3lkoG-peMeuLBeoho
A Better Way Annual Conference – Finding A Better Way in Turbulent Times
A Better Way Annual Conference – Finding A Better Way in Turbulent TimesMain conference – Online 7th November 2025 10-1pm https://www.linkedin.com/posts/antlerboy_a-better-way-online-annual-conference-finding-activity-7460798186182516736-tixq?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAACuq-oBecVFDW6PCf3lkoG-peMeuLBeoho
Harish’s Notebook – The -isms of a Man Who Rejected -isms
Harish’s Notebook – The -isms of a Man Who Rejected -isms – Jose (2025) https://www.linkedin.com/posts/antlerboy_harishs-notebook-the-isms-of-a-man-who-activity-7460707220876320768-jCg7?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAACuq-oBecVFDW6PCf3lkoG-peMeuLBeoho
chosen path 