My weekly posts
This essay on the ‘institutional immune system’ is one of the clearest descriptions I’ve read of a dynamic many of us in public service transformation spend our lives inside.
This essay on the ‘institutional immune system’ captures a dynamic I recognise across public service transformation: institutions ask for innovation, prevention and systems thinking, then translate them back into plans, targets and governance templates. I don’t see this as bad faith so much as structure. The challenge is working in the messy middle, where dominant institutional assumptions about control, attribution and predictability meet the realities of complexity, relationships and long-term system change. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/antlerboy_earlier-this-week-james-plunkett-published-activity-7463161130266497024-C379
This is a really important piece of work from Alison Turner and colleagues at The Strategy Unit.
This important work from Alison Turner and colleagues at The Strategy Unit captures something uncomfortable: much NHS activity may be the system metabolising its own fragmentation. Missed referrals, delayed pathways, duplicated assessments and unpaid coordination by carers can all appear as productive work, while actually reflecting value not created earlier. I think the deeper productivity question is whether public services are generating avoidable loops, escalation and compensatory work through poor system design. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/antlerboy_failuredemand-valuedemand-nhs-activity-7463154305286615041-BbQk
Moving to community at the centre – and the challenge to commissioning
This piece reminds me that people live in neighbourhoods and relationships, not organisational charts. If public services are serious about community at the centre, commissioning has to move beyond seeing community as a bolt-on to services. The challenge is redesigning governance, measurement, authority and power so relational and neighbourhood-based work can survive contact with institutional machinery. For me, this is about stewardship of place, capability and trust over time. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/antlerboy_abcd-and-trauma-informed-neighbourhoods-activity-7463166494605205506-2_EO
Act now to join the next Commissioning Academy and learn to navigate complexity and shape systems
Most commissioning training teaches us how to buy services, not how to reshape systems. I believe the real challenge now is building the capability to think, act and intervene in complexity: across outcomes, relationships, power, prevention and system conditions. Through the next Commissioning Academy, we’ll explore commissioning as a way to shape better systems for people, not just manage contracts. What barriers do you see to shaping your system for the better? https://www.linkedin.com/posts/antlerboy_commissioning-systemshchange-activity-7462398617065144320-WnsZ
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:
“‘Well-led’: an evidence review”. Think Local, Act Personal.
‘Well-led’: an evidence review https://www.linkedin.com/posts/antlerboy_well-led-an-evidence-review-tlap-activity-7463483134697787392-1Ir8?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAACuq-oBecVFDW6PCf3lkoG-peMeuLBeoho
Link & Think – Containers All the Way Down
Link & Think – Containers All the Way Down – Velitchkov (2025) https://www.linkedin.com/posts/antlerboy_link-think-containers-all-the-way-down-activity-7463334899337326594-k3mV?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAACuq-oBecVFDW6PCf3lkoG-peMeuLBeoho
Time to Think Again on Attendance
John Cosgrove – Time to Think Again on Attendance https://www.linkedin.com/posts/antlerboy_time-to-think-again-on-attendance-activity-7463333199369326592-j1qS?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAACuq-oBecVFDW6PCf3lkoG-peMeuLBeoho
On the use of proper nouns: naming and psychological safety • Meaning Guide
On the use of proper nouns: naming and psychological safety • Meaning Guide https://www.linkedin.com/posts/antlerboy_on-the-use-of-proper-nouns-naming-and-psychological-activity-7463214118531911680-Bf-A?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAACuq-oBecVFDW6PCf3lkoG-peMeuLBeoho
chosen path 