How radical becomes normal

Download the full report in PDF format.

Based on past experience, we are confident that applying a Radical How approach can deliver real public impact. But equally, we recognise that some of these ideas have been well used in government for a decade, and the default culture and behaviour of the civil service hasn’t changed much. There are clearly more shifts to make, to truly change how all of government works, for good.

In order for radically new ways of working to become default behaviours, organisational cultures and incentives must be altered, so that these working methods are allowed in the first instance, and encouraged in the second.

This is a radical step for any bureaucracy. They tend to retain the Victorian imprints of machines designed for consistent, repeatable tasks carried out by humans who are broadly interchangeable. Creating multiple modes of working, and emphasising the need for specialist skills alongside deep operational knowledge, is contrary to that. This does not mean wholly replacing one orthodoxy for another by the way. We will still need generalists, too.

There is an urgent need for a wider conversation about the state of the civil service. Whitehall is depleted, emotionally and financially. It has experienced a significant talent flight over the last 10 years. Staff turnover reached 14% in 2023, the highest in a decade. A recent analysis of interviews with current and former civil servants reported that 39% referred to the civil service becoming a less attractive employer. Despite a great deal of noisy debate around civil service reform in the aftermath of Brexit, few changes have been made.