A call for reform
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The Radical How is a different approach to running government and public services, but not so radical that no-one has tried any of it before. As we have shown, some services have been successfully re-shaped and delivered using many of these ideas.
Rolling out the Radical How across government will require 10 fundamental changes, described in detail above and summarised in this list:
- Make outcomes matter most
Ministers should care more about outcomes to further their own careers. - Let outcomes define accountability
Hold senior officials accountable for delivering promises, not paperwork. - Demand politicians set direction through missions
Empower civil servants to determine how to make them happen. - Add more teams to get more done
Because multidisciplinary teams are the best unit of delivery, not individual generalists. - Open up
Mandate that teams work in the open, sharing their successes, failures, and knowledge in public. - Fund teams, not programmes
Invest public money incrementally, with oversight proportionate to financial risk. - Reinvent procurement
Buy or rent services that support teams, avoid outsourcing control over outcomes and implementation. - Train civil servants for the internet era
Find, develop and keep the best, most skilled people; reward and incentivise them competitively. - Invest in digital infrastructure
Open data, common platforms, clear design; the basic foundations for everything. - Lead with courage
Accepting and committing to reform is the hardest, but essential first step.
We think mission-oriented government risks being window dressing without a Radical How to accompany it.
But with that ‘how,’ we are optimistic about the future. We believe it is possible to shift government from an organisation of programmes and projects to one of missions and services. By doing so, a government will reduce risk and improve the chances of delivering the outcomes it wants for society.
This paper extracts and codifies lessons learned from lived experience taken from the last 10 years of trying to do this - despite political conditions and public service orthodoxy. It can be done. And we know what’s needed to do a lot more of it.
Those acting rationally in the present system have too few reasons to put personal and professional capital towards making long-lasting and sustained change. There are also people who will lose out from the kind of cultural and organisational shifts this paper is proposing, particularly those with the skills and experiences in which the civil service has an over-preponderance.
Implementing the Radical How will mean having some difficult conversations.
But without addressing the incentives and levers acting on civil servants and suppliers who work with government and currently play a central role in implementation, there is little point trying to address gaps in the will or skill of the bureaucracy to deliver on missions. Get them right, and it becomes much easier to build the capabilities you need.
If a government applies new ways of working, while reforming the conditions in order to make those behaviours the default, citizens, ministers, and public servants will see the difference. And we hope that in time, this Radical How approach to government will simply become the ‘how.’