The three deficits
There is an urgent need to bridge the gap between public revenues and government spending; between political decision makers and the citizens who elect them; and between governments, businesses and the communities they serve.
The fabric of good government
Good governance requires the triad of good politics, good policy and good management. Well-intentioned politicians can receive the best advice, use the right decision process and yet choose the wrong strategy. But even good intentions and great strategy do not protect against failure if public institutions are poorly organised and resourced, and if management has insufficient competence, capability, and confidence to deliver.
Unpacking politics
“Man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible; but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.”
Reinhold Niebuhr
Seven steps to organisational effectiveness
“At their best, organisations are versatile and creative, they are prodigious amplifiers of human effort.”
Sumantra Ghoshal
"Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted counts"
Albert Einstein
Organisational energy
One of the paradoxes of success is that the things that got you there, are seldom those that keep you there.
Charles Handy
The power of place
Place helps to define our lives: where we began, the journeys we have taken, and the locality where we live now. Place is central not only to how we live, but also to how we are governed.
The strategic design of success
“Strategy is the application of relative strength to relative weakness;
or strength applied to the most promising opportunity ...
a good strategy doesn’t just draw on existing strengths;
it creates strength through the coherence of its design”