The Challenges of Public Sector Transformation

In a series of short thought-pieces I want to raise some of the challenges faced by the public sector, against the backdrop of the myriad calls for transformation. Particularly to point out some of the obstacles, and to question myths about the public sector and those who faithfully serve within it.

I begin with a call to recognise how complex public service is, as it disappoints me when some commentators and politicians wax lyrical in their condemnation of the public sector for its many apparent failures, to which they add their calls for transformation. And all this levelled at those who have no right of reply. Such a simplistic view is disappointingly naive.

Public service is hugely complex and external observers simply do not see, or are dismissive of, the huge demands placed on public servants from the many different systems with they must engage from time to time. Each system has distinct rules, demands and deadlines, some arising from core business, others from the wider system in which the core business sits, and some from beyond that again.

I have attempted to illustrate this in my LinkedIn Article on this subject.

What I want to convey is just how complex it is, and to point out that inevitably time for core business, let alone innovation and transformation, is squeezed by the relentless demands of this wider system. In fact, rather than find fault, we should be hugely grateful to public servants who deliver so much for us, given this bureaucratic complexity, and the current financial climate within which they operate.

We must bear in mind that public servants are required to serve all these systems equally and because of that the legitimate question arises about the way this has shaped how our public sector operates. Might it be accurate to postulate that it has to a greater degree been distracted away from focusing on public need and delivering public value, to serving the burgeoning bureaucratic machine itself?

Further, can we reasonably expect these same public servants to deliver the needed transformation while keeping the show on the road? Surely that’s like asking someone to change the tyres on your car while you drive the daily commute.

We really do need wider recognition that the public sector is complex, and while there is broad agreement for transformation, regrettably some of the loudest voices are from those who have a limited understanding of this complexity and the magnitude of the transformation task.

I will share some further views on this in later articles.