The Public Sector Change Baseline

We talk about change constantly - transformation, modernization, renewal - often all at once. But far less attention is paid to a more fundamental question:

𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗯 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴?

That question stayed with me after reading How Good Is Your Company at Change? by David Michels and Kevin Murphy, which introduced the idea of change power, the conditions that enable organizations to adapt, execute, and endure.

What resonated most wasn’t the model itself, but the premise behind it:

𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙯𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣’𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙙.

Over time, I took that idea and developed something tangible for the public sector - the 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲.

It is not a maturity model or assessment, but a facilitated leadership conversation designed to help organizations:

• surface the conditions under which change is currently happening

• move beyond anecdotes and assumptions

• recognize dominant change patterns and constraints

• create a shared language for readiness, prioritization, and stewardship

Used as intended, this baseline becomes a reference point rather than a verdict. It offers a way to pause, reflect, and recalibrate, especially in moments when pressure to act quickly is high.

It creates space for leadership teams to ask not only what must change, but what must be true for change to take hold.

The real value of this work lies in what it enables next: more disciplined prioritization, more credible change management, and more responsible leadership choices about how much change an organization can reasonably absorb at any given time.

What distinguishes effective organizations is not how much change they attempt, but whether leaders take responsibility for the conditions under which that change is introduced, absorbed, and sustained.

When those conditions are designed deliberately, change becomes possible. When they are ignored, even the best intentions struggle to take hold.

✨ You can access the Public Sector Change Baseline, here.