Dealing with change: Leadership in a changing environment

Constrained by lack of resources The ethos underpinning inspection regimes Unionization of the workforce Persistent bureaucracy Line manager attitudes Political environment Competing needs of stakeholders ‘Leadership of place’ It’s different and it’s more complex

Future workforce: the new generation of staff the employee relations agenda Support changing skills From static competences to meta competences A rapidly changing agenda Ability to adapt swiftly and it’s not standing still…

The Challenges…. …and on collaborate more effectively, with each other and with the third and private sectors, to prevent overlap and duplication and deliver more cost- effective services identify more efficient ways of working and innovate identify potential costs savings through greater use of shared services and outsourcing focus more effectively on meeting the changing needs of the public through enhanced front-line autonomy manage and communicate change effectively, involving the workforce through effective consultation to ensure employee/union buy-in

The environment has changed—it is more complex, volatile, and unpredictable. The skills needed for leadership have also changed—more complex and adaptive thinking abilities are needed. The methods being used to develop leaders have not changed (much). leaders are no longer developing fast enough or in the right ways to match the new environment The Current Situation

Apparent tensions traditional approaches to people management in public services, characterized by functionalism, paternalism, collectivism and social equity the call for NPM and Leadership by Place A Sophisticated Approach

The Local Government Demand Competing; to create value for customers via most effective mechanisms; do these things well and cost effectively Controlling; to defend, do things right, and change to do them better Creating; to learn, do things first, and change to break new ground Collaborating; to bond, do things together, and change through consensus and cooperation ‘The extent to which an organisation experiences tensions in managing two or more of these aspects of value generation can explain the challenges it faces as a whole in growth, and within that in human development, learning and change. That is to say, tensions will exist and need to be resolved between cultures and systems for competiveness, control, creativity and collaboration.’

The Local Government Model Based predominantly on hierarchical model with a control culture Limiting decision making to authority level; Prescriptive about what decisions can be taking at what level Limiting innovation, group decision-making, joint decision- making, It assumes stability around role definitions when flexibility may be required. Co-ordination is hierarchical, emphasis on the individual rather than the team. Can lead to silos rather than matrix working

The Competing Values Framework

InternalExternal Flexibility Collaborate ‘Joined-up government’ Networks and partnerships Participation and consultation (internal) Mission statements Devolution and empowerment Allocative efficiency Create Participation and consultation (external) Policy experiments and pilots Shared services Evidence-based policy Transparency, FOI Stability Control Strategy and business planning Resource controls Human resources and Information systems reform Service Standards Performance targets Efficiency drives External audit and inspection Compete Regulatory reform Agencification Market type mechanisms contracting out and outsourcing League tables UK Public Management Reforms

Competing Public Values Collaborate COLLECTIVITY - Social outcomes - Co-production - Social capital and cohesion - Partnerships Create AUTONOMY - Transparency - Accountability - Consultation & participation - Innovation Trust and legitimacy ControlCompete SECURITY - Reliability & resilience - Service Standards - Equity and due process - Costs & efficiency PERSONAL UTILITY - Choice - Personalisation & flexibility - Accessibility - Relative Quality

What initiatives have failed more often than they have succeeded? What current trends will we be adding to this list First. Stop doing what doesn’t work

Management by policy Procedure overkill ‘Performance management’ Management by role/job description Measurement overkill – measure what matters Costs of failure

The question will change from “Who are the leaders?” to “What conditions do we need for leadership to flourish in the network? How do we spread leadership capacity throughout the organization and democratize leadership?” Leadership Challenges

What Works open flows of information flexible hierarchies distributed resources distributed decision-making loosening of centralized controls

The Local Government Model

A Different Kind of Leader A shift from static competences to a focus on development of meta competences adaptability self-awareness boundary spanning collaboration network thinking develops staff to think strategically manage change effectively comfortable with ambiguity

A Different Kind of Development A shift from static competences to a focus on development of meta competences adaptability self-awareness boundary spanning collaboration network thinking Develops staff to think strategically manage change effectively comfortable with ambiguity

Cognitive Complexity “The reason that managers at higher levels of cognitive development are able to perform more effectively is that they can think in more complex ways”

Rethinking Learning and Development 1TrainingSocialized mind 2Developing Self-authoring mind 3TransformingSelf-transforming mind We have our own ideology, but can now step back from that ideology and see it as limited or partial. We can hold more contradiction and oppositeness in our thinking and no longer feel the need to gravitate towards polarized thinking

Cognitive Complexity and Leadership of Place The need to understand the context of the place: the key drivers and functionality The impact of the system (its structure, policies and processes) and how this may be shaped to be more supportive of delivery The leadership meta competences