Honesty, Honestly II

Taking a look at Nick Robinson's latest blog today, entitled "Honesty - the New Battleground", takes me back to a post I wrote last month ("Honesty, Honestly") which referred to the Seven Principles of Public Life and the clear failure of Politicians to apply them ... well, this is clearly coming to the fore now (with a little bit of nudging perhaps), and the net is also widening to the Civil Service (e.g. the Cabinet Secretary) too. 

It's should start getting very interesting now.  The Cabinet Secretary, who earns over £280,000 per year, has not responded about his reasoning behind delaying and declining the opposition request for Government financial data, but has been very quick (and the first) to publish his last three months of expenses today (which includes a £19,408 car bill)!  He can obviously see what's coming ... and there are many more questions that need to be asked too (e.g. "The Targets era is over" from last months blog) ...

Take a look at my post (and others) added to Nick Robinson's blog below too:

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Leanomist (281)

Trust, Honor, Responsibility, Respect - Don't hold your breath waiting for any politician to show us any of these. They have all been 'tested, measured and found wanting'.  

The net is also (quite rightly) being cast out wider now - e.g. to the Cabinet Secretary (head of the Civil Service) ... a man who has knowingly allowed 20th century management practices (e.g. command and control, target driven cultures set up by Government) to be used to systematically generate wasteful/inefficient practice, consume massive amounts of our money and create massive public debts. e.g. take a look at http://poweromics.blogspot.com/2009/06/targets-era-is-over.html for instance

The cabinet secretary also made it clear that he was fully aware and understood the lack of 21st century leadership and management practices in the Civil Service (and the Government), but failed to do anything about it ... so I think we are probably safe to assume that these kind of values will be difficult to find at the top of the Civil Service too!  Perhaps we need a bigger broom to sweep the decks ...

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Raising it with the Prime Minister II

... if only he'd be 'open' to 'fresh ideas'! Like never before, the UK desperately needs 21st century ways of improving well-being, reducing stress, increasing innovation and creating a successful & sustainable economy ... traditional methods have failed completely, and 'fresh thinking' is now required ...

My book highlighted the need for new thinking/approaches over two years ago, and showed the systematic failure which will continue to occur until it does ... The Cabinet Secretary (and Head of the Civil Service) Sir Gus O'Donnell is aware of this, and the gulf between what's needed & what we have at the moment ... however a powerful conspiracy between those in Power (Poweromics), combined with a great deal of Ignoromics, acts as a huge barrier to achieving the types of transformation needed to change things for the better ... 

... take a look at the rejected e-petition below, requesting the type of 'fresh thinking' capable of creating a successful future ... !   'Ideas' on how to improve things are clearly not what this Government is interested in or looking for ... as it appears to them to be endorsing an idea! Whatever next!  ... a PM who has never been voted for ... ?  

Perhaps we have to do it in stages, by signing the "Ask the PM to resign" Petition & the give "People Democracy" petitions first (as these managed to get through) ... then perhaps we can get a PM that really wants to listen and really wants to improves the lives of British people ...

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We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to introduce lean thinking, systems thinking, lateral thinking and creative thinking into Government, Public Services and Mainstream Education

Submitted by David Clift – Deadline to sign up by: 14 December 2009

Category: Government, politics and public administration

More details:

To introduce, in a structured and effective way, lean thinking, systems thinking, lateral thinking, and creative thinking into mainstream education and public services, as well as strategic decision making and policy formulation within Government.

A massive strategic advantage will be gained by those nations and communities doing this, as failure is systematically reduced and more innovative solutions are created. Unintended consequences are also minimized and public services become far more effective & supportive of the communities they serve. Mainstream education will also improve dramatically, and provide a sustainable & effective foundation for improving individual well-being, community contentment and economic prosperity too.

A number of nations are starting to realize this and are already benefiting greatly as a result - e.g. improved innovation, creativity, prosperity and well-being ... as well as less failure, stress and frustration.

Without these things the UK will fall further behind, as nations slow to act will find it very difficult to catch up.

The 'Targets era' is over ...

... says one of Britain’s most senior police officers ... Peter Fahy, Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police (GMP), circulated a damning memo among senior officers attacking  the Home Office’s statistics-driven approach. He has criticised the Government’s obsession with performance targets and called for a return to old-fashioned policing. 

Take a look at the news report here, as well as my additional comments below:

The 'target era' is openly being challenged now ... thank goodness .... and hopefully outdated 20th century management practices (eg command & control approaches and target driven cultures) have finally had their day ... the UK desperately needs 'leaders' who understand & apply 21st century management practices now, and some police forces have been 'battling' to apply it despite the 'system' & the way the whole Criminal Justice System 'works'

I wrote all about this 2 years ago in my book, which decoded 21st century leadership & management practices and how a New Criminal Justice System might work*. I've discussed it with people like Sir Ken Jones (ex ACPO president, pictured above) & senior representatives of the Justice Department too ... and they have a signed copy of my book too ... as well as Sir Gus O'Donnell (pictured right), Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service, who understands the 'big void' that needs to be filled ... but who has unfortunately done very little about it ...