I spent yesterday in a bubble of inspiration- an Open Space
event in a room full of individuals who are as passionate as I am about
changing the way that we live and work.
I then came
home to watch the analysis and comment on George Osbourne’s challenge to
government departments to save up to 40% on their budgets by 2019-20.
As someone
who has spent her whole career in the social sector, my interests particularly
lie in how new models of “work” might be applied to the delivery of public
services (including those delivered by private and third sector organisations).
Since the
start of the economic crisis, there has been ubiquitous talk of the seismic
shift that is required for public services to survive. In reality, we have seen
constant institutional reorganisations, but there is a huge question mark over
whether anything has really changed as a result.
The people
delivering services on the ground appear to be increasingly demoralised by the
ongoing uncertainty, but mostly still work in hierarchical silo- based
organisations, despite constant calls for “joined-up”, collaborative working
that is outcomes-focused rather than bureaucratic.
So this
summer, I am going to build on the inspiration I received from the Orgshift
event to:
- Read the book and web recommendations I received yesterday (please see my summer reading list post);
- Further explore how this might apply to public services in the crowd sourced book that will be developed from insights and questions of all those who attended the unconference; and
- Use this blog to explore the innumerable questions that I have in my mind about how new and emerging models of organisation, such as holocracy, can operate in public service.
If anyone would like to join me in exploring these
questions, please contact me via twitter @clare_goggin.