Envisioning the next chapter in public service

Summer 2013 One day Courses: Wales and South West

Develop yourself and become a better leader on one of our courses this summer.

Becoming a 21st Century ADAPTIVE LEADER – Heighten your leadership ability to enable and empower your people, drive innovation, and facilitate crucial connections between people, initiatives and opportunities. 

Enquire click here or email: events@dewcadre.onmicrosoft.com

Introduction to Mission Critical Intervention Teams (Foundation Course) – Tackle your organisation’s “big ticket issues”. Learn more about these “unique entities” and how they can generate profound transformation within your organisation. Includes an overview of the concept, philosophy, methodology, approach, tools and techniques. 

Enquire click here or email: events@dewcadre.onmicrosoft.com

Effective Change Portfolio, Programme, Project Board Governance – Learn how to improve Board Governance and Communications. Improve the leadership, stewardship and overall delivery success. Learn how to spot the signs of a dysfunctional Board and how to address them.  

Enquire click here or email: events@dewcadre.onmicrosoft.com

EVENT: Re-engineering your organisation’s DNA

Your organisation is a living, breathing, evolving organism just like anything found in the natural world. A large percentage of DNA is standard across the entire natural world but how it is ‘read’ (transcribed) is what dictates the differences that make a species uniquely suited to its success. Organisations can be seen in the same way.

The DNA of any organism is what defines it as an entity and provides the blueprint for its suitability and ultimately its survival.

On a Human level, whilst we have made huge advances in the mapping of our Genome we have yet to master manipulating our DNA. We have however, developed thousands of ways of adapting to our environment and the challenges we face, making us one of the most successful species on the planet. If we could adapt the very ‘building-blocks’ of ourselves then we wouldn’t need to develop coping mechanisms (warm clothing for exploring the Arctic, for example) even though we’re now very skilled at doing so.

“If we could rapidly change our DNA this would be a huge advantage even if some of us might look a little strange at first!”

Organisations on the other hand, have a unique advantage, because they are able to change at will, much of their DNA, with the right ‘engineering’. Despite this capability, many organisations simply aren’t re-engineering their DNA fast enough for the highly dynamic 21st Century environment they now operate within. As we journey further into the uncharted waters of the Digital Age, in highly volatile “perfect storm” conditions, they continue to use coping mechanisms such as proverbial ‘warm coats’ to try and weather the storms that Wales, the UK and the wider World are now exposed to. 

Dew Cadre has been investigating how organisations across the globe and across all three sectors have been trying to adapt and evolve. They have been trying to identify the “genetic code” for organisational survival and, acting as ‘genetic engineer’, have sought to develop a means by which organisations can evolve with greater speed and impact… transforming themselves into highly agile, innovative and adaptive entities. 

The results have been startling and this ground-breaking work has the potential to drive unparalleled innovation, enabling organisations not just to survive, but to thrive in the challenging times ahead. 

John Dew of Dew Cadre Change Management Associates will be expanding on the metaphor of how organisations can be genetically re-engineered from within, so that they swiftly evolve from industrial age “machines” into “organisms” that are agile, adaptive, and better suited to operating in a highly volatile digital age environment.

You can hear him speak on Wednesday 30th January 2013 at the Glamorgan University in Cardiff. To reserve your place email your contact details to publishing@dewcadrechangeassociates.com

To find out more about the event click here.

Business and Research Field trip to New Delhi, INDIA

I had a fantastic visit to the Capital City of Delhi. The welcome I received from the minute I stepped off the plane at Indira Gandhi airport was first-class. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this visit (you hear so many stories from other people’s perspectives) but I was very pleasantly surprised by what I discovered – any misconceptions I had were quickly removed and my original expectations were surpassed.

What came across very clearly was the crucial role industry and commerce has in helping to promote and encourage transformational change across the nation. India’s Government model is very similar to that of the UK – perhaps a little more traditional in some ways.  That said, I came away feeling that those shaping and leading the country’s future: know the scale of the challenges ahead; know that change must happen; and appreciate that Innovation and Agility in both Government and Public Service are absolutely crucial to India’s future success.

I actually think that, despite the fact that the UK thinks we are leaders in government modernisation, India may well overtake us in the transformation agenda because there is:

• An increasing openness about the nature of the change imperative
• A willingness to consider new approaches and innovations; 
• and an appreciation that Governments need to become far more agile, connected and impactful if they are to serve their Nations well. 

The Nation’s entrepreneurs are also a force for good pushing Government hard to see through essential modernisation so that it can govern and lead more effectively in the highly dynamic, fast-moving, digitally connected, global operating environment we all now live and work in. 

Since I have been back in the UK several people have asked me:

Q: Would I return again?

Q: Would I consider opening a business in India?

Q: Would I recommend New Delhi to others?

The answer is an unequivocal YES to all three!

Read my initial high-level summary report of the visit.

John Dew at the India Gate in New Delhi as he continues on his global research tour investigating how Governments and Public Services are responding to the challenges of the 21st Century Digital Age. Find out more about what he discovered and his thoughts on India’s transformation efforts in his blog later this week

“Work” the “Workplace” and “Trade Unions”

Dew Cadre deliberately pushes the boundaries in trying to redefine our understanding of both “work” and the “workplace in the Digital Age!” That often involves working outside and away from the office and deliberately seeking out mind and body liberating and stimulating places to achieve “value added enhanced outcomes”. We are striving to move as far away from Monday - Friday;  9-5; and office-bound mechanist outputs, as it is possible to be.

Yesterday, was a time to be creative, and to reflect on recent developments. The choice of “workplace” was Pen y Fan.

The choice of topic was our Public Sector Trade Unions in our changing world.

The eventual topic was, I guess, inspired by the recent announcement by public sector unions that they were planning strike action on the day before the Olympic games opening ceremony.

During the “working walk” so many creative thoughts and issues came to the fore… like the:

• Importance of protecting employee rights;
• Role of the Unions in a highly competitive complex globalised digital age;
• Similarities between actions and intent now and those of the 1970s/80s;
• Realisation that there is an emerging new set of value propositions;  and the
• Sheer futility and destructiveness of industrial era baggage.

Three hours of walking in the Brecon Beacons stimulated a whole host of issues, ideas, and a desire to help shape the future of trade unions in a way that makes them more meaningful and sustainable.

I’ll blog on the subject on Monday… but perhaps our Union Leaders need to take some creative time out for honest reflection, contemplation and to generate some new productive strategies and tactics!!

Time to get behind the Olympics, Welcome the World, Showcase our Great Nation, and support our simply fantastic Olympians and Para Olympians….

Only the British it seems could invest between £12-24billion competing for, successfully winning, and now hosting what is undoubtedly “the greatest sporting show in the World” and then, when it all starts to happen, incessantly: 

• Highlight the negatives; 
• Major on the problems (that are, for anyone  involved in major complex events, quite frankly  inevitable); and 
• Complain about the impact of the Games. 

Of course, in an uncertain World there are going to difficulties… and, the recent problems with G4S and the Security are significant. But, even something of this magnitude so late in the day brings out the best in our great Nation. Our World-Class and extremely precious Emergency and Armed services are both capable and able to deal with the difficulty we face. The Games - will actually; be even more secure as a result of their deployment. 

Yes, there should be an Inquiry into G4S’s failings, but the focus of attention and news headlines right now shouldn’t be about Parliamentary Inquisitions and Immediate Retribution (that will no doubt all be part of the contractual and commercial action post the games)… Right now, everyone (Government Politicians, the Opposition, and especially the Media) should be doing what is needed to tackle the issue and to both reassure our guests and deter those who would seek to undermine the UK and The Games. Sometimes, I can’t help wondering, whose side they are on. All this negativity is simply undermining UK ‘plc’ and our massive investment. We should be seeking to maximise our ROI not undermine and devastate it! 

Having invested so much capital (human and financial) into these Games let us please break the current cycle of negativity and:

• Celebrate the Games;
• Celebrate our ability to overcome adversity when it presents itself; and
• Acknowledge our simply fantastic Police and Armed Services Personnel!!  

Let us all, never, ever, lose sight of the fact that the Athletes themselves have:

• Dedicated their entire lives towards this moment and this objective; and, for the last 4 Years;
• Sacrificed everything - shedding blood, sweat and tears just to be here with us now and to show their worth!!

Dew Cadre wishes everyone involved in the Games (including those G4S employees playing a crucial part) a wonderful Olympic games and extends a very warm welcome to all the Olympic Teams visiting the UK. As well as supporting team GB a special thought goes out to the USA, Canada and Indian contingents who Dew Cadre hopes to be working with in the future.

Good Luck!!!

Dew Cadre meeting with Canadian Government minister

Just back from my trip to Canada and the USA and I thought i’d quickly write a blog about my meeting with Canadian Government during a trip to Vancouver.

We had the great pleasure of spending some quality time with Mr Don Fast (Deputy Minister for Community, Sport and Cultural Development) whilst visiting Vancouver recently. We met to discuss the challenges facing the public sector in the UK, Canada, and British Columbia. I was hugely impressed by what I heard. It was clear that the Deputy Minister was acutely aware of the challenges ahead and that great progress had been made in modernising their public sector. I sensed: a realism about the scale of the global challenges we all face; an optimism about the future; and a desire to strive for continuous improvement. What he described was a really progressive approach to public sector modernisation. An approach based upon inclusivity, value for money and valuing the people who serve society. It was an opportunity for me also to share my thinking and the value of Mission Critical Intervention Teams in helping to generate fresh new ideas for elected leaders to consider. Ideas… shaped not by consultants, or a few internal functional experts, but by leveraging the collective multi-disciplinary knowledge of all sectors serving society.

I found the meeting incredibly valuable, on several levels, and I am extremely grateful to the Deputy Minister and his office for accommodating my visit into his incredibly tight schedule. I hope to return in the future (possibly to Victoria) and to present more formally on the challenges ahead and the need for increased agility and speed of transformation effort.

John Dew OBE

John Dew OBE at the Hyatt Hotel in Seattle discussing his new book.

Read more about Mission Critical Intervention Teams

Why do we need Mission Critical Intervention Teams? - New video

The public sector remains locked into 20th century thinking and responses to the most critical issues facing it at the moment.

This video salutes the incredible work our public sector in the UK is doing at a time of severe austerity but also highlights and suggests the use of Mission Critical Intervention Teams as a way of us un-locking the potential within our public servants and solving the most difficult problems our public service is facing.

“Anyone can cut budgets, anyone can live within a budget, that’s what managers are paid to do, but that’s not the mission we need to be focusing on in the public sector”

Having trouble viewing the video? Please wait for it to load completely or watch on YouTube here

In the video John Dew OBE takes us through the immense challenges facing the public sector, he understands the current response of the public sector to the challenges facing the UK but also poses the question - Is it enough?

“The beauty of Mission Critical Teams is they generate ideas, approaches and options that are revealed for the first time”

Read more about Dew Cadre’s Mission Critical Intervention Teams

Unveiling Mission Critical Intervention Teams in America

Dew Cadre previews its new book “A Guide to Mission Critical Intervention Teams” in North America and Canada. The book is due to be published late summer early autumn. These visits will include a range of training events, presentations and network meetings.

“I am looking forward to my return to the United States. It’s a fabulous country and I have loved my visits to New York and Washington DC. This will be my first visit to the West Coast and I will be visiting Seattle and heading north into Canada to Vancouver for a few days. It’s a great opportunity to share and test the MCIT thinking and to explore how these great Countries are modernising their state-funded services.”

John Dew OBE