Envisioning the next chapter in public service

“Y Gogledd”…. “The North”….

Many thanks to all of you who met me and my team yesterday in North Wales and to those at The Venue Cymru who provided an excellent venue and first-class event support. The sea view from the Paddarn Room was breath-taking I’d recommend it to anyone thinking of hosting an event. I really am most grateful.

My team’s, all too rare trip north yesterday, has left me with some reflections when it comes to Y Gogledd:

• Firstly, personal bilateral meetings are far more effective and fruitful than more public events (perhaps though an on-going election might just have something to do with that!);
• Secondly, that there are some amazing leaders out there who are ready and willing to tackle the “big ticket” issues, if they are empowered to do so, from the top! It has proved to me that they are not just willing to be open minded and “envision the next chapter of public services” – they want to “co-author the next chapter and live and breathe it!” ….. Hugely exciting!
• Thirdly, we must spend more time engaging with Y Gogledd!! What a fantastic place to live and work!

For those visionary, open minded, leaders who did engage yesterday I say this…. You are an inspiration, you are “of this Digital Age”, and you are the future. Dew Cadre stands ready to help you in any way we can (That offer extends to no-charge support).

For those that didn’t even reply to the invitation and have shown no interest in engaging I say this… You can “bury your heads in the sand”, “bunker-in” and “batten down the hatches” but it simply will not be enough to withstand the 21st Century challenges you are facing. Combined, these challenges represent a Tsunami on its way and your current direction of travel will not save you.

For those who would like to engage, we’d love to hear from you. Here’s how you can:

Request a presentation speaker on 21st Century Digital Age Challenges
Buy and read the book
Join the debate on Linkedin

Or, if you prefer, I am always more than willing to meet you informally over coffee or perhaps luncheon.

Diolch yn fawr i chi

The Dew Cadre Llandudno book launch 17th April 2012

John Dew OBE, will be visiting Llandudno on April 17th aiming to stimulate a serious discussion about his public sector transformation book:

“Envisioning the next chapter of public service”

Based on 18 months research and consultation, John has explored both the challenges facing our precious public services and the effectiveness of our response to date. He challenges whether our direction of travel and speed of transformation effort is likely to be successful in our fast-moving digital age. His book promotes the case for decisive action, unified leadership, heightened national collaboration, transition planning and radical modernisation (led by our public services) in order to:

• Tackle the National Debt (Currently £1,014,000,000,000 and rising!)
• Stimulate Growth
• Put the UK at the forefront of economic recovery.

“If you are one of the 6,000,000 public servants in the UK, you need to read this book. You may not like what you read, but it is essential reading for those who are struggling to get to grips with the massive changes that surround our Nation’s SERVICES.”

We look forward to meeting you on Tuesday 17 April 17:00 to 18:30 Padarn Room, Venue Cymru, Promenade, Llandudno, LL30 1BB

The event is free to attend and you can reserve your place by calling 07530 925215.

“Transformation in the public sector from the unaffordable to affordable” – Presentation and Book Signing in Llandudno

Building on how well Dew Cadre’s book was received at the Cardiff Launch event,

Dew Cadre will now be holding a presentation and book signing of the first book “Envisioning the Next Chapter in Public Service” in Llandudno on the 17^th of April.

The presentation will be given by John Dew OBE, ex-public servant, author of the book and change management guru who will bring alive the possibilities of change in the public sector.

With only a week to go here is a flavour of what John will be speaking about:

“Transformation that will see public services become highly agile, adept, adaptive and affordable 21st Century Digital Era “Living Organisms” rather than, the now unaffordable and far too ridged “Political Machines” of the 20th Century Industrial Era.”

To attend or find out more about the event please click here: Llandudno Book Signing and Presentation

Dew Cadre’s book launch event in Cardiff and the start of a journey

Thank you to everyone who attended the launch event at City Hall Cardiff yesterday. The evening was attended by an eclectic group of public servants, business representatives, graduates and consultants.
 

John described the publication of this, the first of two books to be published this year, as “crossing the starting line of a journey of exploration” a journey aimed at stimulating fresh ideas, innovation and a greater sense of urgency for public sector transformation.
 
His presentation outlined the major challenges and uncertainties that lie ahead for the public sector and considered the response to date. He told those present that:

”….. the challenges the public sector faces are immense and that the pressure for greater and faster transformation would be ramped-up over coming months. The pace of change is accelerating to warp factor speed and despite the significant efforts being made by our excellent public servants we are not moving quickly enough. Old ways of thinking and over-reliance on old constructs need to be replaced with new ways of thinking – generating fresh ideas! We need a shift in “paradigm” and time I’m afraid is not on our side.
 
We need to find a way of tackling the “big ticket” issues (like the continued affordability and relevance of our current local government infrastructure) and do so in such a way that brings the public service and the entire Nation along with the change journey. It won’t be easy, but this Country has handled worse predicaments in the past.
 
The keys to successfully unlocking the seemingly impenetrable challenges we face are to have:

• A convincing and compelling change imperative (We definitely have one!);
• National Unity;
• A Sense of Purpose and Direction;
• Visionary and Bold Transformational Leadership; and
• Immediate Action now!

We can no longer defer these big decisions – and it is the public service that must be at the vanguard leading the recovery.
 
The next chapter of public service demands: The urgent renewal and regeneration of our precious public services. Transformation that will see them become highly agile, adept, adaptive and affordable 21st Century Digital Era “Living Organisms” rather than, the now unaffordable and far too ridged “Political Machines” of the 20th Century Industrial Era. Service organisms, that are intrinsically capable of serving and supporting the Nation’s future prosperity in what is becoming an increasingly complex, connected and fast-moving Global Digital Age environment”.

If you are interested in being part of this journey:

• Purchase the Book
• Watch videos produced by Dew Cadre on their ethos and ideas
• Request a presentation for your organisation
• Join the debate through our Linkedin group

Meet John Dew OBE next week in Cardiff where he will be discussing his new book – “Envisioning the next chapter in Public Service”

If you’re a public servant or someone who works in associated supporting sectors you will know the crisis that our precious public services are facing due to the current economic climate and a range of other factors.

Join John as he embarks on a journey to create new ideas and remove the barriers that stand in the way of delivering outstanding 21st century service to our nation. This journey will begin with the launch of his book on the 28th of March.

The book will explore the major challenges facing the public sector currently and you will have the opportunity to listen to him speak in person at the event and ask him questions.
 
Watch this short video to get a feel for the themes that the book considers and will be discussed at the launch event:

Grab one of the last few seats remaining!
The event has been very well received and we strongly recommend that if you want to attend the event to book now soon. Simply click here to reserve your place.

Book Launch - Envisioning The Next Chapter of Public Service

As we journey further into the second decade of the new Millennium our Nation, like all other northern hemisphere countries, faces immense challenges.

At the start of 2012 high on everyone’s agenda is the economic downturn. With burdensome levels of national debt, low economic growth, inevitable austerity measures, increasing unemployment, and social unrest - our national “heartbeat” is feeling the strain.

If this wasn’t enough to cope with, there are other forces affecting our nation’s future health and well-being: Globalisation, Digital Age technological advancement; National social demographics including an ageing population; and the threat of increasing social division and levels of deprivation. The Government’s strategy of pursuing a two- pronged plan for recovery is being subjected to immense challenge and resistance. The austerity measures aimed at tackling the national debt are painful and everyone is, in some way, directly affected. The Nation is racked with dissent, unease, fear and foreboding.

There is deep anger at the financial sector and politicians whom many blame for the state of the nation’s finances. There is a palpable state of anxiety, which is fuelled by the constant news of closures, job cuts, rising repossessions and talk of a lost generation through the highest level of youth unemployment for two decades. Over a million public servants risk losing their jobs and face long-term unemployment. There is industrial action and the country faces a spring, summer and winter of discontent This book explores whether there is another way of responding to the challenges we face especially the “perfect storm” conditions in our economic climate.

Based on 18 months of research and consultation, it explores the effectiveness of our public sector response to date. Challenging whether our direction of travel, is the best journey for our national recovery and for the future of our public services. Its conclusions are thought provoking - Likening the current leadership response to 1970/80s Groundhog day! It warns, that unless we move beyond 20th century policy and management responses to economic downturn, our nation is doomed to decades of decline and will fall behind other more progressive countries.

But that vision doesn’t need to become reality…. with decisive action, unified leadership, a sense of national unity, transition planning and radical modernisation (led by our public services), we can tackle the debt, stimulate growth, and be the vanguard of economic recovery in the northern hemisphere.

This book says the things that many dare not say. It confronts: vested interests; political dogma and posturing; individual and institutional protectionism; and the use of 20th Century industrial era legacy tools that stifle the agility, flexibility and progress we need in order to respond to the challenges of the fast moving 21st Century landscape evolving before us.

Crucially, it offers all those with an interest in our precious public services a viable and sustainable alternative to crude and divisive cut and burn response.

• Enquire about the book launch events
  
• Purchase the book
• Request a speaker/presentation