Pages: 7

How do leaders and managers meet challenges and solve complex problems? Drawing on experience, a framework is developed: a foundation built on four pillars – systems, strategy, finance, and structures – followed by ‘three kinds of thinking’ – policy, analysis, and design (PAD), along with the foundations of a systems perspective – defining the system of interest and its ecosystem, theory, and methods (STM). Examples cover education, government, research, and industry: the principles are widely applicable. The argument laid out in this chapter proceeds through the book with a chapter on each of the four pillars, an integrating chapter on ‘making things work’, and a concluding chapter speculating on future challenges.

Pages: 21

It helps to see the ‘systems and ecosystems’ perspective as building the ‘big picture’ – the system of interest itself and all its connections. This provides an essential foundation and is too often neglected or underplayed. In this chapter, examples are developed which show how serious work on the big picture can be the basis of strategy building, and indeed budgeting and designing structures, to solve problems. These are wide-ranging, from universities and schools, local and central government, to industry and research. They include the recognition that the structure of a university administration bore little connection to the key functions, that the root of under-recruitment of science and engineering students lay in the failure of many schools to supply three-subject science GCSEs, that challenges in government and industry needed better underpinning analytics, and that much research funding was fragmented and not targeted on strategic challenges.

Pages: 12

Building a strategy is the second ‘pillar’ but each of the other three pillars contribute directly to the task of thinking this through. The issues are explored through four questions. What are we for?; What is the split between maintaining the present system and being able to invest for the future?; How to articulate challenges and invent and explore possible solutions?; and What do we need to know – the necessary analytics? A university strategic plan provides one case study; a range of examples demonstrate the challenge of ‘joining up’ across government; how new financial principles can meet a challenge and change a culture; and the necessities of powerful analytics in industry, notably retail and other consumer and client-facing services.

Pages: 10

Robert Caro’s mantra for journalists – ‘turn every page’ – is translated into ‘read every line’ of accounts to ensure a thorough knowledge of finances in higher management, indeed in all levels of management. Some core principles are outlined: the advantage of ‘open’ accounts; budgeting, including handling perpetual underspends; dealing with surprises; maximising advantages from philanthropy. Good and open financial management can change the culture of organisations and facilitate strategic thinking and building functioning structures. Finance should obviously be a key element of analytics and examples are provided of well-based investment appraisals, notably in retail and public services.

Pages: 10

Structures are important, though restructuring of itself will not usually solve problems! There are no golden rules for organisational (re)structuring, no unique solutions, but a poor non-functioning structure can be disastrous! Three key principles are presented as examples: (1) Mintzberg’s argument that organisations whose front-line workers are very skilled professionals (such as hospital consultants) should ensure they are part of the management; (2) Christensen’s argument that staff will resist new disruptive technologies and there are structural solutions to this challenge; and (3) Barber’s focus on the key principles of achieving ‘delivery’. Ways forward depend on good work achieved in implementing the earlier three pillars. In this chapter a description of ‘standard’ structures is given as a starting point with particular reference to ‘accountability’, and particularly, the danger of unaccountability. A number of examples of successful restructuring are offered.

Pages: 9

This chapter reveals discovering ‘what works’ is an iterative process, cycling round the four pillars and continually adding analytical capability where necessary. There are ‘tricks of the trade’ in making progress. Beware the temptation to set up a new unit every time there is a new problem. Temporary project groups can be very effective and, indeed, it can be valuable to have a Project Management Group that can be drawn on to contribute to such work. It is important to have ‘leadership’ at all levels: all members of the Senior Management Team, heads of units at all levels, even individuals structuring their own work programmes, encouraged to meet both institutional and personal objectives. ‘Heads’ can be CEOs for their own units! Beware of over-reliance on performance management targets which can be unhelpful and de-motivating.

Pages: 17

This chapter describes how leadership and management within organisations are set in a context of wider national and global challenges. Awareness and the possibility of contributing to the meeting of these challenges are important. Examples are: climate change and sustainability, security, pandemics, and social coherence and inclusion. Most organisations can contribute to one or more of these. In terms of the four areas, this chapter provides examples through the use of the Cisco formula in education (which includes the importance of technological change), joining-up (and levelling-up) in government, the need to explore longer-term time horizons in industry, and the need to hone judgements in research by exploring the game-changers of the past and being ambitious, and funding at sufficient scale, in the future.