Strategy and Delivery

Mike Barnato, 24 November 2009

Successful organisations, in my experience, have both excellent strategies and excellent delivery. That’s because policy and delivery are like the twin blades of a pair of scissors. Just like a pair of scissors, each blade is only of use when combined with the other blade.

So a great policy that cannot be delivered is just a dream. Great delivery of a bad policy is just a distraction.

I work with government, private and third sectors as a management consultant and interim manager. I frequently come across this disconnection between policy and strategy and delivery. Here are some of the most common causes:

In the private sector

The private sector is often responsible for delivering the policy. But it has never been properly discussed. This causes delay, bad feeling and sometimes failure.

The policy will create further administrative burdens. They can be absorbed by large firms, but are less readily understood by small and medium enterprises. For example, when I recruit staff for clients, I know to check out identity and right to work, but many do not.

In the third sector

Charities and social enterprises sometimes find that they have become the delivery arm of government and may lose sight of their advocacy agenda. This was a common complaint when I set up a new agency.

In the public sector

The civil service and agencies suffer from initiative overload. There are often multiple competing initiatives, complex dependencies and unclear priorities. This often applies within departments, as well as between them.

The policy has become a ‘ministerial imperative’, has been set on the hoof and without looking at alternatives. When it comes to delivery, a business case needs to be made, prior to procurement. This results in delay and construction of a flaky one.

Across all sectors

Rhetoric has dominated over reality. The policy will work only if everything goes perfectly. In reality this is unlikely. I have seen this in several large IT initiatives.

So what are the common themes to these examples?

• Learning from experience.
• Making mistakes only once.
• Understanding the practicalities of delivery.
• Grasping the different perspectives of private, central and third sectors.
• Seeing issues as a whole, but without losing sight of the detail.

And that’s why I am keen to avoid over reliance on narrow technical advisers, who know more and more, about less and less. And that’s also why I think many Members of Parliament would benefit from more real world experience. And we would all benefit from better polices, delivered better.

Mike helps organisations become more dynamic, effective and simpler, to read his blog click here.