Month: February 2023

Week 25: 20-24 February

Sometimes it’s hard to get going after a holiday. Not this one. I went out for a run and got back to find out we had a problem. Because it was a Saturday and because of what it was I expected it to be over by lunchtime. Like the First World War, it turned out to last a bit longer. Saturday finished on Sunday and Sunday started early. But we were smart enough to mobilise help. By 10am we had folk all over the country coming together to help solve the problem. I’m grateful to all of them of course – and embarrassed that our service failure caused such inconvenience to colleagues. But I’m particularly proud of the roles played by our core team. It was an invaluable and accelerated learning experience for me and I’m confident we can do more of this stuff.

On Monday morning I dressed for a run but didn’t make it, and didn’t actually manage a shower until I had to go out that evening. It turned out that we hadn’t fixed it, and it took until Tuesday evening before we knew for sure. It was definitely going to be one of those weeks.

The most important thing this week was our event at TechUK to discuss the technology strategy and roadmap. Our event there in August had helped identify the need for the document and so it was fitting to go back with an early draft and get some feedback. Refreshingly there wasn’t a mushy consensus but I had a proper challenge to my thinking. There were lots of supportive comments too, and at least from my perspective the discordant comments made the event more interesting. we’re lucky enough that people have taken time to make detailed comments on the draft which is really rewarding and I’m very grateful.

I was up early on Wednesday to get the first train to London for another productivity deputy director meeting.  At the moment the more we do, the better we get at them. The TDA had its first disagreement (as well as its best document so far (on digital jury bundles). By Wednesday evening though I was knackered and watched Your Place or Mine almost until the end which made me disgusted in my choices.  

Thursday was then a marathon of 9 meetings (although I actually haven’t run all week) followed by another late night and then a 7am train to York.

In my by now semi-delirious state I then managed two energising sessions; a one to one and a discussion with members of our innovation team. The former showed we’re getting much closer to some key strategic developments. Out of the latter we’re going to form a regular slot for people to come and tell me what I need to do differently. But it’s also clear that whilst we’re impatient for change (and probably need to dial this up) many of the ideas we’ve had about how we work mean we’ve analysed the situation correctly and our teams want to make these changes happen. 

So I’m mostly looking forward to the weekend. But when we get there, my priorities next week will be:

• Agreeing the strategic options case for our ensuring service continuity programme (which relates to 20-odd applications which we’re redesigning)
• Using the feedback from suppliers to redraft the tech strategy and roadmap
• Supporting the first show & tell for our proof of concept and helping it land well with users

Week 22: 30 January – 3 February

It was a funny old week. By an objective measure, I failed. I set three goals and met just one of them. Our Product Owner has made a good start in leading our proof of concept and the team is starting to feel like a multidisciplinary product team using Agile approaches to deliver value to users. But I made no progress with the business case to give the overview of the Ensuring Service Continuity programme. And I didn’t touch the tech strategy and roadmap.

The senior team of the directorate had an ersatz away day on Tuesday. There were eight different topics we wanted to cover but we managed to do it as if a single conversation which worked well. The perennial challenge is whether the actions match the analysis and how on earth you find time for the actions alongside everything else (particularly when, by virtue of having spent a day away from things you’re already chasing your tail for the rest of the week). But by sharing a summary of the discussion with the team I’m hoping that we can use the expectation and accountability that creates to make progress. One of my reflections following the day is that I’ve been effective at landing a handful of phrases to describe where we are. Now I need to find ways of articulating positive phrases to describe where we want to be.

The other big commitment this week was a collaborative session with a supplier. We’re reaching the end of the rollout phase and need to transition into service. We’ve got stuck on working through some of the contractual details. So by getting everyone around the table we were able to crack through most of the issues and develop a clear plan for what’s left. I do wonder what the true ROI looks like but given it has to be done, better to do it well.

I’ve spent most of my life trying to find shortcuts. I was always impatient for the next challenge and more interested in what’s next than what’s in front of me. But, in my increasing years, I have some gratitude for the value of experience. One of the most important things I’ve learnt in the last five years is different techniques to solve a problem. I’ve now got five different tools I use regularly whereas before I really only had one. The world of consultancy doesn’t really provide scenarios to do this.

I finished the week by going to an event on rugby coaching with the guru for all amateur coaches, Dan Cotterrell. One of the key things that I’ve seen training children is how much more effectively they learn when a skill is ‘layered’. The drill begins with a single, short idea and then as the session continues a new aspect is added at regular intervals. Of late I’ve been obsessed with how this could be adapted to a work environment. I’ve not yet convinced anyone else of this. But the key events this week showed opportunities to break down how we could work differently into small components that we can simplify, practice, improve and then build up.

At our priorities meeting on Friday morning I revealed how I failed to meet any of my goals and tried to get out of jail free by making more vague commitments to next week’s goals. I’m still not confident I’ve nailed them. I think there’s something around:

1. Our readiness to initiate the tender process for the Service Desk
2. Preparing for the first show & tell for our proof of concept
3. Sharing a draft tech strategy and roadmap, incorporating feedback from our teams, ahead of our TechUK seminar in a couple of week’s time
4. Ensuring we complete the actions to transition our contract into business as usual