This document provides an introduction to the foundational theories behind the Total Place initiative in local government. The key ideas discussed include: 1. Total Place recognizes that human systems are complex and adaptive, requiring messy solutions rather than simple fixes. 2. Different viewpoints and cultural theories should be considered to develop diverse solutions for "wicked problems". 3. A focus on public value, not just costs or services, is needed to truly serve citizens. Outcomes, strategic goals, and operational capacity must be considered together. 4. Leadership should facilitate new thinking to address challenges in innovative ways. Total Place aims to bring different players and perspectives together to generate new ideas.

1. Leadership Centre for local government
Total Place: a practitioner’s guide to
doing things differently

2. Contents Introduction
The Total Place journey –
or there and back again
(with apologies to JRR Tolkien)
Introduction The Total Place journey – David Bolger
or there and back again .............................................3
Guide to the guide ......................................................5
Section 1.0 Understanding systemic change................................6
The Hobbit may not be an obvious starting
Starting out ............................................................... 24
Section 2.0
point for a compendium of ideas about Total
Section 3.0 Connecting the system to itself ............................... 44
Place. But the quest as a storytelling model
Section 4.0 Being human ............................................................. 62
retains extraordinary power even here in the
Section 5.0 Using power differently ............................................ 78 sceptical world of the 21st century.
Section 6.0 Counting and story-telling........................................ 92
Section 7.0 Thinking differently................................................. 110 In this document, we have gathered the The thirteen Total Place pilots have each
wisdom of a number of people who have undertaken a unique journey over the
been involved in the Total Place adventure. past nine months or so. It is abundantly
Their wisdom ranges widely across clear that there is no single set of rules to
theories and models of change, embracing follow and that there is more work to be
practical ideas on processes and things undertaken – the story is far from over.
to do, and also touching on the inevitable
Nevertheless, at this point, it seems right
human dimensions of change.
to try to gather the experience of the Total
In some cases these experiences of the Place pioneers to date; to understand
Total Place quest are recounted by the what they have found useful, inspiring and
pilots’ programme managers and leads. rewarding in the journeys they have made;
Others are insights from Leadership Centre and to offer to those who are embarking
advisers who have worked closely on their own quest some modest thoughts
with places. on ways of thinking and behaving which
may be of help.
2 3

3. The compendium is divided
into three main areas:
Guide to the guide
THEORIES AND MODELS here we We have broken down our contributors’ pieces into seven
briefly summarise, and reference, some of sections, to help you find the most relevant pieces
1 THEORIES AND the models of change etc which Total Place for you at any given time. Those sections are:
1
MODELS practitioners have drawn on; the models
are generally well known, researched and
documented
Understanding systemic change Getting your mind
around the ‘founding’ theories of the initial Total Place approach –
the ideas that started things out and shaped the first phase.
2
PRACTICE here we capture some very
practical ideas which have been used in
2 PRACTICE the various Total Place quests. As with
the theories and models, no prescriptions Starting out Getting set up, recognising the need for ‘learning
are on offer. Simply a description of cycles’ as a scaffolding for Total Place work, and using those cycles
approaches which have been used to to maximise the impact of a piece of Total Place work.
3
move the Total Place idea forward
HUMAN IMPLICATIONS here we Connecting the system to itself Linking up people across
capture ideas about social interactions your system to generate new ideas and agreements – the power of
3 HUMAN which have proved insightful for Total multi-party conversations.
4
IMPLICATIONS Place practitioners.
Being human Recognising the emotional impacts of
change on people and the effects of social dynamics on groups
and organisations.
5
The compendium is exactly that: It goes without saying, almost, that the
a collection of ideas and approaches various authors of this document offer
which may be of value to those setting no warranties about the efficacy of their
ideas. They offer them humbly, in a spirit Using power differently Neither ignoring nor being
out on a Total Place journey. There is
of co-operation and shared learning, to overwhelmed by the power hierarchies we work in.
6
no guiding narrative to the pieces here,
although there are evident overlaps those who may follow them on the Total
and echoes between the ‘chunks’ and Place quest. You must make of them what
between individual pieces. The separate you will-and we hope that in time you will Counting and story-telling Using data, stories and
pieces are designed to stand alone and be moved to share your own experiences deep dives to find the information that begins to change minds:
can be dipped into according to taste. with the growing Total Place community. professional minds, leadership minds and political minds.
7
Each piece has an identified author, with The views expressed in this publication are
contact details; and where appropriate, those of the author and do not necessarily
references are provided for theories and reflect the views or opinions of the Thinking differently Taking your new information and
models quoted. Leadership Centre for Local Government working with it in innovative ways – using new ideas and theories
or its staff. and playing with your creativity.
4 5

4. 1
Getting your mind around the ‘founding’
theories of the initial Total Place approach
– the ideas that started things out and
shaped the first phase.
Section 1
Understanding systemic change
Getting past the polarities – an introduction to Total Place . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Total Place – the founding ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Living systems, adaptive change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Information, identity, relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Wicked problems, wicked work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Diverse cultures, diverse solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Leadership that changes thinking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Public value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
6 7

5. Getting past the polarities – Culture Counting
an introduction to Total Place Forming cross-agency
leadership boards, design Task
Conducting high level
and detailed ‘Deep Dives’
groups, professional assessing cost against benefit
collectives – diverse across the whole public realm
groupings of people who and for specific citizens,
John Atkinson, Managing director, Leadership Centre do the work together families and target groups
for Local Government
Participating in customer
Customer involvement and insight work
Total Place is a ‘both/and’ exercise: places and Citizen – interviews, group sessions,
innovation workshops,
Whitehall were asked to work together to find ways co-design exercises, ward
level conversations
of creating better outcomes for citizens at lower cost
to the taxpayer.
Agencies Whitehall
Getting together across Players Joining in counting and
This was the first difficult thing for people to So, why do we think Total Place is different
sectors to define themes, share design work, facilitating new
get their heads around – Total Place is not a from all of these myriad initiatives that have information, create new ideas, policy conversations, acting
service improvement initiative nor is it a cost- washed over our bows over the last twenty negotiate implementation as Champions in Whitehall
cutting exercise. It is an approach to ‘public years or so? It’s because we think that
value’ (more on this later) that includes Total Place is the first time that two crucial
both improvement and innovation and a triads have been brought together in a
close eye on the value to the citizen being single piece of work. • How do the organisational cultures of leaders meet together with Whitehall
generated (or failing to be generated) by agencies in places and departments colleagues as part of theme groups
each public service pound that we spend. The task triad: Customers,
in Whitehall hamper our ability to and at senior leaders events; agency
counting, culture
Total Place is also an attempt to bring all of deliver value to the public? Are our professionals and managers have worked
The ‘task’ of Total Place has been to attempts to maintain organisational with customers at large system events and
the contributors to public value together in
consider all three of the key aspects in the sovereignty getting in the way of working via smaller design groups.
one place. A lofty ambition!
creation of public value: collaboratively to shift society’s most
We have a long history of partnership And the choices that working this way
• What does the citizen really want from us intransigent problems?
initiatives in the public sector, each of create are fundamental and deeply
when they are in the role of customer?
which has made an impact in shifting us The player triad: Agencies, political. This needs to be recognised
Do they really want all the things we
towards a more collaborative approach citizens, Whitehall from the outset and welcomed as part of
provide or would they rather do much of
between agencies. Many individual a reinvigoration of healthy public debate
it for themselves? Where they do need And the design of Total Place has been
councils, primary car trusts, police forces about what is best for our places and how
the support of the public service, are we to create as much connection between
and other agencies have also done good best this can be achieved.
doing a decent job or driving them half the different players in public value as
work with local citizens, involving them in mad with our internal fragmentation and possible. No one agency in a place or So, if you think the leaders of your place
community development, service design arcane language? department in Whitehall has dictated the are ready for a ‘both/and’ approach to
and outcome setting. Some Whitehall • What really counts in the huge expenditure work. Perhaps more importantly, a great generating public value, Total Place may
departments have got closer to their managed by the public sector? How deal of attention has been paid to creating be the approach for you. It’s not about
agencies, connecting leaders in places to much bang are we really getting for our cross system forums where very significant everyone getting involved in everything but
policy makers around specific initiatives. buck? Is the actual investment in services conversations take place. Whitehall it is about always keeping the whole task
to the customer undermined by the cost champions have got involved in places; and all the actors in mind – a complex but
of ‘being in business’? place agency leaders and local political rewarding way of working.
8 9

6. 1 5
Total Place - the founding ideas Myron’s maxims: working with adaptive change Elegant solutions don’t solve wicked problems
High
• Real change happens in real work Fatalism Hierarchy
John Atkinson, Managing director, Leadership Centre • Those who do the work do the change
• People own what they create
GRID:
Rules
for Local Government • Start anywhere, go everywhere
and
Roles
Individualism Egalitarianism
• Connect the system to more of itself
Low High
Total Place is a bit different from the usual initiative Source: Myron Rogers
Group orientation
2
or centrally orchestrated programme – sometimes Myron Rogers
Diverse solutions to unmanageable youths
High
Fatalists Hierarchists
frustratingly so. Structure Identity Meaning
There’s nothing we can do.
There have been feral young
men in every society and
on-one knows what to do
Stronger discipline is needed:
Sanction parents
Give police more powers
GRID: about them
Rules
It didn’t come with a programme plan, can only be addressed with messy
Individualists Egalitarians
and
Kids need better life chances: Kids need more support:
Roles
Offer incentives to stay Provide mentors
toolkit or defined outcomes – no set of (not elegantly simple) solutions in school
Give rewards for good
Create opportunities for
community contribution
instructions to follow. But it did come with (Wicked problems, wicked solutions) behaviour
Low High
a, largely unspoken, body of theory behind 4. If we want to address those wicked Systems Policy Information Relationships Action Trust
Group orientation:
Belonging and meaning
it, theory that informed the design and that problems we must be willing to adapt
has informed the day to day decisions of our thinking, and it is a key role of Source: Myron Rogers Adapted from the work of Mary Douglas
the Leadership Centre for Local leadership to help ourselves and others 3 6
Government and the High Level Officials’ to think new thoughts (Leadership that The strategic triangle
Group responsible for steering the work
What kind of problem is it?
changes thinking)
through Whitehall. We thought it would be 5. Different individuals have different Do you know how to solve this problem? The Authorising Enviroment
helpful for places who are wanting to overarching cultural theories about
embark on Total Place work to have some Yes No Public Value Outcomes
how human systems work – all of Strategic Goals
understanding of those theories, whether those theories have value in building Is it a crisis?
Does anyone know to
solve this?
they want to use them in their work or not! messy solutions (Diverse viewpoints,
Each of the founding ideas outlined below diverse solutions) Yes No Yes No
is dealt with in more depth in one of the 6. If we focus only on ‘service Critical problem Wicked problem
Tame problem
following pieces in this section. improvement’ or on ‘cost cutting’, Act as a commander
Be decisive
Act as a manager
Use S.O.Ps
Act as a leader
Ask questions and use Operational Capacity
Provide answers clumsy solutions
1. Human communities and organisations we get further and further away from
are not machines, they are living, understanding the true value of public Sourced from Professor Keith Grint, Warwick Business School Source: Mark Moore
adapting systems so we need work for the public we are trying to 4
approaches to change that recognise serve (Public value)
Changing our thinking
Please see the following pages for
this fact (Living systems, adaptive full details:
As you read through this guide to Total Unproductive fantasy
change) Denial
Place, you will spot each of these founding 1 Living systems, adaptive
2. Our leadership attention is best spent
Unrealistic
ideas popping up over and over again,
Not enough
change ........................................ page 12
Sense of
by considering the information that
Existing Map
sometimes overtly, sometimes in disguise.
Experimentation Realistic Sense of
Tension Just right 2 Information, identity,
shapes the system, the identity relationships ............................... page 14
the system is creating for itself and And, as you consider your own local Total New map Loosening Map 3 Wicked problems, wicked work.... page 16
the relationships that uphold the work. Place exercise, you may want to think 4 Leadership that changes
which of these founding ideas you find Sufficient Sense of thinking ....................................... page 20
(Information, identity, relationships) Safety
Thought Experiments
5 Diverse cultures, diverse
3. The long standing and remarkably useful and how you might incorporate None
Sense of
Positive Future
Just right
Not enough
solutions ..................................... page 18
resilient problems now faced by our them in your own work. Despair Panic
6 Public value ................................ page 22
society are ‘wicked problems’ that Adapted from Kurt Lewin
10 11

7. Living systems, adaptive change Myron’s maxims: working with adaptive change
John Atkinson, Managing director, Leadership Centre
• Real change happens in real work
for Local Government
• Those who do the work do the change
• People own what they create
One of the central ideas of Total Place is that the • Start anywhere, go everywhere
long-standing machine metaphor of organisation • Connect the system to more of itself
and social systems is handicapping our ability to
understand the environment we work in and how to
change the behaviours of those systems. Source: Myron Rogers
By the machine metaphor, we mean a In his work with the Leadership Centre on • Self organisation: social systems • As over-arching issues started to emerge
view of the social and organisational world our Leeds Castle Leadership Programme, preserve their identity. Once a group or (especially on the relationship between
that assumes that people are passive Myron describes his view of the five major organisation has formed a loyalty, people places and national Government),
actors who take instructions and carry characteristics of living systems: will act to hold on to the identity they new spaces were made to have those
them out, that there are ‘levers of power’ • Chaos and complexity: complex have created. discussions rather than them being
that can be pulled somewhere that will systems are characterised by ambiguity, declared ‘out of scope’
change behaviour and that setting a target Myron’s five maxims for working with living • Many opportunities were created to
uncertainty and unexpected connections.
will completely drive an intended change. systems are shown in the box above. connect previously unconnected bits of
Order arises from chaotic and unmanaged
The last twenty years of attempted public Perhaps you can see how the initial design the system – e.g. professionals in places
micro-interactions, rather than because of
service reform shows us that, while small of Total Place reflected these ideas: with policy makers in Whitehall, leaders
some design from on high.
positive changes have been made, the • Emergence: living systems seem chaotic • Places were asked to do real work rather in one area to leaders from another, front
outcomes for individual citizens have not and unpredictable but their patterns are than just ‘set up a partnership’ – to find line professionals with financial analysts,
altered to the extent that the machine created by simple underlying rules which a theme, actively diagnose the issues middle managers with citizens
metaphor would have had us hope. are not usually apparent to the actors. and create some innovative potential
interventions As you begin, or continue, to work on
So, during the design and initiation phase • Cognition: no one person can ever your Total Place exercises, you may want
of Total Place, we turned to the work ‘see the system’. Each person will have • Senior leaders were asked to get actively
involved in the work (politicians, agency to consider how you can use these ideas
of those theorists and educators who a different perspective depending on in your work to experiment with their
emphasise a completely different lens for their place in the system and what they leaders and colleagues in Whitehall)
rather than delegating to others to do power – perhaps the machine metaphor
looking at human activity – that of the living see determines what they do. will begin to have had its day!
system (sometimes known as complex the change for them
• Networks: people are strongly linked
adaptive systems theory). There are now by their informal ties and by the stories • Places were encouraged to work closely
many writers who work with these ideas they tell. If the ‘official line’ does not fit with front-line staff and citizens rather
but the person who has most influenced with the lived reality of players, they will than just consulting them once the work
our work is Myron Rogers. ignore or subvert it. was done – to move gently towards
co-creation
12 13

8. Information, identity, relationships Looking at the work we do
John Atkinson, Managing director, Leadership Centre Structure Identity Meaning
for Local Government
Much has been made of Total Place as a whole
systems intervention. Working with whole systems
is now increasingly listed in government literature as
being a key requirement of effective leadership. Systems Policy Information Relationships Action Trust
The term however, is exceptionally vague. beliefs and the emotional responses they
Source: Myron Rogers
Some people can list over forty different bring to each other and their work.
philosophies that might constitute a whole
Myron suggests we should spend our
systems approach. Total Place has tried to
leadership attention on identity, information betterment of Total Place. There has been
remain pragmatic in the face of all of this
and relationships. That this creates an At the same time, getting new information no substitute in Total Place for racking up
and has plotted a course through the work
environment of trust, which in turn ensures into our discussion has been critical. The the travel miles and the mobile bill.
that is mindful of the theory, but rooted in
we address the appropriate rather than most important source of this has been
everyday experience. So one element of Total Place is the
historical actions and that together this will the citizen. Raising the profile of people’s
requirement to move away from the
Myron Rogers has worked with whole make work in the public service altogether stories about engaging with the state
comfort of policy, structures and systems
systems for decades and has worked more meaningful for those involved. brings different perspectives. Put this
and into a vaguer but more purposeful
with repeated cohorts of the Leeds Castle alongside the wealth of data from the
I have interpreted the issue of identity as world that asks more difficult questions.
Leadership Programme. He suggests a deep dives about how we really provide
determining who we mean when we say • Who are the people that we really need
way of looking at the work we do along the services and the cost of this, then the
‘we’ and what it is that ‘we’ are trying to together to solve the problems we face?
lines of the diagram opposite. conversations we have about what we
do. In Total Place, we have made new • What do we collectively know that we
could (and ought) to do become different.
Our time is primarily spent in the first connections between Whitehall and can use to move us forward?
three circles. We focus our activity on the places, across different areas of local Through Total Place, people have made
• How can we forge new and stronger
structures necessary to get our work done, geography and between the state and new relationships and strengthened old
connections with the people we need
the policies that we wish to pursue and the citizens. This focus on a different ‘we’ ones. The quality and quantity of these
to in order to deliver altogether better
systems or mechanisms by which we do creates a new identity and allows us relationships directly impacts on our ability
services in a time of tough financial
this. While these are useful pursuits, they new possibilities. The variety of different to get things done. One senior civil servant
constraint?
fail to significantly address the important meetings, workshops and forums and describes me as judiciously using the
dynamic at play. Our work takes place the growth of the online communities of car-park, train station, late-night mobile You can read more about Myron’s
with people, human beings, with all their practice and other ‘e’-processes have all phone call to cajole, dragoon, seduce ideas in the book: ‘A Simpler Way’,
capacity for creativity, their prejudices and helped to build a sense of identity around or otherwise persuade an accountable Myron Rogers and Margaret Wheatley,
the work. individual to do something useful for the Berrett-Koehler, 2002.
14 15

9. Wicked problems, wicked work What kind of problem is it?
David Bolger, Leadership Centre adviser Do you know how to solve this problem?
Yes No
Situational Leadership is a term, and model, devised
by Hersey and Blanchard, and identified four main Is it a crisis?
Does anyone know to
solve this?
styles for leaders which they could adopt according
to the capacity of their teams. These modes are:
Yes No Yes No
directing; coaching; supporting and delegating.
Details can be found in Blanchard’s • Wicked, where the challenge is either Critical problem Tame problem Wicked problem
‘Leadership and the One Minute Manager’. wholly novel or perhaps is long-standing, Act as a commander Act as a manager Act as a leader
In recent years, Professor Keith Grint, now proving impervious to previous efforts to Be decisive Use standard Ask questions and use
of Warwick Business School, has linked the resolve it - teenage pregnancies might Provide answers operationg procedures clumsy solutions
idea of adaptive leadership approaches to be an example, or long term addictions
the work of Rittell and Webber on so-called to alcohol or drugs
‘wicked problems’. Sourced from Professor Keith Grint, Warwick Business School
Proponents of a contextual leadership
There are two dimensions to consider: the approach might argue that the role of
leadership challenge which is presenting; a leader is, first, to identify the nature • For wicked problems, leadership But beware of two things. First, problems
and the leadership approach which is of the challenge, and then to adopt the is required - if we’ve never seen this will not necessarily present simply. They
adopted to deal with the challenge. On appropriate leadership response. The problem before, and command and may combine facets of critical, tame and
the leadership challenge, the Rittell and corresponding leadership styles can be control or management don’t seem to wicked. Second, there is also evidence
Webber work suggests that challenges, or described as follows: work, then we need to look for new to show that leaders have preferred
problems, fall into three broad categories solutions; this also holds true if it’s an leadership approaches. For example, some
• For critical problems, command and
• Critical, where the challenge is evident old, intractable problem. We need to find leaders relish crises and the chance to
control is the necessary response-
and immediate- a fire might be an new ways of thinking and talking about give some command and control orders;
you don’t expect your leader to form a
example the issue; and we may have to accept some leaders prefer to manage, to defuse
committee if there’s a fire; you expect to
• Tame, where the challenge is well that it is not actually soluble, only that we the drama of crises but also to avoid
be told what to do, quickly and clearly
understood, and where procedures can make slow, experimental progress genuinely complex and intractable wicked
• For tame problems, management is or limit the damage. issues; and there are yet others for whom
have been developed and proven in called for - what do we already know
practice, even if the challenge is pretty everything is a wicked problem, requiring
about how to deal with this issue? What extensive and never-ending analysis and
complicated-brain surgery might be an are the procedures? Let’s do that: we
example consultation.
know it’s going to work
You can read more about Keith’s work
in the book: ‘Leadership: Limits and
Possibilities’, Palgrave MacMillan (2005)
16 17

10. Elegant solutions don’t solve wicked problems
Diverse cultures, diverse solutions High
Fatalism Hierarchy
Karen Ellis, Leadership Centre adviser
GRID:
Rules
and
One of the things that quickly becomes apparent to Roles
any observer of a Total Place conversation is that Individualism Egalitarianism
different individuals are operating from very different
core assumptions when it comes to their view of Low High
Group orientation
social change.
Diverse solutions to unmanageable youths
This is not new news! During the 1950s, • From the individualist: “I’ll send the
High
a superb social scientist named Mary experts off to design some solutions, try Fatalists Hierarchists
Douglas began to notice the same thing. them all out on a small scale and I’ll do a There’s nothing we can do. Stronger discipline is needed:
Fundamentally, she noticed that when ‘Dragon’s Den’ to choose between them” There have been feral young Sanction parents
men in every society and Give police more powers
people are in groups, their behaviour seems • From the hierarchist: “we, the leaders, on-one knows what to do
to be driven by where they sit (usually will set the criteria and you, the workers, GRID: about them
unconsciously) on each of two spectra : will work together and come back to us Rules
Individualists
and Egalitarians
• Do they enjoy and support formal rules with your proposals” Kids need better life chances: Kids need more support:
Roles
and roles or do they prefer to make up • From the egalitarian: “we will call Offer incentives to stay Provide mentors
in school Create opportunities for
their own rules? together all the people who have a stake Give rewards for good community contribution
• Do they like to feel part of a group or in the issue and run a collaborative event behaviour
do they prefer to stay independent and to design the solution together”
Low High
work alone? • From the fatalist: “whatever I do, it Group orientation:
will be subsumed by business-as-usual, Belonging and meaning
She called these two dimensions ‘Grid’ and
so I will put the minimum effort in to tick
‘Group’ and created the two-by-two matrix
your box”. Adapted from the work of Mary Douglas
of ‘Cultural Types’ shown opposite. Of
course, none of us is a pure type but most You may see some of your own behaviour
than the single viewpoint elegant solutions [Keith doesn’t say this but I feel bound to
of us would admit that there is at least one in the descriptions above!
that each type would instinctively prefer. defend fatalists as I think they have a lot
box that we prefer on most occasions and So why does this social science theory of realism to offer!]
certainly one that we don’t like at all! matter in Total Place? Professor Keith In the process of building messy solutions:
Grint has applied Mary’s ideas to the • Individualists are good at innovation and In your Total Place process, you will get
So when we get together in working
issue of wicked problems. He proposes protecting independence much further if you ensure that all of the
groups to discuss social or organisational
that the best solutions to long-standing • Hierarchists are good at decision making types have a voice in your work – after all,
change, these cultural differences start
social issues recognise all four of these and setting up structures they will all have to be part of the solution…
to show up. Unless, of course, our group
is subject to group-think. The differences cultural types. He says that each type • Egalitarians are good at consensual You can read more about Mary’s
appear not just in thinking about what has something to offer to the process of process and recognising everyone’s needs work in the book: ‘Risk and Culture’,
change we’d like to see (as in my ‘hoody’ identifying and thinking about what he • Fatalists are good at reminding people Mary Douglas and Aaron Wildavsky,
example opposite) but also in the process calls messy solutions – solutions that we’ve been here before and that this University of California Press, 1983
we’d like to use to find a solution: are much more sustainable in the long run may be as good as it gets.
18 19

11. Leadership that changes thinking Changing our thinking
Unproductive fantasy
Denial
Karen Ellis, Leadership Centre adviser
Unrealistic
Not enough
Sense of Existing map
experimentation Realistic Sense of
During the middle part of the 20th Century, Kurt Lewin tension Just right
attempted to look at the actual phenomena of personal
or social change without adding in ideas of what was New map Loosening map
good or bad, useful or non-useful.
Lewin made the distinction between 1. There is a growing sense of discomfort Sufficient Sense of
safety
learning as a change in knowledge and with existing knowledge, mindset
learning as a change in motivations or or espoused values – data is coming Thought experiments
Sense of Just right
values – the one does not assume the in that suggest that the ‘mental map’ None positive future Not enough
other. So, it’s important that we note that is no longer a good fit with reality.
knowledge on its own does not create 2. If this tension is sufficient, people
Despair Panic
change nor is ‘wanting to be different’ start to question the existing mental
sufficient to actually be different if people map and, instead of looking for data
don’t have the relevant knowledge or skills to support it, they actively seek out Adapted from Kurt Lewin
to make the shift. new information.
How might this process of change work – 3. Then, if they feel safe enough to let go
either at the cognitive or motivational level? of their map, they start to run some
The diagram maps some of Lewin’s ideas ‘thought experiments’ about other Someone who wants to lead in Total • Sponsor the search for new models and
into a set of feedback processes that can ways of looking at the issue and they Place, at whatever level, has to be ideas, even when they are contrary to
be applied at the level of the individual, talk to others about their maps on the prepared to offer themselves and others perceived wisdom
group or social system. The steps to subject and find a whole new set of the opportunity to make changes to their • Begin to paint in a positive vision for the
changing thinking run something like this: options for thinking about the issue. thinking or their values. What can a leader future – even when it feels far away and
4. If they have a sense that there is a usefully do? They can: the path isn’t obvious
positive potential future if they change • Create opportunities to closely examine • Allow time for hypothesising,
“There are many leaders whose to a new way of doing things, they will disconfirming data and controversial experimentation and validation rather
personal style runs directly counter to
find creative ways to implement the viewpoints and point out those points than rushing prematurely for results.
these strategies, and many pressures
in the political and public service new map, developing the skills they where individuals or groups start to drift
systems that push for the opposite need as they go. You can learn more about Kurt’s work in
off towards denial
behaviour. But, to paraphrase the old the book ‘Field Theory in Social Science
• Create a sense of safety – “we are all in – Selected Theoretical Papers’, Harper
adage ‘If you keep leading the way
that you’ve always done, you’ll keep this together, you are OK to raise difficult and Row 1964
getting what you always get’!” conversations, you won’t be punished
Karen Ellis
for not getting it right first time”
20 21

12. Public value The strategic triangle
The Authorising Enviroment
David Bolger, Leadership Centre adviser
Public Value Outcomes
Strategic Goals
Public value is a concept developed by Professor
Mark Moore of the JFK School of Government at
Harvard in the 1990s. The key reference work is
‘Creating Public Value-Strategic Management in
Government’ Harvard University Press, 1995.
Moore has since developed a working and • The definition of public value –
publishing relationship with Professor John this is not simply the description Operational Capacity
Benington of Warwick University Business of the outputs of a public policy
School, so there is opportunity for direct intervention, but also of the value
contact with the theorists on this model. perceived both by direct recipients
of those outputs but also critically of Source: Mark Moore
Moore developed the model as a way of
other, non-recipient stakeholders. So
dealing with the absence of a ‘bottom line’
for example, libraries provide a direct
for public organisations. He wanted to
public value to borrowers of books etc; be authorised to pursue it. Hence The public value model is typically illustrated
help public service policy makers and
but they also satisfy a value perception politicians form part of this authorising by the 3 circles above. These are said
practitioners to demonstrate the value they
among non-borrowers (but funders, environment, as well as being decision- to form the strategic triangle (apologies to
were striving to create using the
as taxpayers) that their community makers on which definition of public geometric purists). Moore postulates that
investment of public monies. He also
provides opportunities for disadvantaged value is being pursued there will always be tension between the
wanted to move away from the traditional
members of society to learn • The operational capacity – these are elements of the model-the definition of
sterile model of ‘public administration’
• The authorising environment – this the resources of money and people, public value must constantly be checked
in which public servants are passive
includes all those who have an interest typically, which may be deployed in out with the authorising environment, and
recipients of politically driven goals; and
in, and the ability to influence, a public pursuit of a public policy goal. This is operational capacity aligned accordingly-
to show that public servants are not mere
policy issue. The idea of the authorising normally the resources of the public and that it is the role of public policy
deliverers of ‘public value’, but also key
environment is that those involved body or bodies engaged in delivering practitioners to maintain the strategic
co-creators with citizens and with their
provide legitimacy and support for the the relevant public policy ambitions, but alignment of the model elements through
political representatives.
definition of public value which is being may also include a wider resource pool ever-vigilant attention to each of the circles.
In essence, the public value model sought and for the resources approved including the capacity of society and
proposes that there are three core to deliver it: while the environment its individual members. Here, Moore
dimensions to the creation and delivery supports the definition, resources will develops ideas on co-design and
of public policy: co-production
22 23

13. 2
Getting set up, recognising the need
for ‘learning cycles’ as a scaffolding for
Total Place work, and using those cycles
to maximise the impact of a piece of
Total Place work.
Section 2
Starting out
Cautionary note: one size does not fit all . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Planning the first cycle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Messy learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Gathering everyone in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Managing the dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Designing the process – getting the rhythm right!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Paying attention to emergence – the power of simple rules . . . . . . . . 38
Roles and responsibilities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Overcoming the power of the day job. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
24 25

14. Different starting points
Cautionary note: one size does not
fit all Unitary
Fraught
County Multi-area
Karen Ellis, Leadership Centre adviser None Positive
History of working together Geographic reach
Total Place sponsors, programme managers and
advisers have been asked many questions. The most Broad
Public facing
Specific
groups
popular (and difficult) being, “What is this Total Place General
Back office
thing anyway?” There is already something political Tight Multi-theme access
Theme focus (1) Theme focus (2)
(small ‘p’) in the way each person answers.
We tend to focus on those aspects of start points inevitably lead to differences in
Total Place that suit our perspectives or how the work shows up in that place and the Different initial approaches
passions and ‘forget’ the other aspects. pre-judgements that players and the public
Central
If you’re outside the existing Total Place have about work of this sort. Some places
individual
community, this diversity of view can have an excellent history of working together
seem bewildering. across agencies; others have had bad
Small Radical Pragmatic
relationships in the past or are just starting Diffused
But there has (deliberately) never been a group
out as a new geographic mix. They all have
well defined party line on what Total Place Leadership sponsorship ‘Feel’
different demographics, social strengths,
actually is. The whole idea was to set up
problem areas and economic situations. Service
an environment for innovation, where Front-liners
change Innovation
each place had the chance to define its Some of the differences that have shown
own thematic thrust and specific approach up between the places are around:
Public ‘Pre-thought’
within a set of broad parameters. • Type and level of sponsorship Power players Efficiences
and users improvement
A one-size-fits-all methodology would have • Approach to involvement Focus of initial involvement Starting emphasis
been inappropriate, due to the significant • Level of innovation and radicalism
differences in starting point and approach
across the 13 pilots. Probably the most heated discussions
arising from the question, “what is Total Place • Are we willing to start tackling contentious We’re not advocating where places should
This diversity has given us a unique anyway?” centre around the degree of issues like state-sponsored (mandated?) stand on these questions. More radical
opportunity to look at what works radicalism and innovation that each place behaviour change among citizens when options, by definition, contain more risk
(and what doesn’t) in terms of innovation wants to pursue. Are they content to do what we know that any such approach will get and the leaders in each place will have to
and change in the civic arena. It also they’ve done before, with some nice new labelled intrusion of the nanny state? decide what they can handle locally.
helps us to look at which type of approach language? Or are they looking to truly change Acknowledging the diversity of approach
• Are we willing to shift the funding
works best, in which settings, and for what how they do things and what they do? and building it into the work on Total Place
focus from managing symptoms to
sort of problems. has helped some to find radical new
• Are the power players willing to work prevention of the causes of problems
Across the 13 places there’s been a very with the public and service users in a when the media will jump on us from solutions to local services, more tailored
heterogeneous mix of geographical areas, new way when those conversations are a great height whenever our symptom to local needs.
histories and chosen themes. These unique usually messy and often embarrassing? management fails?
26 27