X : Thoughts on Cummings?
Me : I'm a member of the Labour party, I'm one of the authors of "Better for Less" which supported Francis Maude in the creation of GDS and Spend Control in 2010, I worked with the coalition ... so you can say I have a fairly neutral or broad view ...
Me : I'm a member of the Labour party, I'm one of the authors of "Better for Less" which supported Francis Maude in the creation of GDS and Spend Control in 2010, I worked with the coalition ... so you can say I have a fairly neutral or broad view ...
... I don't take a view that the Civil Service needs fixing because I don't view it as broken (compared to much of the private sector). It needs improving which requires challenge which in turn requires spend control. Double down on this ...
... if anything, you need more civil servants, more in-house skills and please get rid of the hordes of bland strategy / management consultants.
You'll need the same revolutionary zeal that existed with Francis Maude, the 100 day plan etx but be mindful ... I wrote a follow up in 2012 on the "Tyranny of the Agile" because at points it went too far and caused a counter reaction. I would recommend using maps more.
So, my overall view of Cummings is ... well, nothing new. It's generally ok but little different from 2010. Dominic might want to think about bringing back people like @MTBracken and @liammax ... especially Liam, I can't emphasise enough the importance of spend control.
As for the "genius" stuff ... he is obviously smart but I don't view him in the same category as Deng Xiaoping. There is a danger of inflated expectations here. There is however good stuff in the Odyssean education.
