Third.Way: 3way - Politicians as managers

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So is the Labour government designing this new (third) way, or making it =
up as it goes along, or a mixture of both - an emergent strategy as =
Charles Handy might say. Well, just because you adopt an emergent =
approach doesn't mean that you have abandoned an ideology - we seem to =
have a government that seems to understand that whilst they are the =
inevitable victims of the politician's desire to have to appear to be in =
complete control, not everything of significance can be completely =
controlled e.g. exchange rates, national football teams, medical =
professions. Recognising this is sound management. In fact the =
managerial theme with this government is very pronounced and might we =
just have got the first group of politicians in power who may be as =
likely to have MBA after their names as LL B (as opposed to =
entrepreneurs-turned-politicians with the last government)?

It strikes me then that they do have a managerial approach. Like all =
good managers they have important beliefs and values, which have to take =
their place alongside the pursuit of practical business objectives and =
some common-sense approaches. So, whilst the NHS, say, is of vital =
importance both on the beliefs and values side and as a practical (cheap =
in international terms) public service which acts as an important social =
stabiliser, if nothing else, one does not need to own the physical =
assets of the NHS in order to achieve both the objectives of the service =
and demonstrate the importance of the fundamental beliefs and values. =
After all the NHS stopped making its own pills about 50 years ago and we =
now put an extraordinary amount of (well founded) faith and billions of =
pounds into pharmaceutical companies (which have in turn become the UK's =
biggest export earners). (On the question of the government handing =
over control of fixed assets to the private sector we need to consider, =
amongst other things, that the barriers to exit from the "market", =
certainly in health care I would argue, are even higher than the =
barriers to entry).

Like good progressive managers the government can be seen to be moving =
from the notion of their product "relieving" the consumer's needs =
directly, to an approach which "enables" the consumer to relieve their =
own needs (IKEA, with its flat pack, "design it yourself" approach is =
usually put forward as the best example of this in the commercial =
world); in so doing the supplier and the consumer become "co-producers", =
as is said today in all the best business schools.

To cut a long story short then, we have PFI, PRP and Best Value =
standing alongside freely available healthcare, education (for the most =
part) and museums and art galleries - there is too much ideology there =
for it to be just pragmatism and too little for it to be genuinely a =
third way approach - but on the other hand it is, I think you can argue, =
perhaps an attempt at becoming good managers. (Politicians as managers =
does of course raise some interesting challenges for civil servants in =
the UK, but that is another story I guess).

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So is the Labour government designing this new = (third) way, or=20 making it up as it goes along, or a mixture of both - an emergent = strategy as=20 Charles Handy might say. Well, just because you adopt an emergent = approach=20 doesn't mean that you have abandoned an ideology - we seem to have a = government=20 that seems to understand that whilst they are the inevitable victims of = the=20 politician's desire to have to appear to be in complete control, not = everything=20 of significance can be completely controlled e.g. exchange rates, = national=20 football teams, medical professions. Recognising this is sound = management. In=20 fact the managerial theme with this government is very pronounced and = might we=20 just have got the first group of politicians in power who may be as = likely to=20 have MBA after their names as LL B (as opposed to=20 entrepreneurs-turned-politicians with the last government)?

It strikes me then that they do have a managerial = approach.=20 Like all good managers they have important beliefs and values, which = have to=20 take their place alongside the pursuit of practical business objectives = and some=20 common-sense approaches. So, whilst the NHS, say, is of vital = importance=20 both on the beliefs and values side and as a practical (cheap in = international=20 terms) public service which acts as an important social stabiliser, if = nothing=20 else, one does not need to own the physical assets of the NHS in order = to=20 achieve both the objectives of the service and demonstrate the = importance of the=20 fundamental beliefs and values. After all the NHS stopped making its own = pills=20 about 50 years ago and we now put an extraordinary amount of (well=20 founded) faith and billions of pounds into pharmaceutical = companies (which=20 have in turn become the UK's biggest export earners). (On the = question of=20 the government handing over control of fixed assets to the private = sector we=20 need to consider, amongst other things, that the barriers to exit = from the=20 "market", certainly in health care I would argue, are = even=20 higher than the barriers to entry).

Like good progressive managers the government can be = seen to=20 be moving from the notion of their product "relieving" the = consumer's=20 needs directly, to an approach which "enables" the consumer to = relieve=20 their own needs (IKEA, with its flat pack, "design it = yourself"=20 approach is usually put forward as the best example of this in the = commercial world); in so doing the supplier and the consumer become=20 "co-producers", as is said today in all the best business=20 schools.

To cut a long story short then, we have PFI, = PRP and=20 Best Value standing alongside freely available healthcare, education = (for the=20 most part) and museums and art galleries - there is too much ideology = there for=20 it to be just pragmatism and too little for it to be genuinely a third = way=20 approach - but on the other hand it is, I think you can argue, = perhaps an=20 attempt at becoming good managers. (Politicians as managers does of = course raise=20 some interesting challenges for civil servants in the UK, but that is = another=20 story I guess).