No, Minister! Beware the Naysayers
BRIEFING NOTE #12
This is a series of briefing notes to yet another new housing minister. Here are some dangers to avoid, some well-trodden paths to be bypassed, and some barriers to thinking that need to be overcome (if we are serious about bringing about change)...and, oh yes, here are some thoughts on how to deliver this change! Please stick around long enough to make it happen.
System change is always difficult. For the consultancy industry, they have so much invested in the status quo that it seems impossible for them to change. Consultancy is big, big business. As Euan Mills from Blocktype estimates, the total fees to deliver the UK government’s housing target of 1.5 million houses by 2029, will be in the order of £3 billion. No wonder these organisations believe the system works.
There is an entrenched relationship between the consulting industry and the way business and government are managed today that must change. Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington in their book, ‘The Big Con’, show that increased reliance by government on the consultancy industry stunts innovation, obfuscates corporate and political accountability, and impedes our collective mission of building a healthy urban society. This process is possible because of the unique power that big consultancies wield through extensive contracts and networks—as advisors, legitimators, and outsourcers—and the illusion that they are objective sources of expertise and capacity. In the end, the Big Con weakens our businesses, infantilizes our governments, and warps our economies. Mazzucato and Collington argue for building a new system in which public and private sectors work innovatively for the common good.
This new system should not try to just regulate the business of consultancy, but should rely on adopting a binding code of ethics to the work that is done, by either the public or the private sector. First, we need to break down the silo thinking that exists between the urban professions. All should now be bonded by common standards, practices and beliefs - maybe, like the medical profession. But in our instance, this code of ethics should be based on a fundamental commitment to building a fully-functioining urban society. There’s no reason why the urban professions couldn’t have their own ‘Hippocratic oath’ to reflect ethical principles.
Unlocking the creative potential of urban professionals, particularly in local government, has long been recognised as a vital component of civic leadership and management. Whether generating novel ideas or coming up with innovative concepts for their cities, creative urban professionals can play a vital role in stimulating forward thinking and freshening up the urban outlook. But for that process to work, the system must provide the right platform for them to express their creativity.
Most urban professionals came into the profession to make the world a better place. Most have been stifled by the system. Endless compliance practices, relentless measurement against poorly aligned performance indicators, and responsibility given without authority (or vice versa) has killed initiative. Many urban professionals just do not feel valued anymore. For them, it is difficult to imagine how this change will happen and how it will affect them. Change relies on the innovators and then the early adopters. Once acceptance of change hits the tipping point, others will follow.
Radically different systems are impossible to achieve if the same people are asked to do the same things. Too often, strategies and practices are altered, but roles are left unchanged. Without changing the outcomes that a system is working towards, real change is tough. And by its very nature, qualitative change demands a new set of universally-adopted planning, design and development principles to guide our efforts.