Reclaiming productivity for the sector

摘要

Having a limited amount of money concentrates the mind. What is absolutely essential? Can I get better deals on what I need to buy? Can I do more but without spending extra - by getting more out of myself and my team? What can I cut - and still survive?In the private sector, these types of decisions are straightforward. You can measure the value of what you're producing by the price you can charge. Ultimately, this reduces all your inputs, investments and innovation, and outputs and outcomes, to a single measure - pounds and pence. This helps you to compare your options, and allows you to measure yourself against your competitors.In the public sector, such comparisons are more difficult to make. The absence of a price mechanism means that 'what good looks like' is open to interpretation (and is therefore in constant dispute). Each organisation makes their own choices every year - a series of compromises balancing politics, fine judgment, financial limits, behaviour of partners, and delivery risk. Put simply, leaders often have to fudge things just to get by.