Change in a time of uncertainty

摘要

The 28th US President Woodrow Wilson once said 'if you want to make enemies, try to change something' - a truth which anyone who has ever undertaken organisational change will hold to be self-evident. Yet faced with the perpetual requirement to drive organisational improvements and respond to changing government priorities, change is also a necessary evil. So it is of little surprise that the task of driving successful and seemingly continuous transformation remains, to some extent, the holy grail of leadership in the sector as we collectively look at ways of operating on ever decreasing budgets, while continuing to provide more localised services to the public we serve. Imagine, if you will, embarking on the biggest transformational programme, in one of the largest councils in the country; and then three months into the programme being hit with a worldwide pandemic. Surely the only sensible option in such circumstances would be to abandon the programme and bunker down for the storm ahead? Yet in Lancashire we decided to grasp the opportunity even tighter and take our lead from the 44th US President Barack Obama in that we 'didn't want to fear the future - we wanted now more than ever to shape it'.