*Warning, it’s unsafe Any conversations that suggest alternative contracting models can engage companies to deliver social outcomes, acting in the public interest over their own, are based on a false premise that industry will subjugate their own interest in favour of their clients’ interests. Businesses do not exist for the public good. They may do…
Some years ago I did a Harvard program called “strategic deal-making for business”. I followed on with a master’s unit in strategy at Edinburgh Business School that focused on strategic deals. I started to talk about it with our, mostly, public sector clients. Almost all of them said they “don’t do deals” because they are…
It’s what you deliver. I recently participated in a Government project review. I really liked the project manager – young, dynamic, articulate, driven – absolutely brilliant until asked what she thought her job was. To which she replied, “…to make sure this process works”. She had been captured by the process, not the project. Projects…
As published in the Mandarin March 11, 2022 There is an often-unspoken contributor to blowouts in government projects, costs and timelines (which often leads to further time and costs in disputes) and that is the public and private sectors general misunderstanding of each other’s view. The actual monetary impact of this struggle is unknown, but…
As published in the Mandarin May 28, 2021 by Kiah MD John Glenn I hear the pent-up demand echoing frequently: “Tell me the secret to good contract management!” There are plenty of courses out there. Unfortunately, the majority seem to be run by lawyers. Sad really, because lawyers are really good at many things –…
We are seeing a plethora of “Program Offices” being established – if you haven’t got a “Program” you’re not in the game. But a Program is not without cost. You only want one if it adds real value, and if you do want one you had better know what it is that you want. Caveat…
As published in the Mandarin March 14, 2021 by Kiah MD John Glenn An early lesson as a boy on a farm was that you don’t leave a dog unattended in a sheep pen. They revert to instinct, and so it is with the Defence Major Service Provider Program — its MSPs. In early 2018,…
As published in the Mandarin March 1, 2021 by Kiah MD John Glenn A recent article suggested replacing consultants with a “public sector reserve”. I thought it was a nonsense, addressing a ‘symptom’ rather than the root cause. The underlying problem seems clear – the public service doesn’t get sufficient value for money from the…
As published in the Mandarin November 2, 2020 The public sector is often exhorted to be more commercial in its behaviours. “In some ways it’s a bit of a nonsense”, says MD of Kiah Consulting, John Glenn. “Dogma, like any other dogma, doesn’t make sense. The public sector is about spending money to deliver a…
Throughout our work we engage a variety of management consulting and legal services, either directly or through our client. Regularly we are handed the results of previous engagements, too often accompanied with statements like: ‘this is OK but not as useful as we had hoped’, or ‘doesn’t quite answer the question’. We confine our observations…
