Flash to Bang: Increasing the speed of idea to impact
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Flash to Bang: Increasing the speed of idea to impact

As published in the Mandarin by Kiah MD John Glenn With over 50 Defence Reviews in the last 50 years, have they achieved a fundamentally better outcome or simply fiddled with the alignment of the deck chairs? There have been at least 50 Defence reviews in 50 years. The 2015 First Principles review listed 48…

Strategic partnering with government? Snowball’s chance
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Strategic partnering with government? Snowball’s chance

As published in the Mandarin 23 May, 2022 Talking about building strategic partnering relationships is the flavour of the month, especially in Defence where there always seems to be a search for a model that works better than what is happening now. I don’t think that is a bad goal, by the way, but we…

Could avoiding project blowouts be a simple fix?
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Could avoiding project blowouts be a simple fix?

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…

Programs aren’t projects – three things to note
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Programs aren’t projects – three things to note

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…

Defence’s MSP creation is without strategy, and at a premium for resources
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Defence’s MSP creation is without strategy, and at a premium for resources

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,…

Not all consultants are the same
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Not all consultants are the same

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…

Be more commercial they said – really?
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Be more commercial they said – really?

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…

Bridging the gap between public and private sectors
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Bridging the gap between public and private sectors

As published in Forge magazine in early 2020 Linking critical thinking and negotiation boosts contributions from project stakeholders, reduces conflict, and creates significant long-term value for stakeholders. That is the view of John Glenn, Managing Director of Kiah Consulting, and one of Australia’s leading experts on public-private sector negotiation and project strategy. ‘You can’t move…

Boosting outcomes with innovative approaches
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Boosting outcomes with innovative approaches

As published in Forge magazine in early 2019 Kiah MD John Glenn spoke to Forge Magazine in early 2019 about how Kiah is bridging the gap between the public and private sector. John Glenn knows the value of managed risks better than most. In his 23-year career with the Australian Army, he jumped out of…