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Instruction to Deliver
Libro usado en buenas condiciones, por su antiguedad podria contener señales normales de uso
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
About the author
Michael Barber
121 books24 followersSir Michael Barber is a leading educational reformer. Since May 2011, he has been the Chief Education Advisor at Pearson, the world's largest education company.
From 2001-2005 Sir Michael was the education advisor to the former British prime minister, Tony Blair. He then became the head of McKinsey's Global Education Practice.
Sir Michael has sought reform for school improvement, standards, performance, access to schools in developing countries, and access and funding in higher education.
From 2001-2005 Sir Michael was the education advisor to the former British prime minister, Tony Blair. He then became the head of McKinsey's Global Education Practice.
Sir Michael has sought reform for school improvement, standards, performance, access to schools in developing countries, and access and funding in higher education.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 25, 2010
Maybe I was just hoping that there is some magic to improving implementation of services like education, and disappointed that this book didn't have the spell. Michael Barber seems to have done some great work under the Blair administration, and the book definitely caused me to reflect on the power of setting goals and meeting regularly to take stock (in the "stocktakes" referred to throughout) of progress. But in the end I still walked away thinking that it's a bit of a mystery how this yields results. I have the sense that there's a lot more to the work between stocktakes, working with agencies to help them figure out what's holding them back on key issues, that makes a big impact. That's an element I would have been interested in reading more about. Also, note that if you're not overly interested in or knowledgeable about British government, the pace can be a bit slow. However, overall, it's a book worth checking out if you're interested in reflecting on how we can make our government deliver better on its promises and its overall promise.
August 6, 2018
This is a book for anyone who is interested in how to get things done in complex organisations. Barber is able to write about technical matters in lucid, simple language that makes this one of the most accessible management texts I've ever encountered. How I wish I'd read it before I took up my final full-time career role...in the public sector.
August 2, 2026
The book stands a testament to " What gets measured gets built" in the public policy domain. And thats where the book retains the reader s interest. Stock takes with the PM, press briefings, summary notes, ministerial reports, obsession over nos be it A&E, ASCs, thefts or railroad timings, Barber brings an evidence backed implementation model to the highest form of government.
But this is also where it loses you. Though very professional and nuanced, the reader is left with a myriad of charts, graphs and countless other forms of quantitative analysis which fails to account for one real incident of change from the ground except a mention of turning around a poor ranked school which he doesnt elaborate upon. No stakeholder voices or meeting notes, no mention of what did all of that achieve (outcomes) and how did any of those measures leave an electorate in love with its government. Add to it, little mention of community, ownership, grassroot empowerment and the book soon starts sounding like one boring presentation you wish would end. Infact his own field presence is dismal given the scale of work that he was overseeing.
Had barber taken into account the Goodharts law (when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure) he would have paid heed to how cultivating change from the bottom up could have helped etch his work in the throes of history rather than being consigned to a footnote in one.
I would have loved had he spoken more about building capabilities (which he does to an extent but puts it off saying it wasn't his job) and empowering local organisations and institutions to bring about Neighbourhood level change.
Still a heartfelt read. 2 stars for trying.
But this is also where it loses you. Though very professional and nuanced, the reader is left with a myriad of charts, graphs and countless other forms of quantitative analysis which fails to account for one real incident of change from the ground except a mention of turning around a poor ranked school which he doesnt elaborate upon. No stakeholder voices or meeting notes, no mention of what did all of that achieve (outcomes) and how did any of those measures leave an electorate in love with its government. Add to it, little mention of community, ownership, grassroot empowerment and the book soon starts sounding like one boring presentation you wish would end. Infact his own field presence is dismal given the scale of work that he was overseeing.
Had barber taken into account the Goodharts law (when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure) he would have paid heed to how cultivating change from the bottom up could have helped etch his work in the throes of history rather than being consigned to a footnote in one.
I would have loved had he spoken more about building capabilities (which he does to an extent but puts it off saying it wasn't his job) and empowering local organisations and institutions to bring about Neighbourhood level change.
Still a heartfelt read. 2 stars for trying.
March 4, 2017
A detailed account on how a small group of people helped to drive service delivery in a big government bureaucracy, using a combination of wonky PowerPoint presentations filled with data, meetings (called 'stock-takes') between the Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers to discuss progress on priorities (which served as a way to crack the whip when necessary), and a fine sprinkle of football and cricket references and British humo(u)r to boot. It was as engaging as a book could be, that delved into the fine details of how a large government machine tries to improve literacy levels from x% to y% and tries to improve average hospital operation waiting times from a months to b months.
Increasing a target by a few percentage points makes a real difference to British citizens, but unfortunately does not make for the most gripping tale I have ever read. (Maybe it could be a gripping tale if we got Michael Lewis to write it.) Which, I think is precisely the point. This is such important and necessary work. It helps the government achieve more with taxpayer funds and to increase trust in government. And we need much, much, more of this in governments everywhere. But it does not capture the imagination. Recent events (Brexit, Trump, other populist movements) have made it clear that incremental improvements in service delivery are also not seen as sufficient by voters. Countries are going through dramatic changes from globalization, technological progress / automation, and immigration -- trends that a national government cannot, or at least thus far have not been able to, manage on its own.
As a person who has begun consulting for public sector organizations myself, I found this book helped to crystallize my own thinking on the technocratic / "how to" aspects of improving public service delivery. I found the combination of the nitty-gritty details (e.g., how to secure sufficient 1:1 time with the Prime Minister, how the Delivery Unit segmented data to identify the lowest-performing train operators), and the conceptual framing (e.g., the three conceptual approaches the Blair administration took to improve service delivery - command and control, quasi-markets, devolution and transparency) to be extremely helpful.
Increasing a target by a few percentage points makes a real difference to British citizens, but unfortunately does not make for the most gripping tale I have ever read. (Maybe it could be a gripping tale if we got Michael Lewis to write it.) Which, I think is precisely the point. This is such important and necessary work. It helps the government achieve more with taxpayer funds and to increase trust in government. And we need much, much, more of this in governments everywhere. But it does not capture the imagination. Recent events (Brexit, Trump, other populist movements) have made it clear that incremental improvements in service delivery are also not seen as sufficient by voters. Countries are going through dramatic changes from globalization, technological progress / automation, and immigration -- trends that a national government cannot, or at least thus far have not been able to, manage on its own.
As a person who has begun consulting for public sector organizations myself, I found this book helped to crystallize my own thinking on the technocratic / "how to" aspects of improving public service delivery. I found the combination of the nitty-gritty details (e.g., how to secure sufficient 1:1 time with the Prime Minister, how the Delivery Unit segmented data to identify the lowest-performing train operators), and the conceptual framing (e.g., the three conceptual approaches the Blair administration took to improve service delivery - command and control, quasi-markets, devolution and transparency) to be extremely helpful.
March 27, 2009
Why do governments fail to deliver on promises of change? Not because of inadequate funding, as most civil servants will whine, but rather because of failures of organization. So says Sir Michael, who has written an overly long but nevertheless charming (truly) account of his tenure as Blair's point person on change.
Would that Sir Micheal could serve our new prez, who seems destined to fail on his domestic agenda for exactly the reasons laid out in this book: institutional inertia; cynicism; fear of change that leads to watered-down applications; to say nothing of bad ideas and ineptitude. My personal favorite barrier to change is the annoying need for consensus building--which simply takes too much time (years, in most cases)--rather than professionals simply accepting imposed ideas "no matter how good" (p. 166). Barber refers to this tendency as "assisted wheel reinvention," when professionals insist on discovering new practices for themselves rather than accepting best practices that have been identified and handed down. (I am surprised to learn this is a problem in the UK; I assumed anti-authorianism a distinctly American trait. Clearly, consumer culture has done its work....) In the District of Columbia, we are living with the consequences of a culture of consensus run amuck as the teachers' union--in the city with the worst school scores in the nation--refuses to accept very good new ideas simply because they were not "consulted".
Sir Michael is dead-right about nearly every problem he describes in this book and has marvelously sensible ideas about organizational culture. But would that the book were half as long...at 465 pages, I can't imagine anyone will want to read it. But you should.
Would that Sir Micheal could serve our new prez, who seems destined to fail on his domestic agenda for exactly the reasons laid out in this book: institutional inertia; cynicism; fear of change that leads to watered-down applications; to say nothing of bad ideas and ineptitude. My personal favorite barrier to change is the annoying need for consensus building--which simply takes too much time (years, in most cases)--rather than professionals simply accepting imposed ideas "no matter how good" (p. 166). Barber refers to this tendency as "assisted wheel reinvention," when professionals insist on discovering new practices for themselves rather than accepting best practices that have been identified and handed down. (I am surprised to learn this is a problem in the UK; I assumed anti-authorianism a distinctly American trait. Clearly, consumer culture has done its work....) In the District of Columbia, we are living with the consequences of a culture of consensus run amuck as the teachers' union--in the city with the worst school scores in the nation--refuses to accept very good new ideas simply because they were not "consulted".
Sir Michael is dead-right about nearly every problem he describes in this book and has marvelously sensible ideas about organizational culture. But would that the book were half as long...at 465 pages, I can't imagine anyone will want to read it. But you should.
June 25, 2010
A fantastic story for policy makers around the world. An excellent reference on navigating politics as a bureaucrat, delivering on commitments, and making the cultural transformation to outcome based planning.
Barber's voice throughout the book is so clear, that it seems almost as if I was listening to it on tape. A great narrative flow, with entertaining anecdotes. Highly recommend it.
Barber's voice throughout the book is so clear, that it seems almost as if I was listening to it on tape. A great narrative flow, with entertaining anecdotes. Highly recommend it.
November 18, 2013
phenomenal, loads of tricks for anyone interested in how big organisation works, it's a manual for organisational change, delivery, pragmatism and so much more. great book
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews