The Public Sector: Managing the Unmanageable

by Alexander Stevenson

The Public Managing the Unmanageable offers practical advice to public sector managers on how to develop techniques to deal with the challenges they face, particularly in the areas of accountability, setting targets, risk management/encouraging innovation, managing people, decision making and working with politicians. Based on original interviews with politicians and senior public sector managers, including the last four cabinet secretaries, it is full of anecdotes, actionable lessons and insights. Each chapter takes a specific aspect of management and starts by explaining why it is different in the public sector, then sets out ways for public sector managers to handle those differences and ends with an executive summary and a checklist to prompt managers to think about how they might change what they currently do.

The book has a foreword by Peter Mandelson and insights based on interviews with more than sixty successful public sector managers Michael Bloomberg, Brendan Barber, Sir Michael Barber, Lord (Michael) Bichard, Lord (John) Browne, Lord (Robin) Butler, Helen Carter, Sir Merrick Cockell, Charles Clarke, Lord (Geoffrey) Dear, Brian Dinsdale, Charles Farr, Lord (Charles) Guthrie, Lord (Chris) Haskins, Lord (Michael) Heseltine, Ken Livingstone, Paul Martin, Lord (John) Monks, Lord (Gus) O'Donnell, Sir Robert Naylor, Jan Parkinson, Sir Hayden Phillips, Jonathan Powell, Heather Rabbatts, John Ransford, Gill Rider, Paul Roberts, Sir Peter Rogers, Stephen Taylor, Lord (Andrew) Turnball, Sir Robin Wales, Nick Walkley, Ian Watmore and Lord (Richard) Wilson.

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Dubi Kanengisser]

Management books are a dime a dozen, but most all of them are from managers in the private sectors (or, worse, consultants), and generally from the tech industry. This makes a lot of the advice offered there practically nonsensical for people in the public service. This is not because the public service is somehow lesser than the private sector -- in many ways, it is because it is so much more. It is also not because you can't fire people in the public sector (if your main management tool is the sword of firing someone, you're probably a crappy manager).
The public sector does not work towards one, simple bottom line. Its purposes are diverse and often not very well defined, by their very nature. It is often reliant on partnerships rather than managerial authority to deliver even core services. And it is democratically accountable through highly visible and potentially vulnerable politicians. These mean a lot of the management advice ("have just three goals!" "do 1-on-1s weekly!" and "embrace failure!", to name a few) is just not relevant for the public sector.
This book tries to address these differences head on, and for that alone deserves five stars and a place on the shelf of any public sector manager.
It does have a few weaknesses, nevertheless: with few exceptions, it's focused on the British experience, which means some cultural translation might be necessary on some of the finer details. It also focuses on the very highest echelons of managers. Here, I feel, it is inferior to many of the private sector management books that are deliberately geared towards new managers -- those who are, after all, more likely to seek out and need this kind of advice. If I already made it to the position of deputy minister or chief of police, I probably don't need this kind of advice, and if I do, it's probably too late for me. Seeking out advice that would help lower- and mid-level public sector management would've made this book even more useful.
Nevertheless, a keen young manager can still glean a lot of helpful nuggets from this fairly easy and enjoyable read.

[c e robinson]

Public sector management is harder as there are few single markers of success (eg patient care, happiness, reduction of waiting lists etc)

When democratically accountable, success is hard to target and measure (targets can sometimes be dangerous, causing negative behaviours when measuring the wrong things)

Being able to share data between comparable departments/entities is a massive gift - this doesn’t exist in the private sector

[Sophie]

Excellent book, whether you're in the public or private sectors. The interviews with managers and senior public figures are very interesting and everything in the book made me question the way I approach problems and management. Highly recommended.