Transduction — leading transformation — Issue #193
My weekly posts
When you’re low on resources and have to merge political organisations starting yesterday, what’s the most important thing to focus on?
When you’re low on resources and have to merge political organisations starting yesterday, what’s the most important thing to focus on? We’re launching our new service offer: the RedQuadrant #devolution and #LGR Transition and Implementation Hub. It gives councils one accountable structure to ensure services are ‘more than’ safe and legal on ‘day one’, while embedding and building the capacity to transform. So, whether you’re submitting a reorganisation proposal this week or gearing up for November and asking yourself what comes next and where to begin, now is the time to start the conversation. If you want to see what “safe plus transform” really looks like in practice, we’d love to talk. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/antlerboy_redquadrant-lgr-devolution-transitionimplementation-activity-7376159021583507457-Fkol
Courses and events
Level 7 Systems Thinking Practitioner Apprenticeship
The new apprenticeship Leading and Commissioning for Outcomes in Complexity — Convening Systems Change can supercharge your career and transform your organisation. Fully funded Level 7 programme this year only! Real-world impact through applied systems thinking. For commissioners, system leaders, and systems change-makers. For further information, see https://www.publicservicetransformation.org/level-7-apprenticeship-course-leading-and-commissioning-for-outcomes-in-complexity-convening-systems-change-free-webinar-on-20-august-2025-1230pm-uk-time/
Commissioning Compass: systems assessment for change
Our newly launched tool, the Commissioning Compass, helps you to assess your commissioning system and form an action plan for improvement. It’s available for free via our Teachable site — try it now! link.redquadrant.com/commissioningcompass
This September — Outcomes-based commissioning: a ten-step introduction
We’ve announced new dates for our introduction to commissioning course at the PSTA, perfect for early career commissioners in police, justice, health, care, children’s services, or other commissioning disciplines. Register your interest now. https://link.redquadrant.com/10step0925
Next National Commissioning Academy
We’re building our cohort for the next national commissioning academy — our flagship commissioning programme from the PSTA. Register your interest now: https://link.redquadrant.com/nextacademy25
Things I shared on socials:
“Co-producing a brighter social care future”. Research in Practice.
What does wellbeing mean when it’s interpreted by those with lived experience of social care? A new co-produced Evidence Review by Research in Practice and Social Care Future explores the five key changes to unlock an equal life. https://www.researchinpractice.org.uk/adults/news-views/2023/december/co-producing-a-brighter-social-care-future/
“Our Manifesto”: When I get old.
A movement of people creating the care and support we want in older age. None of us wants to live in a place we can’t call home. Where we can’t get up and go to bed when we want, eat the things we like, do the things we want; where the people we love and who love us aren’t around; where we feel we have no purpose and know we are not valued. Where the needs and wishes of an organisation sometimes seem more important than our own. https://wigo.org.uk/our-manifesto/
“New Values revisited: embedding procurement reform for good local growth and jobs” — Webinar. Localis.Thu, 16 Oct, 11:00–12:00 BST, online.
In October 2024 Localis launched New Values: Public Contracts for Social Prosperity with Norse Group. It is an in depth look into how local authorities can work towards strategic, locally beneficial procurement by adopting a blended approach and using hybrid models to deliver gains in efficiency, productivity and social value. This webinar will be a chance to discuss our findings, and updates and address how the state of play has changed over the course of the last year with an audience made up of local government officers, academics and central government officials. https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/ce088e06-963a-41f7-a442-b5d19425b314@567bf33f-21da-437b-afb1-aea8316022c7
The role of procurement in delivering mission-led government. Institute for Government.
This report looks at how public procurement could support delivery of mission-led government, and the key barriers to this. It explores how cultural, practical and organisational changes could enable government to harness the power of public procurement to deliver on its missions https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/procurement-government-missions-delivery
Commissioning with communities: a toolkit for a human learning systems approach. Collaborate CIC
Are you wondering how to get started on a different approach to commissioning, working with communities? Is the new procurement act leaving you uncertain about how to take forward new approaches to commissioning? Or perhaps you’ve heard of Human Learning Systems (HLS) but not sure what that means for commissioning? This toolkit aims to answer some of those questions by offering practical guidance for applying HLS at every stage of the commissioning cycle and highlighting examples from places who are embedding this kind of thinking in their commissioning and looking to do things differently. https://collaboratecic.com/insights-and-resources/commissioning-with-communities-a-toolkit-for-a-human-learning-systems-approach/
