Thanks for taking a step back… It helped us take one forward
Chris Catterall
Flashback to September 2022: I’m sat in an airy room in central Liverpool awaiting the arrival of partners from across the region. Every one of them spends their working days keeping the wheels of our region’s public services turning. It’s no coincidence they’re all here, we’ve specifically invited this group, people we know and who know us well, to spend some time considering 2023 and what it holds.
I genuinely admire them – not only do they turn up every day and chip away in a creaking system, but they attend sessions like this afternoon’s ‘Let’s get ahead of ourselves’ event. Today they’ve taken the important decision to take a step back, gaze at the bigger picture and spend time exploring the deepest of systemic challenges in the coming year. Where would they wave their magic wand, what would they love to see in the headlines, and what would be ticked on their annual objectives at the end of a great year? However, they describe it, however they envisage it, we’re here to understand where our public and third sector leaders (and the everyday people they represent) value our focus the most.
Fast-forward to earlier this year, the room’s a little less airy, but the company’s still excellent. I’m in Capacity’s head office, right in the heart of Liverpool. I’m surrounded by a brilliant and passionate team who are eager to make a big impact on people’s lives.
Those September conversations and others that followed (both with people interacting with public services and those working within them) were met with a period of reflection on the work we’d completed over the previous few years. We took the topics to a staff away day, and let our team develop their thoughts, ideas and aspirations over a beer and a game of curling (yes, really). In my own time, I’ve reflected on what I felt the last few years (and longer) have taught us. We’ve started an organisation, built a team, understanding, and ways of working whilst delivering many projects with impact. I’ve realised a ‘standard’ consultancy isn’t what our partners want or what our staff team is motivated by. Yes, our partners want advice and support, but what they really want is meaningful long-term change for people in Liverpool City Region and beyond. This won’t be achieved by individual consultancy projects but by building a collective of people, projects and partners (both local and national), focusing on several key areas with the aim of creating the opportunities for people to access and benefit from the care and support they need.
A few months later, we could see this thinking beginning to develop in several key areas of focus.We’ve explored public sector and life challenges that we felt we could start (or continue) to make our mark on. Into the mix we added current unmet needs, combining this with those government priorities that are likely to shape the sector over the next 12 months.
We reduced all this listening and understanding and created Capacity’s ‘Hows and Whys’ – our core focus for the year. Our ‘hows’ are the practical things we touch every day, through systems, strategy and more, and the ‘whys’ are the life experiences we are pledging to help make a reality in 2023.
The 5 Hows
The more we spoke to our partners, the clearer it became that these problems, these Whys had complex causes behind them, the practical parts of the public sector we needed to get into the thick of together, to make change for the longer term. We think it’d be fair to say that some of these ‘hows’ have spent time in public sector leader’s ‘too hard’ or ‘for another day when I’m not so busy’ boxes – and that makes total sense. They’re incredibly complex areas of work and often need intensive resource, dedicated focus and joined-up working to change things.
We want to plug our Capacity team into these challenge areas, supporting public sector leaders to ‘power-up’ and focus on them. These ‘hows’ won’t be the same across any of our projects, they’ll change depending on which of our whys we’re working on, who we’re working with, the place we’re working in and the particular focus of the project or brief at hand.
Supporting leaders to create watertight plans for their organisations.
Getting money into the hands of those who will put it to best use.
Building stronger workforces, with inspiring leaders and great cultures.
Tweaking (and sometimes transforming) process and infrastructure so they’re fit for purpose.
Helping organisations to work with the people they support to design products and services with real impact.
STRATEGY
Supporting leaders to create watertight plans for their organisations.
MONEY
Getting money into the hands of those who will put it to best use.
WORKFORCE
Building stronger workforces, with inspiring leaders and great cultures.
STRUCTURE
Tweaking (and sometimes transforming) process and infrastructure so they’re fit for purpose.
DELIVERY
Helping organisations to work with the people they support to design products and services with real impact.
The 5 Whys
And of course, with the ‘hows’ come the ‘whys’. These are the voices we want to hear across the region and the ‘whys’ are, well… the reason why we do it. We’re about making public services people services at Capacity, and this is where we can plug some real action into some real possibilities.
This is about making public services work for every person, every time. These voices have been informed by our reflections and conversations on the ground. We know that from speaking to local people and those that challenge the systems within it, that this is where our focus should be to create the biggest change.
“I can always access the healthcare I need”
We’ll help to get health services to people earlier, reducing escalation of need.
“My parents get the help they need to look after me well”
We’ll help organisations to offer family support earlier, reducing cycles of problems.
“I’m able to handle my thoughts and feelings”
We’ll help to give people the skills and tools to manage their emotional wellbeing.
“I live in a real home where I feel loved and understood”
We’ll help make children’s social care higher quality and more purpose led.
“I can live a full life”
We’ll push for adult care models that maximise independence.
“I can always access the healthcare I need”
We’ll help to get health services to people earlier, reducing escalation of need.
“My parents get the help they need to look after me well”
We’ll help organisations to offer family support earlier, reducing cycles of problems.
“I’m able to handle my thoughts and feelings”
We’ll help to give people the skills and tools to manage their emotional wellbeing.
“I live in a real home where I feel loved and understood”
We’ll help make children’s social care higher quality and more purpose led.
“I can live a full life”
We’ll push for adult care models that maximise independence.
And that’s a wrap…
So, have we got it cracked – can this plan alone help the sector find that magic path out of the quagmire? Of course not, as we always say, we can’t do it alone, this is just our bit, it’s our contribution to continual progress in the sector in what is likely to be an incredibly challenging 2023. We’re realists, we know none of this is simple, it’s going to be hard work with red tape, brick walls and potholes along the way. But we’re willing to put the work in, it’s already looking like a busy year and we remain determined to keep that drive and brainpower fully turned on for every day of it.