Leading through complexity: a new challenge for local government leaders

“What if rather than trying to organise an optimal response to current operating conditions, what we did was to optimise our capacity to respond to the changing nature of the world?” 

This is a question posed by a participant of IMPOWER’s Complex Transformation Academy, capturing one of the biggest challenges facing local government today. It struck a chord; leaders learn how to work in complicated environments focused on improving performance against KPIs within established service structures.  This has its place but – in a world where we need to embrace complexity, cross-boundary working, data and AI – a different kind of leadership is required. 

When I set out on my CIPFA training 22 years ago, I chose that path because I wanted to have a positive impact in society – like many local government finance leaders.   

I don’t think there has been a greater opportunity to make that difference as now, whilst hugely challenging, funding certainty, policy reforms, reorganisation, technological advances and a genuine focus on communities and prevention herald a huge time of opportunity.  

The Complex Transformation Academy was designed around this challenge. Built on the strong foundation of our EDGEWORK methodology, it supports leaders to develop the capabilities, confidence and practical tools to lead in complex systems and deliver sustainable change. Just as importantly, it creates a network of peers facing the same challenges across local government.  With the shared ambition of pioneer Chief Executives from our first cohort, the CTA was born and this week 17 leaders graduated. 

Earlier this year we convened a roundtable with Public Finance to explore the topic of Complex Transformation and the role of finance leaders was central to this. A consistent theme for me was the role of finance to create the environment and set the tone in which complex change can succeed and we are equipped for uncertainty.   

The printed article is out, and we will be sharing our insights in our panel session at Public Finance Live on 16 July.  

Fundamentally, confidence comes from having the right tools, capabilities, evidence and governance to understand what’s working, what isn’t, and how to respond. You can’t do that without finance leaders who are ready and able to embrace complexity and create that difference we strive to make.  In complex environments, the answer is not less rigour or grip, but applying them in ways that enable delivery rather than constrain it.  

If you’d like to find out more, please visit us on stand C11 at Public Finance Live and join our panel session.  If you are interested in joining the Complex Transformation Academy, we are now recruiting for our September cohort. Get in touch by emailing [email protected] or learn more about the CTA here.