Coming soon · Book Profile
How to Run a Government So that Citizens Benefit and Taxpayers Dont Go Crazy
A practical, systematic framework, termed 'the science of delivery', for political leaders and public servants to translate policy goals into tangible, measurable results for citizens.
A profile of this book is on the way.
What it’s about
“How to Run a Government” argues that governing is fundamentally different from campaigning and requires a specific set of skills and disciplines—a "science of delivery." Sir Michael Barber, drawing on his experience leading Tony Blair's Delivery Unit and advising governments worldwide, provides a practical playbook for leaders who want to move beyond rhetoric and achieve real change. The book lays out a clear process: set a few clear priorities with ambitious targets, build a dedicated organization (like a Delivery Unit) to drive implementation, choose a coherent strategy, create detailed plans based on data and trajectories, establish relentless routines for monitoring and problem-solving, and persist until the changes become irreversible. It's an essential guide for anyone in public service frustrated by the gap between intention and outcome, offering a proven method to make government work for the people it serves.
The through-line
- Who it’s for
- A political leader (president, prime minister, governor, minister) or senior public servant who is ambitious to make a real difference for their citizens. They possess a clear vision for change but are deeply frustrated by the inertia of the government machine and their inability to translate promises into tangible results.
- The problem
- The government bureaucracy is slow, resistant to change, and consistently fails to implement policies effectively, leading to broken promises, wasted taxpayer money, and public cynicism. The leader feels frustrated, overwhelmed, and powerless, as if they are pulling levers of power that are connected to nothing. They fear their limited time in office will be wasted on fighting fires and that they will fail to create a meaningful, lasting legacy.
- The plan
- 1. Decide on a small number of clear priorities and ambitious targets.
- 2. Organize for success by creating a dedicated Delivery Unit to drive your agenda.
- 3. Develop a coherent strategy and a detailed, data-driven delivery plan.
- 4. Establish relentless routines (e.g., stocktakes, progress reports) to monitor progress and solve problems systematically.
- 5. Persist through challenges and political cycles to make your reforms irreversible.
- The payoff
- Your government becomes highly effective, delivering measurable improvements in key public services like education, healthcare, and security. · You build a legacy of tangible achievement, earning the trust and confidence of citizens. · You master the art of governing, turning your political vision into an irreversible reality that benefits society long after you've left office.
See our guide
Additional reading
- Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies Do and Why They Do It · James Q. Wilson
Provides a deep positive theory of why public organizations behave as they do, which serves as a crucial backdrop for this book's normative theory of what managers *should* do.
- Presidential Power · Richard E. Neustadt
The classic work on how executives in government must persuade and bargain to achieve their goals, underpinning this book's emphasis on political management and managing beyond formal authority.
- Leadership in Administration · Philip Selznick
A foundational text on the role of leadership in defining an organization's mission and infusing it with value, influencing this book's concept of the manager as a strategist and value-definer.
- The Power of Public Ideas · Robert B. Reich (ed.)
Explores how public deliberation and the framing of ideas shape policy, which is central to this book's treatment of defining public value and the techniques of political leadership.
- Leading Change · John Kotter
The book's concept of the 'guiding coalition' is drawn directly from Kotter and is presented as a crucial organizational tool for driving delivery.
- Creating Public Value: Strategic Management in Government · Mark H. Moore
Moore's work provides the theoretical foundation for the book's chapter on public sector productivity, defining the core elements of 'public value' that a government should seek to create.
- The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam · Barbara Tuchman
Tuchman's analysis of governmental 'folly' is used to frame the importance of data, deliberation, and challenging assumptions to avoid catastrophic policy failures, a key aspect of problem-solving in delivery.
- Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap … and Others Don’t · Jim Collins
Collins's analysis of leadership and strategy in business is adapted by the author to create the 'Performance Wedge' model (Awful, Adequate, Good, Great) for public services.
- The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right · Atul Gawande
Gawande's argument for the importance of diligence and checklists to ensure professional reliability is cited to support the book's emphasis on routines and systematic processes.
- Federalist Paper number 51 · James Madison
The author explicitly states that readers who want to get immediately to the 'bottom line' of why his reform suggestions are unlikely to be heeded should read this paper, as the constitutional regime is the ultimate constraint.