At University I read Karl Popper and was an enthusiast. I was a Croslandite – fan of “The Future of Socialism” (1956) – a Gaitskellite chairman of the local Young Socialists. But also an early reader in 1960 of New Left Review and still an avid reader.
A supporter of Nuclear Disarmamement – indeed a hesitant Bennite who supported the Lucas plan Very confused! But ambivalent about the Trade Unions – never a Scargill supporter. In short, a bleeding liberal – and an architect on Strathclyde Region of its 1975
Deprivation Strategy, confirmed in its 1982 Social Strategy for the Eighties and
continued by the Scottish government since 1997 In this post, I want to confront the possibility that the claim I’ve made
since I left Scotland in 1990 of developing that strategy in good faith may in fact be dubious. The claim was made in this article I submitted last year to
“Emancipations” which I don ‘t expect will ever be published.
Basically it sets the 1976 Regional strategy on Multiple Deprivation in the context of
the Labour government’s initiatives of 1964-70 and 1974-79the “Born to Fail?” report of 1973 which revealed the scale of the problem of
urban poverty in the Regionthe community development programmes launched by Labour in the early 1970s
but soon terminated for their strong left-wing critiquesRosabeth Kanter is one of the most famous management writers and gave us,
a few years later, “10 Commandments for implementing Change”1 which were -.
Analyse the organisation - and its need for changeCreate a shared vision and common directionSeparate from the pastCreate a Sense of UrgencySupport a Strong LeaderLine up Political SupportCraft an Implementation PlanDevelop Enabling StructuresCommunicate, Involve People and be HonestReinforce and Institutionalise the Change
This gives us a useful checklist against which to check the performance of the Region -
The shocking 1973 “Born to Fail?” report identified the West of Scotland as a UK leader in
to ensure that the Region recognised this as its basic priority, established and sustained a shared vision.
- “Separating from the past” was easy at one level since the Region was starting from scratch but enormously difficult at another since it was an amalgamation of six large powerful bodies – each with its distinctive style – let alone the strength of the professional cultures to be found in departments such as Education, Police, Water, Fire and Social Work
There was an urgency in the Region having to prove itself – which gave us the incentive
to do things differently.For the first 4 years, leadership was shared by 2 very different characters – a community
deal-maker. This allowed a rare combination of practicality and idealism to flow in the wider leadership
And community activists were brought into thatWith the implementation plan taking several years to evolveWith appropriate enabling structures at political, administrative and community levelsCommunication was intense and continuous – as you would expect of a democratic systemAnd appropriate strategic changes reinforced and institutionalised
By this measure, it appears that Strathclyde Region may have got things about right. Recommended Reading Gilding the Ghetto (Coventry CDP 1977) The Makings of a Ruling Class (Batley CDP 1979) Architect or Bee? Mike Cooley (1987) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Cooley_(engineer) Crosland’s Socialism Geoff Horn (2006)
Poverty Safari – understanding the anger in Britain’s underclass Darren McGarvey (2017)https://nomadron.blogspot.com/2023/09/are-centrists-evil.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yLkwildDw4 Darren McGarvey (2023)
1Ten Commandments for Executing Change from “The Challenge of Organisational Change” ed Kanter, Rosabeth
et al pp 382-386 (Free Press 1992)
No comments:
Post a Comment