Genesis of CA:TNP©
Busy Bee, Kew Gardens ©Darien Simon
After many years of austerity measures starting at the national level, which reduced contributions to city budgets, which led in turn to cuts in services, Leeds City Council decided to try something else. Their goal was to provide more with less. To do that, they knew they would have to risk change.
Partnering with University of Leeds and Leeds-Beckett University, teams of council employees provided three varied real-world policy delivery challenges to test. The tests focused on transforming a highly successful, primarily infrastructure-oriented process into one that would work with social policy delivery. The innovation in the original Project Initiation Routemap methodology was the focus on addressing complexity as a factor in project completion and success. The prototype, Leeds TRUE (Transformational Routemapping for Urban Environments[1]) was launched in February 2018[2].
The three policy challenges involved 1) the city as resource for all and host of world class events, 2) reversing the decline in a swiftly deteriorating neighborhood, and 3) a public health campaign to get sedentary people walking in their neighborhood, nearby parks, or at a gym or other exercise facility. One team was in the midst of changing leadership, another was still forming by engaging with other departments and organizations to broaden the perspective on the issue, the third was under particularly intense pressure to quickly and successfully change the situation.
The group conducting the study consisted of more than 30 people, about half academics from different disciplines, the others from city government, local community organizations, and UK-wide charities with broad interest in community issues. The creators of the Routemap led the work sessions with the teams. The exact methodology and terminology evolved with each test based on the feedback from the team and community partners who were invited to participate in the discussion and action plan development process.
Unfortunately, anticipated follow-up funding for refinement and beta testing was not available due to a restructuring and reprioritization at the UK Research Councils.
CA:TMaPS’ CA:TNP©[3] is the next generation of the Leeds TRUE prototype. As the saying goes, “new and improved!” Based on lessons learned from Leeds TRUE, Dr. Simon, who was the Senior Research Fellow managing the full body of work involved in the nearly £500,000 (approx. US$677,500) project, has:
1) revised the definitions of complexity factors to better match those currently in use in complexity science (making it easier to make improvements as the science evolves),
2) identified a new set of system conditions (capabilities and capacities the organisations and teams may have or need to better cope with those complexities), and
3) designed a new educational and facilitation process to assist teams in:
a) eluicidating* the complexities of their particular challenge,
b) identifying ways to incorporate that lucidity into policy planning and delivery appropriate to their organisation and circumstances, and
c) collaboratively planning policy delivery actions with a realistic timetable.
Each of the three Leeds City Council teams reported benefits from the Routemap process. Reported improvements included team cohesion, shared vision, and better collaboration, all of which contribute to policy delivery success.
We invite you to consider the potential improvements in efficiency, effectiveness, and success in your policy delivery based on incorporating complex adaptive systems factors in planning.
CA:TMaPS Applications (under construction)
[1] Academics (and especially recovering academics) love fancy words, word play, and acronyms. Please be patient and indulge us. Who knows, you might find one or more amusing…
[2] If you are interested in more details of the development process, please use the contact for on our Contact Us page and tick the box requesting more information on the Leeds TRUE project.
[3] CA:TNP© is Complex Adaptations: Transdisciplinary Network Pilotage.