Managing demand – it’s all about outcomes
We must utilise people’s strengths and the assets available in the community to manage demand effectively.
My colleague Jon Ainger and I recently presented at an online event facilitated by Northumbria University Business School, on taking a Human Learning Systems approach to public services.
In our session, we spoke about working across interfaces to build system relationships, and shared practical tactics for influencing the behaviour of people who are key actors in the system – something that is even more important in the current crisis. One of the positive impacts of Covid-19 is that it is enabling public services to look beyond organisational or system boundaries and embrace complexity more than ever before.
Our session generated lots of discussion, particularly about EDGEWORK and how we apply it on the ground. The feedback has helped us think about how we articulate our approach and demonstrate how we are using it to create better-functioning systems. We came away with two key reflections:
It was encouraging to listen to the experiences of other people in improving complex public services and to be able to contribute to and benefit from our collective learning. The passion and commitment that came through was energising and shows that people are keen to make a difference in the future despite, or perhaps as a direct consequence of, being in the midst of a pandemic.
We must utilise people’s strengths and the assets available in the community to manage demand effectively.