Navigating complexity: The future of public service

It is now widely accepted that the complex nature of public service has a number of profound consequences which public servants must address (Haynes 2003, Bovaird 2008, Rhodes 2008; Lowe and Wilson 2017). This chapter explores what is required of public servants in order to achieve their task of creating opportunities for positive social outcomes to emerge (such as improved wellbeing, increased employment or reduced crime) in complex environments. A new conceptual framing for organisations which deal with complex problems is introduced - the “Human Learning Systems approach” - which explores the principles, cultures and processes required to create a complexity-engaged organizational design for public service organisations

New development: Responding to complexity in public services—the human learning systems approach

The challenges facing public services and non-profit organizations are complex and multi-faceted, confounding the orthodoxies of bureaucratic public administration and New Public Management approaches. This article discusses the merits and potential of the emerging ‘Human Learning Systems’ (HLS) approach to the funding, commissioning and management of public services as an alternative management logic. Building on prior introductory work, the authors analyse the current state of development, content and operation of HLS and its collaborative process, involving more than 300 organizations. Drawing on the experience of public and non-profit service professionals in adopting and experimenting with this approach, the authors found that HLS can provide a helpful and innovative conceptual frame to promote constructive engagement with complexity in public management theory and practice. IMPACT: Current approaches to public management based on principles of marketization, management and measurement are increasingly being seen to fail when faced with the complex world of public services. The Human Learning Systems (HLS) concept represents an alternative approach which embraces the complexity of the real world of organizations working to deliver services. Produced in collaboration with an emerging community of funders, managers and commissioners of services, HLS offers a framework which bridges academic complexity theory and the diverse contexts of practice. This article introduces HLS as a means to enable organizations, practitioners and service users to work together more effectively

New development: Learning communities—an approach to dismantling barriers to collective improvement

Public services operate in conditions of complexity. Practitioners and service users can never be certain of the impact or outcome of a course of action and, consequently, responsible failure must be supported. A new methodology for enabling public service professionals to navigate the complexity of their practice is introduced in this article: ‘learning communities’ (LCs). Drawing from developmental applications of this methodology, the authors describe how LCs provide environments for talking authentically about uncertainties and mistakes with the purpose of collective improvement, and draw parallels with similar methods of community co-creation. The way that LCs tackle two key elements of the public sector’s learning capacity noted in the literature—structure and culture—is explained

The impact of communicating genetic risks of disease on risk-reducing health behaviour: systematic review with meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of communicating DNA based disease risk estimates on risk-reducing health behaviours and motivation to engage in such behaviours. DESIGN: Systematic review with meta-analysis, using Cochrane methods. DATA SOURCES: Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials up to 25 February 2015. Backward and forward citation searches were also conducted. STUDY SELECTION: Randomised and quasi-randomised controlled trials involving adults in which one group received personalised DNA based estimates of disease risk for conditions where risk could be reduced by behaviour change. Eligible studies included a measure of risk-reducing behaviour. RESULTS: We examined 10,515 abstracts and included 18 studies that reported on seven behavioural outcomes, including smoking cessation (six studies; n=2663), diet (seven studies; n=1784), and physical activity (six studies; n=1704). Meta-analysis revealed no significant effects of communicating DNA based risk estimates on smoking cessation (odds ratio 0.92, 95% confidence interval 0.63 to 1.35, P=0.67), diet (standardised mean difference 0.12, 95% confidence interval -0.00 to 0.24, P=0.05), or physical activity (standardised mean difference -0.03, 95% confidence interval -0.13 to 0.08, P=0.62). There were also no effects on any other behaviours (alcohol use, medication use, sun protection behaviours, and attendance at screening or behavioural support programmes) or on motivation to change behaviour, and no adverse effects, such as depression and anxiety. Subgroup analyses provided no clear evidence that communication of a risk-conferring genotype affected behaviour more than communication of the absence of such a genotype. However, studies were predominantly at high or unclear risk of bias, and evidence was typically of low quality. CONCLUSIONS: Expectations that communicating DNA based risk estimates changes behaviour is not supported by existing evidence. These results do not support use of genetic testing or the search for risk-conferring gene variants for common complex diseases on the basis that they motivate risk-reducing behaviour. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: This is a revised and updated version of a Cochrane review from 2010, adding 11 studies to the seven previously identified.A previous version of this review was funded as part of a grant from the Medical Research Council, UK (Risk communication in preventive medicine: optimising the impact of DNA risk information; G0500274). Updating this review was funded by an NIHR Senior Investigator award to TMM. The funder had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; and preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from the BMJ Publishing Group via http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i110

Managing the complexity of outcomes: a new approach to performance measurement and management

Governments, philanthropic agencies and public sector organisations have given increasing primacy to outcomes across their operations in recent years, particularly within the domain of performance management. We argue that societal outcomes challenge public agencies to respond to four specific forms of complexity - compositional, experiential, dynamic and governance complexities - which taken together confound the conceptual basis of traditional performance management systems. We adopt this understanding of complexity in a constructive capacity to consider the design parameters of a complexity-appropriate performance management system. We conclude that two theoretical transitions are necessary in a complexity-appropriate performance management approach: a shift from principal-agent theory to stewardship theory, and from technical to social management control theory. We explore the characteristics which such a model of performance management might take in practice, and conclude by outlining a research agenda to explore the potential applications of this new approach

Are people with negative diabetes screening tests falsely reassured? Parallel group cohort study embedded in the ADDITION (Cambridge) randomised controlled trial

Objective To assess whether receiving a negative test result at primary care based stepwise diabetes screening results in false reassurance

New development: The emerging role of a 'learning partner' relationship in supporting public service reform

As public services face the limits of existing approaches to public management, emerging practices are highlighting the importance of continuous learning and service reform. While many approaches, methods and aids for learning exist, managers embracing complexity are making use of relational resources to scaffold their learning capacity-building. This article introduces the idea of ‘learning partnerships’: a set of nested learning relationships between public managers, consultants, and researchers and academics, which extends the literature on academic–practitioner collaborations and builds a relational mechanism for learning into the action learning action research (ALAR) and learning organization genres

Origins of ion selectivity in potassium channels from the perspective of channel block

Potassium channels play crucial roles in physiology, and one of their more important roles is to repolarize the membrane after an action potential in excitable cells (Hille, 2001). During an action potential, Na+ channels open first and depolarize the cell membrane, which is followed closely by their inactivation and subsequent opening of K+ channels that repolarize the cell membrane by allowing K+ to flow out of the cell. If Na+ were allowed to move through K+ channels, the influx of Na+ would compete with the outflow of K+, and the sharp membrane repolarization would no longer occur. It is then paramount that K+ channels select keenly against Na+ ions

3D Finite Element Modelling of Cutting Forces in Drilling Fibre Metal Laminates and Experimental Hole Quality Analysis

Machining Glass fibre aluminium reinforced epoxy (GLARE) is cumbersome due to distinctively different mechanical and thermal properties of its constituents, which makes it challenging to achieve damage-free holes with the acceptable surface quality. The proposed work focuses on the study of the machinability of thin (~2.5 mm) GLARE laminate. Drilling trials were conducted to analyse the effect of feed rate and spindle speed on the cutting forces and hole quality. The resulting hole quality metrics (surface roughness, hole size, circularity error, burr formation and delamination) were assessed using surface profilometry and optical scanning techniques. A three dimensional (3D) finite-element (FE) model of drilling GLARE laminate was also developed using ABAQUS/Explicit to help understand the mechanism of drilling GLARE. The homogenised ply-level response of GLARE laminate was considered in the FE model to predict cutting forces in the drilling process

Future research directions on the "elusive" white shark

White sharks, Carcharodon carcharias, are often described as elusive, with little information available due to the logistical difficulties of studying large marine predators that make long-distance migrations across ocean basins. Increased understanding of aggregation patterns, combined with recent advances in technology have, however, facilitated a new breadth of studies revealing fresh insights into the biology and ecology of white sharks. Although we may no longer be able to refer to the white shark as a little-known, elusive species, there remain numerous key questions that warrant investigation and research focus. Although white sharks have separate populations, they seemingly share similar biological and ecological traits across their global distribution. Yet, white shark’s behavior and migratory patterns can widely differ, which makes formalizing similarities across its distribution challenging. Prioritization of research questions is important to maximize limited resources because white sharks are naturally low in abundance and play important regulatory roles in the ecosystem. Here, we consulted 43 white shark experts to identify these issues. The questions listed and developed here provide a global road map for future research on white sharks to advance progress toward key goals that are informed by the needs of the research community and resource managers