Radical Change in the Public Sector is like 'Green Eggs and Ham'.

My middle child is a big fan of the book “Green Eggs and Ham” and at present I read it to him several times a week.?I know that its author Dr Seuss has a worrisome history and I was never much of a fan of the book as a child…however, I have started to reflect on the similarity between the story and my experience as a management consultant.

Warning spoilers ahead!

The book starts with the entrance of the antagonist Sam-I-am, who appears riding a dog in the first instance, and then a cat, holding a series of placards, this causes the protagonist to declare “…that Sam-I am, that Sam-I-am, I do not like that Sam-I-am”.

Working with public sector organisations, I get told on a semi-regular basis by my clients (or key project stakeholders), that they do not like (or even hate) ‘Management Consultants’, I hear this about 3-4 times a year.?It used to bother me, but I’ve actually found that these individuals are often the ones who subsequently become the greatest champions and supporters of change.

Another element of the story which resonates from a professional perspective, is the fact that rather like Sam-I-am, I always (through encouragement, coaching or just good old fashioned osmosis) encourage my clients to try something different….often things, which within the status quo are scary or unpalatable.

Rather like the response to Sam-I-am’s offer of the titular ‘Green Egg and Ham’ to the protagonist, this is often met with resistance (and at times disgust and sustained animus).?Change is never easy!

Quite often solutions that are unpalatable in one area or locality, particularly in relation to system working in the NHS, may be more desirable in others, as a consequence I often find myself asking, ala Sam-I-am, “…would you like them here or there?”.

?Often, as is the case in the book, the response is “I would not like them here or there, I would not like them anywhere…”. However, to me this marks the beginning of a process, rather than its end.

Like Sam-I-am, I work with my clients to understand the conditions or pre-requisites, under which they might be able to try the radical change proposed.?

Whilst these haven’t yet encompassed delivering change in a ‘box’ or with a ‘fox’, or in a ‘house’, or with a ‘mouse’, I have always prompted them to consider whether the proposed option may be rendered more desirable by partnering with other public sector partners, be that NHS, Social Care, Education or Voluntary Sector organisations.?In the words of Sam-I-am….”You do not like them, so you say, try them, try them and you may…try them and you may, I say”

?Often I have to consider all options and persist in encouraging and empowering them to try the proposed solution, often (as with Sam-I-am) to the chagrin of my clients.?Whilst I’m sure it grates (on occasion) I think my clients can see my own personal commitment to finding solutions and implementing them. Often, as with Sam-I-am in the story, through the maturation of relationships, establishment of trust and sheer dogged persistence, they eventually acquiesce and discover in doing so, that they do quite like “Green Eggs and Ham” and can identify a host of scenarios in which the option would be perfect.?

I think that delivering lasting, radical change in the public sector is very much like the book “Green Eggs and Ham”, change is scary and it is often unpalatable.?To be truly effective, management consultants need to have full conviction in the appropriateness of the solutions they propose, even in the face of sustained resistance.