Reflections on a vertical learning curve

Photo credit: Daniel Jimenez via Unsplash

Today is my last working day as CTO for the UK Government.

Three years ago, I had just learnt that I might be offered this job. I was completely uncertain about whether I should say yes or not. Fortunately, my wife, as ever, gave me good advice – to talk to some experts and mentors, who knew me and the kind of work I did, and to get their perspectives.

Those conversations yielded two insights. First (from people who were naturally analytical), when we plotted pros and cons, the pros sounded like reasons to do the job, and the cons sounded like work to be done – and therefore more reasons to do the job. Second (from people who thought in terms of purpose), I discovered a strong sense of public duty: for an example, an Australian friend told me that if his country asked him to do an equivalent job, he would accept with pride.

Guided by that advice, I said yes, still not sure what I was getting myself into. I’m still not sure (the learning curve has consistently been vertical), but here are a few lessons that I learnt.

Inside the sausage factory

It is sometimes said that there are two things you should never see being made: laws and sausages (often misattributed originally to Otto von Bismarck, but actually John Godfrey Saxe, a 19th century lawyer from Vermont). I don’t know about sausages, but I can’t agree about laws: I’ve had the privilege of seeing how legislation is shaped, drafted, and modified by consultation and expert advice, and think that everyone would benefit from seeing it up close. I’ve also got to see much more of the inner workings of government, and it has made me realise that, until I did this job, I only had the shakiest grasp of how our system works.

It has left me with a reinforced respect for democratic processes, but also a reminder that I should follow my own advice. I often say that more people should learn how technology works (learn to code – especially in the age of AI!), so that they can understand the world they live in. The same goes for government: the more we understand how it works, the more we can participate as citizens.

Thinking in public

Much of the work of technologists is crystallised thinking, whether in the form of strategies, designs, specifications or code. In my private sector life, most of this thinking remained private: it might have had currency in board rooms, across leadership teams and within the technology organisation but, apart from the occasional public speaking appearance or whitepaper, it did not leave the boundaries of the organisation.

One of the parts of working in digital leadership in the public sector that took most getting used to is that you do almost everything in public. Sometimes this is hard work (answering Freedom of Information requests) and sometimes it is daunting (appearing in front of Parliamentary committees), but it also has turned out to be surprisingly rewarding: it was great to find, for example, that the AI playbook was being used by people far outside the intended audience.

Variety and purpose

Private sector organisations put a lot of effort into articulating purpose, vision and mission, into describing Big Hairy Audacious Goals, which they hope will motivate people to come to work in the morning and do their best work.

The public sector does this too: we have plenty of statements of visions and values. But there is an underlying difference, in that (at least in my experience) many people working in the public sector are already motivated by the mission built into the nature of their organisation. This is perhaps most obvious in fields such as health and teaching, but is also present in people protecting the border, collecting taxes, preventing fraud and so on. One of the most important things I will take from my time in the public sector is an appreciation of the range of things that public workers do, and gratitude for the purpose with which they do it.

The fundamentals still matter

Despite all these differences, technology is still technology, whether it is being used for public or private purposes. And it is still subject to the same fundamental forces and challenges. Systems which are not well managed will inevitably become legacy, imposing a burden of cost and risk. Technical debt which is not repaid will incur ever increasing penalties. Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong – sometimes by accident, and sometimes because of deliberate attack. And yet, we will still make computers do astonishing and useful things.

One of the many open items on my to-do list was to embed the concept of platforms more deeply into public sector digital architecture (although, to be fair to myself, I suspect that this idea will never be fully ticked off the list). There is a tension in public sector technology: the range of needs and opportunities, the scarcity of resources, and the differences in capabilities of different-sized organisations, all make a case for shared platforms. But the federated nature of funding, structures and goals makes it difficult to come together to create these platforms. Fortunately, government organisations, GDS and their partners were already making progress on this challenge before I joined, and I am sure that they will continue to advance after I have left – I only hope that I have contributed to a few steps on the journey.

Even better if . . .

The UK public sector and the Civil Service are not perfect: I think you’d be surprised if I claimed they were. I wish, for example, that they were faster and less fragmented, that digital skills were seen as an essential part of leadership, and much more. Fortunately, I don’t have to rehearse every opportunity for digital improvement, as they were laid out in the State of Digital Government report earlier this year, alongside the planned response in the Blueprint for a Modern Digital Government (more thinking in public!).

At the same time, my opportunity to work in this role has shifted my attitude towards public service. It has reminded me to try to live by another principle which I often state: that if you are going to complain about something, then you’d better be ready to help fix it.

Which brings me to my penultimate reflection: I am glad that I said ‘yes’ to that job offer three years ago. For those of you working in the private sector who think that you would like to make a contribution to your country, I can only encourage you to say yes, too, if the opportunity arises – and to seek the opportunity if it doesn’t come looking for you. It doesn’t have to be forever, you will learn a lot – and have a chance to make a difference.

But my final thoughts, of course, have to be gratitude and respect – for all those new friends who do their best to keep the public sector running, to serve the public, and to make it better every day. Thank you for letting me a part of this work, and for everything that you will do next.