The sword in hand - Blair McPherson

 

"Ministers should abandon the sword in hand model of performance management. 
At a time when resources are so constrained and demand is rising, why does the state rely on crude forms of performance management, take a gladiatorial stance toward anyone dealing in evidence, and preside over systems exhausted by policy churn and structural change?"
 

"In their hearts, ministers and officials knows this (innovation and cooperation at a local level)  is where the solutions lie. They engage with this form of practice and are inspired by it. But there is cognitive dissonance at work as their intelligence is ground under the wheels of government and recycled into a narrative of a never-ending struggle against inertia in the self-serving public sector."

Peter Housden former permanent secretary and LA chief executive

If I might presume to translate. The carrot is more effective that the big stick. However historically central government does not trust local government.