Craig Cox

Drawing on my NYC emergency response days in the Mayor's office, I wrote about the role of debriefing and learning from previous experiences to inform the next one. Some may know it as the "after-action report." I provide a few recommended tips to build your readiness and infrastructure as we head into increasingly turbulent times. But hands down the biggest step any CCO or CMO can take is to build a collaborative culture across teams so that you don't fall victim to unforced errors.

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👉UNBELIEVABLE… …to him, but entirely believable to others🤷‍♂️🫤 This opening statement by the ex-Chair of Royal Mail, Allan Leighton, evidenced in the ongoing Post Office Inquiry offers important insight to our ‘belief systems’: 1 The inadequacy of them; an inadequacy that can prove to be fatal for you, and others 2 The need to widen them in order to prevent inadequacy becoming normalised 3 The need for independent professional support to help you widen them 4 How we continue to deceive ourselves and harm others until we take responsibility for them (1-3 above refers) This link to a conversation about self-responsibility and belief systems with Professor MacLennan who can help you widen them may prove helpful: https://lnkd.in/ef2WutnT This link to ‘Wilful Blindness’ which promotes an understanding as to why Allan Leighton said what he meant may also help: https://lnkd.in/e7YZ9nWs Margaret Heffernan Prof Nigel MacLennan Leadership Coach and Integrity Campaigner 🎶Crack The Shutters🥰✈️ https://lnkd.in/eis9UeWR https://lnkd.in/e7dG4mpD

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Labour has just delivered its first budget in 15 years, a totemic moment for the new government that will define their whole parliamentary term. Alongside the major headlines of a significant expansion in spending - especially on the NHS and on investments, funded by massive borrowing and a £40 billion tax hike - the highest since 1993, there are also notable policy signals underneath it. This includes the likely broadening of the sugar levy on drinks and the expansion of breakfast clubs, an effective cut on international development aid, which will disappoint both charities and many Labour MPs and a huge injection on spending on green energy infrastructure. From a comms viewpoint, Labour needed to land two messages: going for growth and it won't hit working people. There may be frustration therefore that both of these were undermined by the independent OBR watchdog. The OBR has projected growth later in parliament to be sluggish, and well below Starmer's hope for a 2.5% GDP annual growth rate and the hike in employers national insurance to be mostly passed on to workers. The radical departure of the message of caution and limited tax rises during the General Election may also hurt them. Labour do have time given they are still at the beginning of term with a huge parliamentary majority. They will hope the improvement in key public services will pay dividends and calculated the accusation of austerity 2.0 was too fatal for their core support. Nevertheless, this is a major gamble for Labour. The government has thrown a lot of money at seeds which may not sprout for many years. Tax rises (which are near Corbyn 2017 manifesto level) could drag economic growth, which could be fiscally and politically disastrous. The high borrowing leaves the treasury exposed: the fiscal headroom is small and could erode quickly if markets decide to increase the cost of borrowing. Looking ahead, the Treasury will face a multi-year spending review in Spring, which sets the budgets for Departments for 2026–27 onwards. And in two years - a lot of the front loaded spending will level off - if there is no uptick of growth to bring in fresh cash, the Treasury will face fresh pressure to find more ways to raise revenue to commit to ever demanding public services. We won't know the full impact of this budget for years to come - but it will be felt by all of us. You can see more insights in the blog below! ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/eC2fHkWd

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The Times 🗞 + Fairer Finance 💷 + Citizens Advice 👫 + Instinctif Partners 🤝 = an event not to be missed if your brand is grappling with reputational challenges in highly regulated sectors. Sign up below to save your seat and put your questions to our expert panel on 12 November ⤵ #reputationmeetsregulation

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Looking forward to chairing this session for PLMR Genesis colleagues next week, with an expert panel discussing what may happen in the polls coming July 4th & what the East of England needs from a new administration. Sign-up details below if you want to listen in! #politics #policy #publicaffairs #eastofengland

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The US presidential/ UK PM debates have never taken place in the same week, let alone consecutive days. Setting aside which was the more entertaining (easily US) – a few thoughts on how the different broadcast formats affected the coverage and impacted the viewer: ⏳ Ground rules & visuals Contrasting with the BBC's looser approach, #CNN set explicit rules of engagement, everything from response times, microphone control and stage positioning. The split screen close-up camera effect was revealing – Biden pensive then growing in confidence and Trump looking increasingly needled as the debate progressed. If a similar technique was adopted for the UK debate, it wouldn't have benefited Starmer... 🔊 Moderation & questions Dana Bash and Jake Tapper led for CNN vs Mishal Husain alone for the #BBC. Two moderators enabled closer control and smoother transition through questions. Lack of audience in Atlanta meant a strangely sanitized atmosphere but removing audience reactions – along with the use of zoom-in – perhaps helps the viewer to focus more on the candidates and be less influenced by variables. The debate in Nottingham was less structured, giving both men – mainly Sunak – more chance to interrupt and go on the attack. There was also something very British about a willing audience stumbling through their questions amidst shouts of protest from outside! 🎯  Fact-checking Husain planted the flag early by highlighting BBC Verify and both candidates appealed to the service when disputed claims arose. She was also more assertive at clarifying statements and presenting official statistics especially during the immigration and fiscal debates. There was little pre-emptive or real time fact-checking in Atlanta, for which CNN are being heavily criticized. In the closing stages, the moderators struggled just to get the candidates – especially Trump - to engage with the question asked. Personal accusations, counter-claims and a ‘he started it’ line of attack increased as the debate wore on. As for the overall optics, Trump and Sunak appeared the more forceful and vigorous. Biden and Starmer will have to hope their more measured, statesmanlike performances are not overly perceived as tired or meek. #presidentialdebate #2024election

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Scotland's public and third sectors have a new Digital Capability Advisory Group to support their efforts to use digital tech and data effectively. It's good that the Scottish Digital Academy and the Digital Office for Scottish Local Government - which are going to run the new group in a partnership - have taken on the brief to support third sector organisations as well as public authorities. There is a lot of partnership working between the two groups and it makes sense that their use that they're on the same page in using digital and data. https://lnkd.in/eYubZGz9 #scotland #ddat #govtech #publicsector #thirdsector

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The Competition and Markets Authority is laser focused on driving productive and sustainable growth across the UK economy. To support the UK government’s growth mission and developing Industrial Strategy, we’ve announced the next programme of work to be conducted by economists in our specialist Microeconomics Unit (MU). The new MU Growth Programme will focus on critical drivers and blockers of growth, including the diffusion of technology across the economy; the impact of upstream market power on economic performance and supply chain resilience; and how competition impacts investment. Our third State of Competition report is also published today, with analysis reinforcing the importance of effective competition policy – merger control and the enforcement of competition law – to keeping market markets open and contestable, helping to drive the growth we all wish to see for the UK. You can read about the new programme and the third State of Competition Report here: https://lnkd.in/eGM3gRaM.

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As NHS Confed says in its latest report, fundamental, system wide change is indeed needed to scale up pockets of best practice into a new neighbourhood health service. Interesting focus on investment in capital assets – just last week we were speaking to a pioneering service transformation lead who’s offering one-stop-shop community hubs that are cutting waiting times, and improving patient outcomes, but can’t cater for all conditions without the physical space to do so. You also need the right people in place to deliver the service, and we will be pushing for community services – including rehab - to get a renewed focus from funding to commissioning and incentivising. Because everyone deserves the right to rehab. And it's how we move care from hospital to community also known as closer to home. https://lnkd.in/eqSwCpH8

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The government wants DC schemes to give members more support in making at-retirement decisions to ensure they get the most from their #pension pots. But, as the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association points out in its new guidance paper, there are several important areas that need more clarification. Where do trustees' responsibilities and liabilities begin and end? How will #retirement 'nudges' interact with the ongoing Advice/Guidance Boundary Review? https://lnkd.in/e4cn7mjq

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Found at 2009 Consumer Focus report into DirectGov (predecessor to GOV.UK), but parts of it could have been written about GOV.UK in recent years. The original alpha/beta product design of GOV.UK was _all_ about creating a framework that put services before content and limited there ability of publishing multiple things. The clear demarcation of services vs content vs facts / single service page, single guide page, URL structure etc If there's a moment that the GOV.UK illustrates the drift back towards content soup, it's this 2013 blog post about icons: https://lnkd.in/dWTz9pfx It is, of course, 100% right on one level. Something testing with users, didn't work, so designs are iterated. (The original design had also been overstretched to accommodate government policy and new publishing, which should have been kept separate anyway). But on another level, it marked the abandonment of an attempt at system redesign towards the issues that Consumer Focus and others had identified. GOV.UK was destined to become a publishing first model. It was never about the icons. Baby -> bathwater.

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Of course I am biased, but there's a fabulous line up for #IEDConf2024 this November, at a pivotal time for the #econdev profession in delivering HM Treasury's "Mission Growth". Get involved via details below>> #localgov #growth #regeneration #investment

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https://lnkd.in/efJ6QYgW I wrote a quick take on the impact of last week's Budget on business. The really big debate to come is whether the Government can plan investment so cleverly that its effect on business is crowding in, not out. Meanwhile, the impact on hiring incentives is negative, and some of the tax reforms we need are yet to be seen.

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Pleasing to see the government set out timetable for implementation of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act. It's important these new Competition and Markets Authority powers are put to use as soon as possible to bring greater competition to digital markets https://t.co/NPXPdyJaNq

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New public opinion survey on public services from Ipsos UK is in part depressing because it reveals how far services have deteriorated in recent years. 78% now think services have got worse in last five years cf. 40% in 2012. But look at the key points emerging from the survey below and it is clear the public are far more aware of what needs to change than Westminster to get things back on track. Essentially, the public want an integrated system with strong input from the local community that focuses on fairness and outcomes and doesn’t get carried away by the promise of big tech. Some hope then that we may get a meaningful public services reform agenda at some point. #publicservices #localgov #nhs #equality #ICIC24 #communitypower https://lnkd.in/eqmnd6qf

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Essential reading for anyone working with, or for, public sector organisations in the run-up to the #GeneralElection. The pre-election period officially begins at 1am tomorrow, so thoughts and prayers with all public sector communicators having to rip up their plans and figure out when to launch key initiatives (we’re helping several of our clients navigate this tricky conundrum). As a survivor of the triple election year of 2019 (locals, Euros, General), I totally feel your pain! #publicsectorcomms #preelectionperiod #GE2024

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👀 Huge opportunity, and calling collaborators - What do we want our country to look like in 2050? How should we develop the national vision and strategy for the UK? 👀 At the Apolitical Foundation conference this week, Catherine Day of the Cabinet Office and Robyn Scott of Apolitical Foundation, with the support of others including Involve launched an ambitious cross-sector initiative. We seek ideas for the development of a national programme of strategy setting for the UK. Share your details in the form below, if you'd like to contribute ideas and expertise! Why a UK strategy? I believe we must define our national goals - and it can't be just governments who define them. It's exceptionally hard to do - just look back at the last 10 years and the shocks and surprises we met - strategy has to account for change and complexity. But setting the vision has to be done, because with shared goals, we can tell whether we're succeeding, and whether we are building a country that is on the right track. Without a shared direction, people and governments can become increasingly disaffected with each other - the people go unheard and fall prey to populism and short-termist solutions, and governments take wrong turns and work diligently on the wrong things. Everyone has a stake, the public, businesses, civil society. We all need to collaborate to create this vision and share it so we have something worth hoping, working and fighting for. But how should we do it? Two principles underpin this call... 🤲 The design has to be for a truly national, at-scale, deep engagement, including deliberative and participative approaches 🏛 Whatever the strategy, our institutions need to change to help us design and deliver on this vision. I'll be putting forward Involve's point of view on all these and helping where I can to convene and discuss collaboration. Get in touch!

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