Public life doesn’t actually involve the public. That was the insight that led me to create Public Life earlier this year. And what’s struck me since we launched is that whenever I say those words, whether I’m in a workshop with residents or a meeting with a think tank, people always respond in the same way. It starts with nods of agreement and then leads onto a conversation about how things need to change. The challenge is, how do we do that?
That’s been my obsessive focus over the last seven years as I’ve worked to develop the Public Life model. From creating it from scratch I’ve now run multiple programmes that support people facing social issues to invent the solutions they need. Hundreds of organisations and thousands of members of the public have got involved, and a range of new social businesses are now in the world as a result of this work, making a difference on everything from the cost of living to ageing with dignity.
Here are the three key lessons I’ve learnt over those years about how to cultivate a new type of public life:
Lesson 1: Proper support requires proper investment.
I’ve often reflected that the people who currently develop solutions to our biggest public problems have had a huge amount of investment put into them over the course of their lives, sometimes in school fees, almost always through degrees and workplace training.
I think we need to level the playing field, and the only way to do that is to invest in those at the sharp end of social problems. In our model that’s about providing full-time salaries and proper structured mentoring and support to invent new community-led solutions. Providing salaries means this work is accessible to people who wouldn't be able to afford to do it for free. How often is it that, when it comes to community work, the only people in the room not getting paid for their time are the people doing the work.
And it demonstrates that organisations value the process of social innovation, not just the ideas that come out of it, seeing it as an investment in the people in their communities. The good news is that, not only is that the right thing to do, our research shows it delivers huge social impact.
Lesson 2: The more you trust the greater the impact
Public trust is at a record low. As I’ve worked to get Public Life off the ground I’ve lost count of the number of organisations, from housing associations to health trusts, who have described lack of trust as amongst their biggest challenges. Low levels of trust have an impact on every aspect of their work, whether its people paying their rent on time or engaging with local health and care services. This has a huge financial and social cost and we all need to find a way to shift the dial.
My view is that the only way to build trust is to give it, and there is no risk free way of doing that. In fact trust by its very nature is a risk, it’s inherent in the idea. That’s why trust and radical empowerment lies at the heart of all Public Life programmes. There seems to be a standard process. During recruitment participants are deeply sceptical of our intent, working to sniff out whether this is ‘just another tick box exercise’. When the programme starts and they are truly trusted to take the lead people tend to go from scepticism, to fear at the scale of the challenge, to delivering at the highest levels. On pitch day people are always blown away by the quality. It’s another level to anything I’ve seen before. That comes from talent that can only be fully realised through radical trust.
Lesson 3: Our ambition should reflect the scale of the challenge
We’re living in challenging times. From the cost of living to mental health, the social issues facing communities are getting worse. Organisations are feeling the strain, with many navigating their most challenging operating environment for decades. And all this is taking place within a wider context of low trust, growing disenchantment, and a febrile atmosphere in many communities.
In the face of these myriad challenges some organisations are taking the decision to hunker down and wait for the storm to pass. I understand that instinct but I don’t think that will work. The reality is this is a new normal and the only way we are going to change it is to meet it head on. We can no longer tinker around the edges when it comes to our work in communities. We need a scale of ambition that reflects the size of the challenge. Making that happen in such a challenging financial climate won’t be easy, but nothing good ever is. But what I’ve learnt from doing this work over the last seven years is that where there is a will, there is a way.
Want to empower those facing social issues to invent the solutions they need? Get in touch to work with us!
