How it all began. Part 2

Back in the day, the Organisation used to do stuff. A lot of it was small-scale, but it made a real difference to the people involved.

But then the Organisation got poisoned by Policy. The only change that mattered was large-scale, national-level, “step” change. And we cuddled up to Power and imagined we were on the inside of this exclusive club.

Our role was reinterpreted as influencing “policy makers” and devising strategies for others to implement.

But the truth is that the central government officials that the Organisation deals with do not really make policy. Politicians do. And they are driven by a brute public opinion interpreted by the press and other commentators. The best officials can do is offer a readymade solution that vaguely fits the vaguely-worded policy pronouncement from on high.

So we spend our time creating solutions in search of a problem. This makes the Organisation an ecosystem where bureaucrats, technocrats and power-players can thrive, because there is no clear object to our work, and anything at all could turn out to be our saviour.

This is my world. A world not that far from comic-book, really.