When innovation and reliability pull in opposite directions

If you’ve ever tried to modernize something that’s working “just fine,” you know this common pattern: You can see the need for change. Everyone agrees, in theory. But the moment you start moving fast, someone reminds you that failure isn’t an option.

I saw this up close when we worked with public libraries in the UK at Niche Academy.

Our library customers wanted to spotlight their digital resources—to make it easy for patrons to discover their eBooks and streaming media. But every tweak to their websites had to go through layers of local and national regulation. Innovation required multiple approvals; risk-taking was not allowed.

That tension between standardization for fairness and flexibility for innovation is common to most public services. In the 2010's, the UK’s Government Digital Service (GDS) had to tackle it on a national scale.

Their challenge was to make government services simpler, clearer, and faster without breaking the stability millions relied on.

Instead of thinking tradeoffs or prioritizing one side, they did something remarkable: they learned to lead through paradox. They found innovative solutions with a Both/And approach. Their process was to drive big changes through a series of small, fast, low-cost experiments.

Their mindset and their process turned an enormous government bureaucracy into one of the world’s digital transformation success stories.

If you’ve ever felt caught between competing leadership demands—speed and accuracy, control and empowerment, structure and creativity—this story is worth your time.

Read the full post: The Government Digital Service: A Case Study in “Both/And” Leadership

Warmly,
Jared