Learning from the places where informal and formal change activity meet — Part Three

This blog is written from the perspective of a group of UK civil servants interested in positive change.  They are interested in the issues surrounding the interaction between formal institutional structure (e.g. what is on an organisational chart for a unit of government) and informal structures (the networks of people with knowledge and capabilities relevant to creating and implementing policies).  This is the last of three blogs they have written (with links to the other two) which examines life at the centre of government.  This centre is well-defined formally and often conceptualised as a machine for delivering outcomes.  Their perspective is that the centre is largely an illusion and that people and their personalities interact in a complex and organic way to produce outcomes whose longevity often depends on the specific people who initiate and drive policy processes. This is a particularly useful perspective for reflecting on the difference between how one might assume government would work and how it does in practice.