Your work has already expertise. Now it needs someone who can contain the tension of complexity.
Some executive decisions are expensive to undo. The Policy Compass is an instrument developed by the Dutch government to develop effective, applicable and human policies.
Four reasons (not) to use the Policy Compass
“We already know the solution.”
In high stakes environments, urgency drives change. Most solutions are known before problems have a chance to be researched. The issue is not that organizations do not have solutions; it's that they often do not know what causes their problems.
“A project leader is overhead.”
A project manager is the cheapest and the most valuable at day one. In complex environments someone has to hold the tension while the analysis runs.
“We can do this ourselves.”
Any expert in their field has a clear idea of how to solve a problem. That knowledge is not the issue. The issue is that each knows only from their own perspective. Bringing in an external manager can mean the difference between implementing solutions and fighting symptoms.
“We don't have time.”
Time at the front is the cheapest time in the entire process, and skipping it is the best-documented way to extend the total lead time. A rushed preparation produces repair costs, missed opportunities, and relationships that harden.
Who it's for
- Organisations facing a decision that will be hard to reverse: a scheme, a regulation, an investment, a redesigned service.
- Directors and executives carrying a mission that doesn't sit neatly inside one department, one organisation, or one budget.
- Partnerships, regions, and alliances where nobody has authority over everybody and the work still has to move.
- Anyone handed a charged decision and no project structure to run it with.