ABSTRACT
When Kanter argued in the 1990s that successful organisations were characterised by their ability to be ‘fast, friendly and flexible’, it is likely that her views of best practice had not been substantially informed by observation of such traits in the public services. (Kanter 1990:iii). Public services by their very nature have not been predisposed to speed of delivery, rather they have typically been viewed as being inward facing, overly bureaucratic and focused rather more on procedure than delivery. Flexibility also, is not a noted public service trait, with complex models of governance producing over time, deeply entrenched views of service domains with overtly territorial characteristics predominating. Having a capacity to be welcoming, easy to access and generally inclusive in their approach to all strata within society, are similarly, characteristics that may not be redolent with service users actual experience of engagement with public sector organisations.
