Rodneys BBC Journey at Treasury

Minister of Finance wanted “choice and confidence” in making capital investment decisions

In 2009, post the Global Financial Crisis, the Minister of Finance wanted Cabinet to have “choice and confidence” in making capital investment decisions.

 

Rodney volunteered to meet the Ministers need

In 2009 the UK Cabinet Office released research showing that projects fail due to:

  • Lack of strategic fit

  • Lack of executive engagement

  • Lack of stakeholder engagement

  • Lack of supply side engagement

  • Focus first on funding then public value

  • Lack of a systematic approach  

Rodney reflected on that research and reached out to the authors of the HM Treasury business case guidance based on the 5CM. Rodney put together a cross-agency team of practitioners to take the HM Treasury business case guidance and adapt it for New Zealand, branding it BBC (which HMT listed them on the International Copyright Register as the owner of BBC).

 

National Infrastructure Unit launched BBC in Wellington in 2010

Treasury launched BBC across the state sector in 2010 as a systematic approach lead by executives with stakeholders and the supply side to identify and deliver public value.  Our key messages were:

·         it’s about “Thinking not Writing”

·         A business case is a campaign to deliver public value not a document to get money

·         Agencies need targeted consultancy support from consultancy firms

The launch included support on the website

  • Quick Reference Guide

·         Overview booklet

·         Scoping document

·         Guidance booklets, to understand the standard

·         Word Template, to write the business case

·         A3  “one pager”, to present the business case

 

Rodney launched Building Better Business Cases training  in Wellington in 2011

In 2011 Rodney launched “Building better business cases’ training which was delivered at no cost to public servants from capital intensive agencies 

 

Rodney launched Better Business Cases Foundation and Practitioner training  in Christchurch and Wellington  in 2012

In 2012 Rodney tailored the recently developed HM Treasury  BBC Foundation and Practitioner training courses. These courses were first delivered in Christchurch in 2012 as Treasury launched BBC to inform earthquake recovery decisions.

Rodney  established a New Zealand BBC Steering Committee and commercialized the training. The half-day BBC Foundation course was free, and the two-day BBC Practitioner Course was $700 per day per person. This funding was then reinvested in continuing the BBC programme .

 

Rodney arranged for  BBC evaluation  in 2012

In 2013 Rodney had the BBC framework evaluated and the findings and in response published the following on the Treasury website including:

  • Executive Intensive sessions (45 minutes)

·         Training-book online: Foundation Course (4 hours) and Practitioners Course (Two full days 16 hours)

·         communities of practice

  • Endorsed Expert Pool pilot for public servants at no cost

 

Rodney had  BBC evaluated  in 2015

In 2015 Rodney had the BBC Framework evaluated here by the author of the HM Treasury BBC Guidance who suggested more focus is needed:

  • to understand how outputs (through projects) will deliver better public service outcomes (through programmes) and support the delivery strategies

  • on planning for the delivery of public services in the medium and longer terms

  • on service demand and capacity planning and the enabling infrastructure in its widest sense

  • to be placed on programmes that deliver organisational and transformational change.

  • to be given to improving the overall efficiency and effectiveness of public services and to monetising the benefits.

  • on making the case for change from the standpoint of the local and regional economy, and national perspective

  • to be given to business process re-engineering and transforming the way in which services are provided.

  • to be given to expressing these outcomes in terms of SMART objectives on building BBC people capability given there are sufficient products, processes, tools, techniques and

  • to assist practitioners to use BBC in an adaptable and scalable way

  • on using the 5 case Model to give effect to strategy, which is increasingly being recognised as an area for potential improvement.

 

He also provided some observations in response to feedback from Endorsed BBC Experts and  practitioners:

•      Practitioners need to find more effective and timely ways to engage senior executives on the benefits to them from good business case development process.

•      Competent and fully trained reviewers are essential to “policing” the system and maintaining quality standards

•      Most public servants want to do the right thing - we need to show them how. Most public servants are risk adverse – we need to demonstrate how BBC mitigates and manages risks. 

•      Natural tendency for senior executives to retrofit on the basis of pre-conceived solutions. The fundamental purpose of BBC is to challenge this behaviour and to change the culture over time. The principal ways of overcoming the tendency to retrofit are twofold in conjunction with supporting workshops; (1) assisting to frame the investment objectives correctly in the first instance; and (2) use of the Options Filter for the scoping of a wide range of potential, realistic options in the second.

 

The Treasury response was published on the website in 2015 including:

  • encourage accessing BBC support available on the website

  • continue to encourage use of robust investment objectives and a broad range of possible options including do minimum and begun offering ‘clinics’ to support this.

  • enhance the existing BBC Reviewers Course for vote teams and others reviewing business cases.

 

Rodney left Treasury in 2016 to progress the findings from the Evaluation to apply the 5 Case Model to long-term thinking for transformational change and measurable value at a local, regional, and national level.