AREAS OF EXPERTISE
Seven areas of practice, each learned from the inside.
We concentrate on seven areas, the ones where 34 years inside government give us knowledge no framework can supply: how the work is actually done, and why it so often stalls.
WHY SEVEN
Depth over breadth.
Reform rarely fails for want of ideas. It fails where structure, leadership, people and execution do not line up. Our seven areas map to those points of failure, and each is one our founders have worked on from the inside.
Two are flagship areas: Civil Service and Public Administration Reform, and Leadership of Government Institutions. The other five build outward from them.
See how the seven connect in the Walson-Jack Framework
I
PILLAR I · FLAGSHIP
Reform that outlasts the administration that launched it.
Reform strategy, machinery of government and the central institutions of the state. This is the area where our founder’s experience as immediate past Head of the Civil Service of the Federation counts most.
Questions we help leaders answer
- How should the machinery of government be organised to deliver, not merely to exist?
- What must the central institutions of the state do differently for reform to hold?
- How does a reform survive a change of government?
Where we work
- Civil-service reform strategy and sequencing
- Machinery of government and institutional architecture
- Central agencies and coordination across government
- Public-administration modernisation
- Institutionalising reform so it survives a change of administration
Who it is for
Heads of Civil Service, Ministers responsible for public-service reform, Cabinet Secretaries and reform units.
Connected
Programme Service
II
PILLAR II · FLAGSHIP
Institutions are only as capable as the people who lead them.
Senior leadership development for those who lead large public institutions: under political oversight, through reform, and often in their first months in role. It draws on the practice of leading at the top of government.
Questions we help leaders answer
- What does it take to lead a large public institution when the mandate, the politics and the budget all move at once?
- How should a senior official work with political leadership and keep professional standing?
- What should a newly appointed leader do first?
Where we work
- Executive leadership development for senior officials
- Political–administrative relations
- Decision-making at the top of government
- Leadership transitions and early-tenure support
- Leadership teams, cabinets and boards
Who it is for
Heads of Civil and Public Service, Cabinet Secretaries, Permanent Secretaries, Directors-General, heads of regulatory bodies and newly appointed senior officials.
III
PILLAR III
Delivery depends on people, systems and culture.
The people, systems and cultures governments need in order to deliver. We help institutions build the workforce, the competencies and the performance discipline that reform depends on.
Questions we help leaders answer
- How do we attract and keep scarce talent in the public service?
- What does a merit-based, performance-led civil service look like in practice?
- How do we raise productivity when resources are constrained?
Where we work
- Workforce planning and talent pipelines
- Competency frameworks and merit systems
- Senior civil-service development
- Performance management and public-sector productivity
- Organisational culture and professional norms
Who it is for
Heads of Service, human-resource leaders, central management agencies, Permanent Secretaries and reform units.
IV
PILLAR IV
The last mile of reform.
From policy document to implementation. A reform is announced in a day and delivered over years. We help leaders sequence the work, bring the institution with them and govern the programme until the change is the new normal.
Questions we help leaders answer
- Where should a reform start, and in what order?
- How do we build a coalition inside the bureaucracy rather than around it?
- How will we know the reform is working before the next budget cycle?
Where we work
- Reform sequencing and implementation planning
- Coalition-building and stakeholder alignment
- Programme governance and delivery arrangements
- Monitoring implementation
- Change management from inside the bureaucracy
Who it is for
Heads of Government Administration, Cabinet Secretaries and leaders of major transformation programmes.
Connected
Programme Service
V
PILLAR V
Technology adoption is a leadership question first.
The leadership and institutional dimensions of digital and AI adoption. We are not a technology implementation company. We help governments decide, govern and prepare.
Questions we help leaders answer
- Is our institution ready for AI, and what must be true before it is?
- Who decides, and who is accountable, when a public service is automated?
- What happens to the public-sector workforce as the nature of work changes?
Where we work
- Leadership and governance of digital-government reform
- AI readiness and responsible-adoption arrangements
- The future of work in the public service
- Institutional capability for digital delivery
- Skills and workforce transition
Who it is for
Heads of Service, Permanent Secretaries, and leaders of digital-government and reform programmes.
VI
PILLAR VI
Preparing women for institutional power.
Preparation for institutional power for senior women leaders. Our founder led the Federal Civil Service, and the pillar is shaped by that experience.
Questions we help leaders answer
- How do senior women build and hold institutional authority?
- What does the step from a senior role to institutional leadership require?
- How do institutions make room for women’s leadership in practice?
Where we work
- Leadership development for senior women
- Preparation for top institutional roles
- Confidential mentoring
- Institutional practices that support women’s leadership
Who it is for
Senior women in public service and public institutions, and organisations committed to women’s leadership.
Connected
Programme Service
VII
PILLAR VII
The trust on which institutional credibility depends.
Institutions earn authority by being trusted. We help governments and public bodies build the accountability, ethics and integrity arrangements that trust rests on, and keep them working under pressure.
Questions we help leaders answer
- What makes a conflict-of-interest framework work in practice?
- How do we build a culture in which rules are respected?
- How do accountability mechanisms stay credible when they are tested?
Where we work
- Public-sector ethics and integrity frameworks
- Conflict-of-interest frameworks
- Accountability mechanisms and transparency
- Professional responsibility of senior officials
- Ethical leadership and organisational culture
Who it is for
Heads of Service, Permanent Secretaries, heads of agencies, boards and oversight bodies.
Connected
Programme Service
FINDING THE RIGHT FIT
Not sure which area your challenge belongs to?
Most challenges do not arrive labelled. Tell us what is not working, and we will tell you plainly whether it sits within our seven areas. If it does not, we will say so.
CONTACT US
Institutions don't transform on their own.
We take on a limited number of engagements at any time, so that each receives the attention it warrants. Every enquiry is read and considered personally. If your institution's challenge sits within our seven areas of practice, we welcome the conversation.