As they descended into the glare of the studio lights beneath the unblinking gaze of half a dozen TV cameras, stepping down the imposing staircase to pitch their ideas to the five impassive figures waiting below, the ‘ideas champions’ faced triumph or humiliation: the praise of people at the top of their profession, with the prospect of seeing their innovative idea adopted by the civil service – or withering scepticism and an ignominious, and extremely public, dismissal.

The ‘Lions’ Lair’ is a deliberately testing environment, but one with the capacity to discover and pursue ideas that could transform the ways in which the civil service operates. Based on the successful Dragons’ Den TV show, in which would-be entrepreneurs bid for investment capital from a panel of wealthy businesspeople, the scheme – which is sponsored by consultancy Ernst & Young – allows civil servants to present ideas on how to improve the service to a group of five senior officials and businessmen: in 2009, our ‘lions’ included two permanent secretaries, an agency chief executive, an Ernst & Young chief, and TV ‘dragon’ Peter Jones.

Concepts approved by three of the five-strong panel are adopted by one of the lions, who is then responsible for championing it. “Part of its power is that the civil service is obliged to follow through,” comments Ernst & Young’s lion Robin Tye. That top-level sponsorship can enable successful ideas to “break through a lot of bureaucracy, and gives [ideas] an overwhelming power to make a difference. Even with small ideas, sometimes you need sponsorship to get them through.”

Over the day, the collision of different departments’ and sectors’ cultures made for some revealing moments. “Individual departments think in different ways,” notes lion Gill Morgan, permanent secretary at the Welsh Assembly Government. “There are very good reasons for some of these differences, but there are also simple historical reasons.”

For Tye, the avowedly entrepreneurial format helps expose institutional flaws and cuts through some of the civil service’s weaknesses. “We’ve picked our lions carefully, but [in general] the civil service can be a little cautious, analytical, very positive, not very critical. That can leave people confused,” he says. “In the Lions’ Lair things become very stark, very black and white. People get very direct feedback which is not always positive – and all the best managers work like that.”

Asked what she’s looking for in an idea, lion Lin Homer, chief executive of the UK Border Agency, is thinking big. “Ideas that can create a step change in the quality or cost of services, making a 20 or 30 per cent difference rather than one or two per cent. We’re looking for transformation.” For Tye, “passion” is important. But all the lions agree that the crucial factor is evidence. Halfway through the day, Homer was questioning “whether we’re getting the kind of ideas that we can instantly invest in. We have to ask ourselves why, when we make a call for ideas, we get things that are not ready for launch.”

“I’d be very impressed by people saying: ‘This is what we’ve found, this is what we’ve measured, here’s a solution and here’s the scalability’,” adds Morgan; “I’d like to see more examples of people getting on and doing it.” And Robin Tye agrees. “I want someone who’s got layers of argument because they’ve tried this and that, come across blind alleys and found ways around them,” he says. “The winning idea is one where somebody’s really thought about it, and they can fight you off on everything you can chuck at them.”

The number of untested concepts put Homer in a contemplative mood: “We’ve got masses of creativity in the civil service, but I’m beginning to wonder whether we give people the confidence and tools to work ideas up,” she said during the filming. “Perhaps it’s a civil service trait to stay in the inquisitive, discursive stage in small trials, rather than really grabbing something and industrialising it.”

Nonetheless, the day threw up a range of excellent ideas, several of which now have the kind of high-powered interest and backing that really gets things moving (for details, see the boxes opposite and on p10). “We had a lot of people who are really passionate about improving things and making a difference”, comments lion Helen Ghosh, permanent secretary at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. As for pushing those ideas through to fruition, she adds, “that’s my responsibility as a lion. This has all been made public at Civil Service Live, and that will hold us to account.”


Training comparison website - Ann Hall

The civil service spends somewhere in the region of
£500-1000m on training every year, said Ann Hall, a deputy director in the Cabinet Office – but there is so little coordination of spending across government that it’s impossible to be more accurate about the numbers. Why not create a website on which all relevant training providers – including public agencies – can offer their services, enabling different arms of government to coordinate spending and buyers to leave comments on the quality of courses?

The lions expressed warm approval of the idea, before getting engaged in a debate over whether the site should
be run by the National School of Government or not. But Peter Jones saw its value immediately: “You delivered a very clear presentation and you’ve put the time into researching it. It’s a breath of fresh air,” he said. “You’re onto a winner. And I’m going to take it on, because I want to make sure that it gets done.”

Robin Tye was also bowled over, and afterwards praised the idea of providing a space for “open, honest, direct, uncensored feedback, which conceptually is entirely new in the civil service. I really like that idea – and she was superb; she’d really thought it through.”

Ultimately all of the lions backed the idea, and afterwards Hall was overjoyed. “It’s going to be quite challenging – but it’s great to have them all say ‘yes’,” she said. “I do hope it can change the way people do things.” What will make it so challenging? “There are vested interests – and to save money we should build this and stop spending money elsewhere that doesn’t need to be spent. It requires a bit of courage to challenge the status quo,” she replied. “But people need something that’s neutral. This is about being equal and allowing people to compare fairly – because in a comparative system the good will rise to the top, and costs will come down.”


Total quality - Tom Smith and Ryan Davies

The pitch didn’t begin well. Taking his place before the lions, Companies House director Tom Smith let forth a stream of management jargon. “And that’s our idea,” he concluded. “What’s your idea?” replied Jones, none the wiser. So Ryan Davies interjected: “It’s about getting ideas from the staff, and implementing them.”

As the pair tried again, a picture emerged of determined engagement with the staff in order to identify and adopt ideas for improvement. Pushing managers to work outside their specialisms and championing useful proposals made by the 400 workers, Companies House has enacted a host of minor changes and is currently putting in place a completely new operational system. “This isn’t a staff suggestion scheme,” said Smith. “It’s about coaching people to get ideas into a form where they can go to the board and we’ll make them happen.”

The lions welcomed the pair’s idea, and gave it their backing – but they weren’t exactly happy. “Your presentation made me feel very depressed, and that’s our fault at the top of the civil service,” said Helen Ghosh: “We should be doing this already.” Morgan agreed: “Where we are is really disappointing,” she commented. “If you sat outside the civil service and looked at this, you’d say: ‘Why isn’t it happening already?’” As for Jones – he was horror-struck.
“I can’t believe we’re having this conversation,” he fumed. “If this is not occurring across the civil service, then some backsides need kicking.”

Smith, though, stood his ground: this is not normal practice, he insisted. Robin Tye was impressed. “For me, he embodied the reality of the civil service,” he said afterwards. “There’s the big permanent secretaries telling him: ‘Please tell me this happens across the whole business!’ and he says: ‘No, it doesn’t’. The concept he’s used could unlock all these other ideas.” Surely Smith’s ideas simply represent good business practice? “Yes, but that’s the point! The civil service might like to think that it works like this, but it doesn’t.”


The departmental mascot - Anthony Duffey

A tax adviser for HM Revenue and Customs, Anthony Duffey presented the panel with a cartoon of a heroic caped figure – “a mascot superhero that we can all aspire to be.” Each part of the costume, he explained, has a direct relevance to HMRC’s work; his “gauntlets of correction”, for example, “are key to navigating through our guidance, leaving accurate notes, following customer calls and completing referrals to required standards”.

“If you visualise yourself dressing in the costume in the morning, then you’ll have all those talents and capabilities,” Duffey said. “The mascot prompts discussion and gets people talking about what their service means.”

The panel initially seemed a little nonplussed, but Jones took the lead. “If you’d pitched this idea in Dragons’ Den, I’d think you were an absolute lunatic,” he said, understated as ever. “But in this format, it works. It doesn’t have to be a superhero – but the concept is a good one.”

“I’d be very tempted to see Gus wearing that costume,” added Morgan – prompting Jones to suggest the manufacture of cabinet secretary dolls that would spout motivational slogans. Removing their tongues from their cheeks, the panel approved the idea – leaving Duffey pleased, and eager to put his idea into action.

“I can see the idea going outside the civil service to town hall events, where someone from our department could go along and meet people in costume,” he said afterwards. And what do his colleagues think of his inventiveness? “They think they’ve created a monster,” said Duffey, deadpan. “They never know what I’m going to come up with next.”


Reaching out - Paul David and Ravi Chand

The civil service should get out into schools and market its career options to a new set of potential recruits, said Paul David (above right) and Ravi Chand (left) – particularly to inner city kids who have little idea of the range of work available within government. “People don’t understand what we do,” said Chand. “But we don’t need to don a baseball cap to engage; we just need to talk to them in a language they understand and have a dialogue. That gets them excited and interested in government; children are always interested in politics.”

David and Chand bent the Lions’ Lair rules to get a video presentation into the studio. “We pushed the boundaries on what they would allow,” smiled Chand afterwards. “It’s okay standing there talking in quite a dry way, but we wanted them to feel what we’re talking about – and they felt it.” Faced with strong evidence in the shape of interviews with young people, Jones was convinced. “This is the most polished presentation,” he said. “It’s about communicating the values of the civil service to a group of people who don’t know them, and I think it’s fantastic. I’m in.”

Discomfited by the scathing opinions of the schoolkids in the presentation, some of the lions were troubled. As Lin Homer put it: “How do we get through to those young people who think we’re old and boring?” But David and Chand had confidence in their approach – and the statistics to back it up. Twenty years ago, said David, the average age of a civil servant was 34; now it’s 41. Action is needed, he added: “This is about engagement and getting young people into the civil service.”

Faced with the identification of a clear hole in the civil service’s operations, and presented with a well-developed way of responding, the panel was won over. “Jones coming on board lifted the whole situation,” said David afterwards. “In the end, all five lions went for it.”


Staff art displays - Rose Atkinson

The Cabinet Office’s buildings have brightened up in recent months – and that’s largely down to Rose Atkinson, a head of knowledge management who has begun gathering the artworks and photography of staff members to adorn its roomy but dull offices. Keen to show that the department values its staff as “whole people”, not simply as workers, Atkinson has secured a permanent exhibition space, displayed artworks around the building and planned a summer exhibition.

“It’s an incredibly simple idea,” said Helen Ghosh. “But why do we need to back it?” Publicity, replied Atkinson. Morgan was delighted: “I have the artistic ability of a gnat,” she commented. “But I’d really like you to come and help us do this in Wales, because it would help us to build a sense of community.”

Lin Homer certainly approved. “The idea of valuing everything about our staff is great,” she said. “I’d like to use the idea in an ambassadorial way, to push the idea of people bringing their talents to work.” And Tye also came on board – but Jones was sceptical. The idea might demotivate people without artistic skills, he said: “I’m looking for things that are going to make a big difference to the civil service, and this isn’t it.”

Afterwards, Atkinson was very pleased with how far she’d come since she noticed a year ago that “We needed something to brighten up our lobby.” Things are moving fast, she said: “I’ve already discovered that we’ve got professionally qualified artists in the department.”