Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | JULY 2021 | 19 Policy & Regulation I t used to take the giants of the pharmaceutical world at least ve years to deliver a vaccine. Yet when the world was struck by Covid-19, P zer managed to deliver a vaccine in just eight months. Others such as Moderna, Johnson & John- son, and Astra Zeneca, demon- strated similarly extraordinary feats of transformation. The people that achieved this embraced techniques that we at VISION have been help- ing clients with for years. We call it "21st century mobilisa- tion", and it incorporates a particularly powerful skill that Aristotle called Phronesis, otherwise known as "practical wisdom". We know the importance of practical wisdom at VISION – we've been one of the world's leading mobilisers of compa- nies since 1984. Mobilisation as a style of management for the 21st century is necessary whenever organisations need to make changes fast. A" er P zer CEO Albert Bourla said he would deliver a vaccine within a year at most, the company went on to achieve this extraordinary challenge in just eight months. And yet, the techniques that Bourla spells out are largely the same as those that VISION has been bringing to clients, long before the pandemic and throughout it. Some of the elements of mobilisation are clear: • The leader should set a big, broadly compelling, admi- rable, and motivating goal. • Workstreams that ordinar- ily happen sequentially (to reduce nancial and operational risk) must be designed to be executed in parallel. • Work must start immedi- ately with partners, before hashing out all the contrac- tual details. • Everything should be streamlined according to the goal and the satis- faction of the customer (which, in the case of P zer, was the patient). The term "mobilisation" was coined in the 20th century to refer to collecting, train- ing, supplying and delivering military conscripts to their units. This was later expanded to "total mobilisation" with the realisation that winning a war had as much to do with organ- ising industry and the home front as it did the army. The main changes from 20th century to 21st century mobilisation revolve around the key skills of: simpli ca- tion; pacesetting; resolving; coaching; trust building; and mood management. And these are the areas for which a 21st century mobiliser needs practi- cal wisdom. For an in-depth exploration of these facets of 21st century mobilisation, download the full report, Are you Ready for 21st Century Business Mobilisa- tion? at: https://utilityweek. co.uk/are-you-ready-for-21st- century-business-mobilisation In the next column, we will list the ten steps necessary to make 21st century mobilisation work, and explore where it ts within the four key manage- ment orientations that your company could employ. VISION is an international consulting organisation that helps businesses transform their operational practices, leadership, and culture for the long term. Our thinking is deeply rooted in philosophy – timeless wisdom that helps our clients navigate complex challenges. For more, see: www. vision.com EXPERT VIEW VISION CONSULTING 21st century mobilisation leverages 'practical wisdom' to move mountains obligations, such as delivering care for the elderly, this doesn't yet extend to energy planning. The risk is that relying on what may be the passion of an in¡ uential individ- ual elected councillor will result in a patchy rollout. While some local authorities have "really ambitious" net zero targets, others may be held back by lack of resources or because they are focused on other and more immedi- ately pressing priorities, says Wood. This could leave poorer areas, which already o" en su¢ er from higher levels of air pollution, further disadvantaged. This "postcode lottery" could mean some people paying more or missing out on pro- grammes to upgrade their homes solely because of where they live, Dhara Vyas, head of future energy services at Citizens Advice, warned in a recent blog. To prevent the emergence of these new inequalities, the ESC is pushing for energy planning to become a statutory duty for councils. But while local authorities should lead the delivery of the right kind of solu- tions for their localities, central government will continue to be responsible for putting together the high level policy framework, says the catapult. A robust system of local energy planning could help to shape central investment and policy decisions, says Halsey: "LAEPs could provide a mechanism for national govern- ment to sense check and see if the direction of travel is right and whether they need to course correct or provide additional support mechanisms." And LAEPs could provide important evi- dence for informing the business plans of networks and developers of energy projects, he says. The hope is that investment under- pinned by local energy planning will ulti- mately be more coherent, avoiding the risk of stranded assets resulting from multiple, competing investments in an area. Greater consistency across the UK would be bene cial says Brazier: "We fully sup- port councils declaring climate emergencies ahead of 2030. If we can do it in a consistent way across the country, it will be better for everyone." A more even approach will also help councils to develop solutions without having to constantly reinvent the wheel, he adds. However, a lot of legwork will be required to get grassroots and central bodies with di¢ erent drivers pushing in the same direc- tion, acknowledges Halsey. "It's easy to say but in reality making that happen cohesively requires lot of collaboration." David Blackman, policy correspondent "It cannot be done without local design and delivery." POLLY BILLINGTON, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, UK100

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