An MBA has long opened doors in the business world – but the qualification is just as valuable to civil servants

Former Cabinet Office perm sec Ian Watmore explains why the Olympics worked so well – and how officials avoided pitfalls such as political meddling and hasty deadlines

A monthly interview with people who've crossed organisational and sectoral boundaries to join a new working world.

Perspectives from outside the civil service

Improving board performance would reduce staff turnover and cut the number of costly project failures.

Lord Browne of Madingley, Lead Non-Executive Director, HM Government offers and overview of the progress the civil service has seen in recent years.

"I trailblazed freedom of information on Whitehall"

 

Picking the right civil service CEO is important. But, FDA general secretary Dave Penman argues that any candidate will encounter the job's structural challenges.

The secret of great leadership lies not in management books, but in learning to identify and understand your emotions.

CSW magazine is full of white men. But don't shoot the messenger: we're depicting the reality of Whitehall's top leadership.

Civil service organisations must be agile to succeed – but they’re bound in chains of hierarchy and deference, argues Robin Ryde

Sailing into uncharted waters, the civil service has no rules on how to help the coalition parties prepare for an election.

After several bruising years, civil servants need the support and funds to achieve ministers’ goals – or the recovery could prompt an exodus 

Too many organisational cultures push clever people into doing daft things. The solutions start at the top.

Education can help improve social equality, says Alison Wride – but only if the universities radically change their approach to recruiting and teaching students

The international development department does great work, says Diana Good – but must improve staff training in order to get better still

HS2 is an intelligent response to Britain’s daft economy

Highways Agency chief Graham Dalton is wrong to argue that his organisation should become a company, argues Mark Dollar

PPM staff lack a coherent profession; they require one, argues Matt Ross, editor of Civil Service World.

Outsourcing is here to stay, argues Tony Travers (pictured): the civil service needs the skills to manage providers and to foster competitive markets.

The UK hasn’t had an EU policy for years, but civil servants still have a duty to fight for our interests in Brussels, argues Sir Andrew Cahn (pictured). 

The Cabinet Office mustn’t let its support work tip over into control, says Rob Whiteman of CIPFA

The MoD’s procurement reform offensive has suffered a heavy defeat. John Louth considers the prospects of a successful counter-attack

If Peter Hennessy didn’t exist, you probably wouldn’t be reading this – and not just because this is a review of one of his books. For without Hennessy, the civil service as an institution might never have felt comfortable with press coverage, even within a newspaper dedicated to serving civil servants.