The commons / Before You Sign
PracticePublic managersLive

Before You Sign

Practitioner templates for public managers working with consultants, so that every engagement leaves the organisation more capable than it found it.

QuestionShould we buy this advice, and will we be stronger when the consultants leave?
TheoryAbsorptive capacity · policy capacity · public value · knowledge transfer
ArtifactEight decision templates with guidance and worked examples, plus the analysis behind them
LimitsA pilot version: adapt it to your organisation's rules; it does not replace procurement procedure or legal advice.
Open the templates (PDF)↓ Editable version (Word)

Companion to the essay “Ghost in the Shell”, Parts 1 and 2 · Built by Bilel Abboudi

For managers

The templates

A quick screen and seven templates that follow the eight decisions in the article, from the first idea of buying advice to the exit test before final handover. Use the PDF to read and print, the Word file to fill in and keep with the business case.
Open PDF →↓ Word
The analysis

Seven lenses on consultocracy

The conceptual proof of concept behind the article: how a state loses, and rebuilds, its capacity to think, examined through CPAF’s seven dimensions used as an analytical typology. No model is run; every mechanism is sourced and every hypothesis stated as such.
Open PDF →
PilotFeedback welcome

Try it on a past engagement

Fill the templates in for an engagement you have already completed, as if you were about to sign. Where did a question make you hesitate? How long did it take? Would it have changed your decision?
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Read the essay in the newsletter: Beyond the Spreadsheet on LinkedIn →