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Multiplied: How Digital Transformation Can Deliver More Impact for the Public Sector
This book is for anyone that creates, delivers or supports public policy and services. It's about what the public sector, and everyone working with the public sector, does next, the future of digital transformation, and what we can learn from the biggest crisis in our lifetimes to date - the Covid-19 pandemic. At the heart of Multiplied is the belief that it's possible to do more, that by working in new and creative ways, we can increase the reach and impact of our work for people and the planet. How can we achieve this? Through the multipliers All profits from the sale of this book will be donated to NHS Charities Together.
226 pages, Paperback
Published March 16, 2022
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September 14, 2025
Decent enough short book about approaches to digital transformation in the public sector written by a consultant who has worked with quite a few public sector bodies (indeed the book was on a service design reading list provided by said consultancy when they worked with my organisation).
There is nothing inherently bad in here and it's a quick enough read but there was limited value in here for me. Partially because I was aware of the concepts in the book and to an extent already bought in on some of it and have a sceptical, but respectful challenge in other sections. That doesn't mean it isn't of value, and I think it serves as a good starting point for those working in digital change in the concepts of agile delivery, user research, service design and better use of data and technology.
I should also get out of the way one of the challenges I have in the book in that I am a 'digital last' rather than 'digital first' kind of guy, noticing how assuming 'tech will save us' has often led to worse outcomes and worse services. I also have a kind of hypocritical relationship to the concepts in the book in that I am an advocate for pretty much everything Holliday recommends (understanding user needs, prototyping, iterating, learning throughout the development lifecycle). Indeed, I can get frustrated with endless cycles of governance, reports, documentation that delivers not very much. That said, I think in the technology space there is often a rush to build 'something' rather than truly understand what matters and my challenge to myself and the digital folk who this book is aimed at is to ask, 'how much thinking and learning are we REALLY doing early'?
The book is a couple of years old now but there is a real sense of time and place in the book as Holliday shares stories and experiences of digital transformation in the health and government sectors in a post-Covid era and it is almost a ray of sunshine thinking things would be better (it is remarkable how quickly parts of the public sector have rolled back to the pre-Covid thinking despite the experience of quicker and better delivery). I will also say that despite my views on the government generally (both this one and the previous) I do think their digital platforms are incredibly good and effective (I will not extend this to policy!).
Holliday depicts digital organisations many will recognise - the dangers of buying costly enterprise solutions and not having in-house development (councils swayed by strategic partnerships are still feeling the pain here). I LOVED the observation that councils talk about having a 21st century organisation when we are a quarter of a way through the century and our processes and thinking are still stuck in the last century. Indeed, although the book is about digital transformation there is an important note for organisation design, and teams designed around the service. There is no point having a modern interface for the public if the workflows, processes, culture, hierarchy, governance and management thinking is stuck in the last century!
I also loved the callout to Digital departments who are still trapped in a transactional relationships with their organisational colleagues, seeing them as the customer or (my personal bugbear) 'the business' and not colleagues with a shared interest in developing excellent services. Arms length IT, epitomised by frameworks such as ITIL have damaged digital delivery in my view.
I'm definitely on the same page about the importance of designing around the needs of the user and co-designing with them but I did like the callout to not forget the worker who provides the service in design, recognising that their ease of use and ability to deliver is paramount to and not a second thought.
I appreciated the note of caution to low or no-code platforms, recognising they are not created equal and may be storing challenges up for the future in terms of security and accessibility. I'm not well versed in these platforms but see them as a way of 'democratising Digital' so a few pointers to think about here to challenge my thinking was appreciated.
I also liked the observations on government services providing the platforms for connecting others. There are some really good examples in the book, and recently I was involved in a similar initiative creating a Directory of Services where my vision was that the platform is the mechanism for groups and people to connect to each other without local government's intervention. Really stimulated my thinking!
I also liked the chapter about working with the private sector and also calling out that the public sector should demand more - including making sure code is shared and accessible, providing training and support to develop careers and also having ethical practices in respect of diversity and carbon reduction. There is also the callout to tendering on value rather than price. I agree with all of this but the cynic in me does pick up a hint of 'at TPX Impact we're different from the other consultancies'.
So there's not to much new in here for me personally, and really the book reads like an extended set of design principles but that doesn't detract from it being a call to action in the digital space.
There is nothing inherently bad in here and it's a quick enough read but there was limited value in here for me. Partially because I was aware of the concepts in the book and to an extent already bought in on some of it and have a sceptical, but respectful challenge in other sections. That doesn't mean it isn't of value, and I think it serves as a good starting point for those working in digital change in the concepts of agile delivery, user research, service design and better use of data and technology.
I should also get out of the way one of the challenges I have in the book in that I am a 'digital last' rather than 'digital first' kind of guy, noticing how assuming 'tech will save us' has often led to worse outcomes and worse services. I also have a kind of hypocritical relationship to the concepts in the book in that I am an advocate for pretty much everything Holliday recommends (understanding user needs, prototyping, iterating, learning throughout the development lifecycle). Indeed, I can get frustrated with endless cycles of governance, reports, documentation that delivers not very much. That said, I think in the technology space there is often a rush to build 'something' rather than truly understand what matters and my challenge to myself and the digital folk who this book is aimed at is to ask, 'how much thinking and learning are we REALLY doing early'?
The book is a couple of years old now but there is a real sense of time and place in the book as Holliday shares stories and experiences of digital transformation in the health and government sectors in a post-Covid era and it is almost a ray of sunshine thinking things would be better (it is remarkable how quickly parts of the public sector have rolled back to the pre-Covid thinking despite the experience of quicker and better delivery). I will also say that despite my views on the government generally (both this one and the previous) I do think their digital platforms are incredibly good and effective (I will not extend this to policy!).
Holliday depicts digital organisations many will recognise - the dangers of buying costly enterprise solutions and not having in-house development (councils swayed by strategic partnerships are still feeling the pain here). I LOVED the observation that councils talk about having a 21st century organisation when we are a quarter of a way through the century and our processes and thinking are still stuck in the last century. Indeed, although the book is about digital transformation there is an important note for organisation design, and teams designed around the service. There is no point having a modern interface for the public if the workflows, processes, culture, hierarchy, governance and management thinking is stuck in the last century!
I also loved the callout to Digital departments who are still trapped in a transactional relationships with their organisational colleagues, seeing them as the customer or (my personal bugbear) 'the business' and not colleagues with a shared interest in developing excellent services. Arms length IT, epitomised by frameworks such as ITIL have damaged digital delivery in my view.
I'm definitely on the same page about the importance of designing around the needs of the user and co-designing with them but I did like the callout to not forget the worker who provides the service in design, recognising that their ease of use and ability to deliver is paramount to and not a second thought.
I appreciated the note of caution to low or no-code platforms, recognising they are not created equal and may be storing challenges up for the future in terms of security and accessibility. I'm not well versed in these platforms but see them as a way of 'democratising Digital' so a few pointers to think about here to challenge my thinking was appreciated.
I also liked the observations on government services providing the platforms for connecting others. There are some really good examples in the book, and recently I was involved in a similar initiative creating a Directory of Services where my vision was that the platform is the mechanism for groups and people to connect to each other without local government's intervention. Really stimulated my thinking!
I also liked the chapter about working with the private sector and also calling out that the public sector should demand more - including making sure code is shared and accessible, providing training and support to develop careers and also having ethical practices in respect of diversity and carbon reduction. There is also the callout to tendering on value rather than price. I agree with all of this but the cynic in me does pick up a hint of 'at TPX Impact we're different from the other consultancies'.
So there's not to much new in here for me personally, and really the book reads like an extended set of design principles but that doesn't detract from it being a call to action in the digital space.
July 21, 2024
"Multiplied" is a quite interesting book for everyone working on public sector digital transformation projects.
It provides a clear idea of the mindset required to succeed in digital transformation projects within public sector organizations.
From management strategy to agile delivery and data governance, this book offers great insights into best practices for improving the value delivered from the public sector to the citizen using a citizen-centric approach.
It provides a clear idea of the mindset required to succeed in digital transformation projects within public sector organizations.
From management strategy to agile delivery and data governance, this book offers great insights into best practices for improving the value delivered from the public sector to the citizen using a citizen-centric approach.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews