OD & the interplay between physical systems, climate change, and ever-increasing stakeholder expectations
Continuing our weekly series on key contributors to the ODNE 2024 Congress, here's an introduction to ...
Paul Campbell
Learning, Talent & Resourcing General Manager at Scottish Water
Paul Campbell began his career in the water industry as an operational apprentice before moving into Organisational Development (OD), initially as an internal OD consultant, and then as Head of OD. Over the course of the last 20+ years Paul has led a wide range of OD strategies within Scottish Water.
In his session, Paul will explore the need for Organisational Development as part of the solution to the complex interplay between an ageing asset base and physical systems, the impacts of climate and technological change, and ever-increasing customer and stakeholder expectations.
Dr Lizzie Reather, OD Specialist at Glasgow Caledonian University reflects on the complexities of water resource management ...
"When playing the game Monopoly as a child I never passed on an opportunity to buy the Utilities. Nothing gave me greater joy than owning the Electric Company, the Water Works, and all four railway stations. I’d like to think that even at a young age I wanted to provide for the imaginary citizens of monopoly world: perhaps I imagined them turning on the taps and filling the kettle, whether they were in Old Kent Road or Mayfair. More likely I just liked the symbols, the relative ease of cornering a market of two utilities, or the excitement of income determined by a roll of the dice when another player landed on my little corner of the board.
Nowadays I don’t think about the real life Water Works much, unless it fails me. Last year I experienced a feeling of panic just after 6am one sunny day when the kitchen tap spluttered out its last few drops and then just hissed malevolently, as if to say: “Your morning is ruined! No shower, no flushing toilet… and you’re going to have to cope without coffee!”
When I consider the challenges faced by our utility companies, I’d probably think twice about buying the water works – Scottish Water. Ageing infrastructure: a network of pipes, dams, reservoirs, drains and treatment stations that are spread over a huge geographical area among fragile ecosystems, and have evolved over hundreds of years. A supply of raw material that is dependent on the weather… and we all know how consistent that can be! Funding that is dependent on government budgets and can be changed at the stroke of a pen in Whitehall or Holyrood – I don’t predict them rolling a double six any time soon. People rightly treasure Scotland’s rich natural environment, and we expect our government and public bodies to preserve and nurture it.
And on the other side are customer expectations that are simple, yet devastatingly absolute. I turn on the tap and clean, drinkable water flows out. I flush a toilet and my waste is dealt with. It rains, and public sewers clear the water from my street.
Who are the people that sit in the middle of this complicated tangle of expectations, duties and landscapes both real and imagined? How do they navigate the polarities between history and modernisation; income and expenditure; customers and paymasters? What’s the contribution of strategy, learning, leadership and organisational character to this picture?"