The public sector is, more than ever, under pressure to deliver more responsive and efficient services within a chaotic environment. Traditional hierarchical structures, once effective at driving efficiency, now struggle to deliver value for money and keep pace with evolving citizen expectations, technological change, and operational complexity.
Clear Star, a Bramble Hub partner, is helping the public sector embrace a new way forward: building adaptability and efficiency into the way government works through new organisational and operating models.
The limits of top-down efficiency drives
As Peter Gardiner of Clear Star highlighted in a recent blog post, many efficiency initiatives in government fail because they rely on centralised targets and cost-cutting. These top-down approaches can miss the real opportunities for improvement, and often generate resistance.
Instead, Peter argues that efficiency should be designed into the system itself. By creating local incentives, embedding accountability, and giving teams the authority to adapt, organisations can continuously identify waste, optimise resources, and improve outcomes. In this way, efficiency becomes a sustained capability, not a one-off intervention.
Funding portfolios, not projects
Clear Star’s Matt White summarises the company’s approach: “Shifting from project funding to portfolio funding allows government to adapt quickly and continuously deliver value to citizens.”
A practical example of this approach is Clear Star’s work with a major government department (case study – PDF). The department had previously relied on hundreds of project-based business cases, each taking up to two years to secure approval. This slowed delivery, increased costs, and reduced the organisation’s ability to respond to operational needs.
Clear Star supported the department in piloting a Capability Portfolio Management Business Case model. This shifted funding away from individual projects and programmes, and instead supported portfolios of services with rolling approval processes. The impact was significant:
- Around 80% fewer business case submissions
- 60% faster approval times
- Savings equivalent to multiple full-time roles
- Greater empowerment for service leaders to adapt resources based on user needs
- Alignment of finance, commercial, and delivery teams to support the new approach
This shift not only reduced inefficiency but also established new incentives for adaptability and cross-functional collaboration.
Embedding efficiency
Clear Star’s approach emphasises that adaptability and efficiency are not just about process reform, but also require changes to culture and incentives. Their work shows the value of:
- Setting clear guardrails while allowing local autonomy
- Delegating decision authority to those closest to the work
- Encouraging experimentation and test-and-learn practices
- Aligning funding to outcomes through annual portfolio reviews
- Creating feedback loops that reward optimisation and improvement
By building these principles into the operating model, efficiency becomes continuous, sustainable, and self-reinforcing, and so organisations become more effective.
Towards resilient, adaptable government
Peter Gardiner says that Clear Star doesn’t see itself as a change management organisation; rather, they “… help organisations transition to what they can be: purpose-led, people-first, adaptable, and efficient.”
The public sector faces growing complexity from shifting citizen needs and rapidly-emerging digital technologies. Organisations that remain tied to rigid hierarchies risk becoming less relevant and more wasteful, while those that embrace adaptability will be better positioned to deliver value efficiently and effectively.
Through our partnership with Clear Star, Bramble Hub is able to help public sector customers move beyond hierarchical structures and adopt systemic approaches to change. This enables government organisations to become more adaptable, more resilient, more efficient, and better equipped to deliver meaningful outcomes for citizens.
