Recently I was asked to speak at the PPMA annual conference about ‘the view from the top'. Predictably, I trotted out my usual cod-philosophy on the key essentials of present and future public service leadership. You know, values, values, values. Slay the heroes. Encourage networks not hierarchies. Blah, blah.

However, I also dabbled in a bout of listening, aided by the fact that I was doing a double act with the Bard of Lewisham. One of his gems was that, in our efforts to tackle those resistant to change, we should ask how long they think it will be before they are replaced by an App.