Posted by Whistler                                                                          200 words

I read Colin Weatherby’s post on what he would do as the CEO in response to Lancing Farrell’s question with some delight. I too have often made the connection between local government and boats, but in a different way.

Celtic monks gained a certain amount of fame for setting off in coracles to see where God, by way of currents, led them. Some of them set off without even an oar. Monks are famous for this kind of faith and their willingness to take risks.

Despite the propensity of coracle sailors to take risks, it somehow seems an apt craft for local government. The idea that many councils are like little round boats that go where wind and tide takes them is fitting. Having no front or back, it doesn’t matter which direction they go in. Having no method of propulsion leaves them at the mercy of external forces. Even a skilled navigator would struggle to take one in the direction they wanted to go.

I am not suggesting that every council is a coracle or that CEO’s and senior management must sit idle while the organisation goes in whatever direction greater forces take it. But sometimes it feels like it.