On a Human Basis with Joe Badman

How do we sustain public services without losing their soul? We’re on a mission to prove that radical change is possible even amidst financial constraints. Join Joe Badman, Managing Director of Basis, as he speaks candidly with the pioneers creating more human and relational public services. Each episode focuses on practical lessons from the field to help leaders build on the work of their peers, avoid common pitfalls, and navigate the messy reality of creating a more relational public service. What we’ll discuss: - Relational Service Design: Shifting from transactional service factories to high-trust systems - Agile Delivery: Turning the relational vision into operational reality - Smarter Savings: Demonstrating financial impact while putting human connection first Join the mission: - Follow Joe on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/joseph-badman - Read the latest chapters from our upcoming book: https://relationalservicedesign.com - Master the methodology: https://basistraining.co.uk/ - Partner with us: https://basis.co.uk

On a Human Basis with Joe Badman is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 18 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts On a Human Basis with Joe Badman, a business show with 18 episodes published.

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  On a Human Basis with Joe Badman

  Leadership as kindness: running outstanding children's services with Ian Dodds

  Sep 8, 20261h 6mS3

  What if the key to leading outstanding public services wasn't control and rigour, but curiosity and kindness? In this episode, Ian Dodds shares hard-won lessons on running children's services with compassion, protecting prevention when budgets are under pressure, and building the kind of trust and psychological safety that lets teams do their best work. As joint Director of Children's Services for Richmond and Kingston - through Achieving for Children, one of the first shared children's services models in the country - Ian has spent his career proving that kindness and honesty aren't soft options but the foundation of consistently outstanding services. We talk about the origin story of Achieving for Children, how both boroughs reached an outstanding Ofsted judgement, why co-production is worth the time it takes, shifting money into early help to keep families out of crisis, the real role of AI in freeing practitioners to be more relational, and what it takes to stay calm when everything is "everything everywhere all at once." If you work in or care about children's services, local government, or leading with compassion under pressure, this one is full of practical, generous, no-nonsense wisdom. You'll learn about: Why there's nothing kind about letting someone fail - and what real kindness looks like at work How to proportion your time and energy across competing priorities without spreading yourself too thin Building a mature approach to data and insight so it becomes an early warning system, not a stick to beat people with Why co-production feels slow but produces stronger, more durable solutions Protecting early help and prevention when it's the easiest thing to cut The role of AI in creating capacity for more relational work with families Creating psychological safety so people raise problems early, when you can still do something about them Stay connected: Follow Joe on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/joseph-badman Read the latest chapters from our upcoming book: https://relationalservicedesign.com Master the methodology: https://basistraining.co.uk/ Partner with us: https://basis.co.uk

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  On a Human Basis with Joe Badman

  Cutting through bureaucracy: building trust and getting things done with Peter Gadsdon

  Jul 23, 20261h 17m

  What if the secret to transforming local government isn’t better business cases, but a culture of rapid prototyping and building genuine trust? In this episode of On a Human Basis , Joe sits down with Peter Gadsdon, who recently retired after an extraordinary 46-year career in public service and local government. Starting out at 16 repairing televisions in East London, Peter rose through the ranks to become a Corporate Director, pioneering human-centred design, digital transformation, and agile service delivery across Redbridge, Lewisham, and Brent councils. Drawing on decades of frontline and executive experience, Peter shares why real transformation requires leaders to create cover and psychological safety so teams feel safe to test, learn and grow. He details how Brent Council prototyped community hubs in church halls and libraries for two weeks before committing long-term funding, and explains why securing solid financial foundations and building high-trust relationships with elected members are essential to cutting through bureaucracy. This is a pragmatic, inspiring deep dive into service design, relational leadership, and what it really takes to leave public services in a better place than you found them. In this conversation, we explore: How fixing televisions in East London provided the logical blueprint for unpicking complex council processes Why effective leadership is about creating cover and psychological safety for teams to innovate The practice of rapid service prototyping: testing community hubs in a church hall for two weeks before scaling borough-wide How to navigate local government finance to turn short-term experimental funding into core revenue services Applying the Pareto rule in public management to focus on the 20% of effort that delivers 80% of the value Building strong, honest working relationships with elected politicians and local council leaders Why "board fatigue" kills momentum and how to recognize when it's time to adapt or stop a failing project Ethical data governance, cybersecurity strategies and maintaining service agility in times of crisis This episode is especially relevant for: Public sector directors, chief executives and corporate leaders Local government transformation managers and service designers Policy professionals and council officers interfacing with elected members Frontline managers seeking to embed test, learn and grow approaches in public services Stay connected: Follow Joe on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/joseph-badman Read the latest chapters from our upcoming book: https://relationalservicedesign.com Master the methodology: https://basistraining.co.uk/ Partner with us: https://basis.co.uk

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  On a Human Basis with Joe Badman

  Human Learning Systems: a new paradigm for public services with Toby Lowe

  Jun 12, 20261h 13mS3

  <p>What if the obsession with tracking KPIs is actually preventing public services from delivering real outcomes?</p><p>In this episode, Joe sits down with Toby Lowe, a leading academic and steward of the Human Learning Systems movement. Toby explains why the traditional model of setting targets and performance managing for outcomes is fundamentally broken, and how a Human Learning Systems approach can reshape public services around trust, complexity and continuous improvement.</p><p>Drawing on decades of research and his own early frustrations as an arts charity chief executive, Toby argues that using outcomes as performance targets inevitably...

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  On a Human Basis with Joe Badman

  Connected Communities: Leading relational change with Tony Clements

  May 14, 20261 hourS3

  <p>What if we organised an entire council around building social connection?</p><p> In this episode, Joe sits down with Tony Clements, Chief Executive of Ealing Council. Tony explains why he's placed social connection at the heart of the council's purpose, and how a Connected Communities approach is reshaping everything from children's services to emergency management.</p><p>Drawing on the evidence that loneliness can be worse for health than smoking, Tony argues that local government has a unique locus to build the relationships and community resilience that transactional services alone can't deliver. He shares how Ealing achieved its...

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  On a Human Basis with Joe Badman

  The Surgeon-Scrum Master: Embedding agile in the NHS with Rob Macadam

  Apr 22, 20261h 7mS3

  <p>What happens when a consultant surgeon embeds agile ways of working into the messy reality of an NHS operating theatre?</p><p>In this episode, Joe sits down with Rob McAdam, a Consultant Upper GI and Bariatric Surgeon who also happens to be a qualified Scrum Master. Rob is a rare example of a practitioner who hasn't just read the theory - he has spent years embedding agile ways of working into the heart of the NHS.</p><p>For Rob, the "stable team", the "prioritised backlog" and the "retrospective" aren't just agile buzzwords - they directly map onto...

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