The Art of Public Strategy - Mobilising Power and Knowledge for the Common Good was published on Thursday 11 December and can be ordered from Amazon or you can take advantage of this limited offer for a reduced price copy by using this form.

The strategies adopted by governments and public officials can have dramatic effects on peoples' lives. The best ones can transform economic laggards into trailblazers, eliminate diseases, or sharply cut crime. Strategic failures can result in highly visible disasters, like the shrinking of the Russian economy in the 1990s, or the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005.

This book is about how strategies take shape, and how money, people, technologies, and public commitment can be mobilised to achieve important goals. It considers the common mistakes made, and how these can be avoided, as well as analysing the tools governments can use to meet their goals, from targets and behaviour change programmes, to innovation and risk management.

Written by Geoff Mulgan, Director of the Young Foundation it is packed with examples, and shaped by Geoff's practical experience. He shows that governments which give more weight to the long-term are not only more likely to leave their citizens richer, healthier, and safer; they're also better protected from being blown off course by short-term pressures.

The book is essential reading for anyone involved in running public organisations--from hospitals and schools to national government departments and local councils--and for anyone interested in how government really works.

‘What is needed to close the gap between existing government capacity and urgent problems is skilled strategists who can successfully integrate public aspirations, operational capacities to deliver results, and a sharp and unrelenting focus on the production of publicly valued results. Geoff Mulgan,
relying on both a strong scholarly base, and broad experience in government, has written a wonderful book that can provide invaluable guidance to those who would like to offer such value creating public leadership. I recommend it highly.'
Mark Moore, Hauser Professor, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard

‘Good government takes the long-term seriously and there can be few people better qualified than Geoff Mulgan to show how this aspiration can become part of the day-to-day work of departments and agencies.'
Sir Gus O'Donnell, Cabinet Secretary & Head of the Home Civil Service, UK Government

‘Geoff Mulgan's deep insights into the politics of change derive from a profound understanding of the dynamics of modern societies, impressive creativity in the design of new social institutions, and an abiding commitment to social progress. His work has informed the thinking of public officials at the top of the pyramid as well as social entrepreneurs at the grass roots, and it should be widely read and studied.'
Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Harvard Business School Professor and author of Confidence and World Class