Sarah Harvey is a Professor in Public Health and Primary Care at City University, London and Director of Loop2. Prior to this she led the Office for Public Management’s health and social care consultancy. She is an experienced organisation and management development practitioner and a qualified coach and mentor.

Sarah brings to her consultancy work her experience both as a Chief Executive and a Director in a range of health care organizations in the primary care, acute, community and mental health service sectors. Sarah has a background in human resource management

Sarah has worked with groups at all levels in the health industry from primary care practices and collaboratives to the NHS Executive, DH, Strategic Health Authorities, PCTs, Trusts and multi-agency partnerships.

Sarah’s interests include strategy development, service reconfiguration and improvement and futures studies. She enjoys designing processes that bring together people with diverse interests. Sarah also helps boards, partnerships and alliances in developing effective governance and working relationships. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and a holds a Diploma in Executive Mentoring and Coaching.

the 60 second interview

How did you get into organizational development?
By accident. In my doctoral research I looked at the challenges of policy implementation which gave me a grounding in some of the theories of organizational change. Working for one of the big management consultancy companies I found my philosophy of challenging and supporting organizations and individuals to change themselves at odds with the ‘seagull’ approach. I made the decision to move rather than conform – so I can get a bit twitchy I am referred to as a management consultant.

Who gave you your big breakthrough?
Sir Alan Langlands – now Vice Chancellor of the University of Dundee but previously Chief Executive of the National Health Services. Alan had a brief foray into consultancy and recruited me to work with him at Towers Perrin. He returned to the health service very shortly afterwards. Left without a leader of the healthcare practice I was in a situation of sink or swim – a great learning opportunity

How has your work changed over the years?
Having a background of operational management in the NHS gave me a greater insight into the powerful cultural challenges that leaders in the health system face. These can be some of the major barriers to change and improvement.

I have become more eclectic in the way I work with groups. I blend tools and approaches from disciplines - such as the techniques I use in individual coaching to my work with groups and elements of futures work into facilitated sessions. And I have learned about how best to balance the delivery of outputs from workshops with processes that enable individuals to learn and enjoy

Secrets of success?
This is a difficult one – I wouldn’t call it a secret but I do think having a positive outlook is essential – we are often in situations where we are trying new designs that we haven’t used before and you have to believe they will work, based on your previous experience and judgement. Staying positive is also of huge importance in working with groups or individuals who are trying to improve their work - you can achieve a lot by supporting people in strengthening their self belief.

A healthy amount of self reflection is also important to continuing to learning and improve what you do.

Most fun at work?
One of the most fun events was with a strategic health authority reviewing its programme on Improving Working Lives. We wanted to use the event to outline the following year’s programme but to do this in a way that symbolized the importance of enjoying what you do at work. I asked the group to illustrate their future plans by making working models. After some initial skepticism the most fantastic outputs appeared ranging from sophisticated origami to surreal layouts with fruit and stationary to furniture installations. Some members of the group definitely showed a creative side to their personalities that had been hiding in their working lives.

Worst nightmare?

The unreal ones that wake me at 3 in the morning are usually about turning up at the wrong place with no preparation or the wrong shoes!

The real nightmares tend not to be about specific clients or problems they are about the usual things that working mothers find difficult in balancing work and home, self and family

Who do you most like to work with and why?
Some of the best people to work with are those who really want to make best use of their time together, who are open to new ways of working and who are willing to change. But I also relish a bit of a challenge – so some of the most satisfying situations are where there are deeply held views about what is and isn’t working well where you can help people understand each others’ viewpoints and negotiate and agreed way forward.

.. and least

The worst situations tend not to be the fault of individuals or groups but space. We find many clients underestimate the importance of the environment in which they work. Rooms that are dark, too small, elongated, too cold or too hot can have a massive effect on people’s productivity and creativity.

Favorite thing to do when not working?
Cooking and reading,.pottering around in my vegetable garden with muddy hands and a big smile and walking my dogs.