This Police Force was having to deal with accelerated change due to changes in information technology, reduced funding and new government policies and codes of professional ethics and values. The senior executive team knew that if they got the ethics and professional standards implemented effectively inside the organisation, this would act as a filter for all future decision making and action. They also knew that winning the hearts and minds of one group of people would be critical to this success. This group is the supervisors and sergeants, the people that organise the work and put people to work on a day to day basis.

The work started with the top team and used input from the rest of the organisation via an engaging process that focused people on what really mattered to them. This included sharing the times when they have felt most proud and fulfilled at work. These experiences were the feedstock for generating the ‘Why’ for the organisation – an inspired purpose to their work, and to situate the ‘Hows’ – the ethics and values, as a critical enabler of this ‘Why’.