Sarah Bentley, the CEO of Thames Water stepped down this week, the whole story is a sorry tale of what can go wrong inside, and perhaps some of what can go right inside a utility company.
Bad news travels fastest, so let’s start with what went wrong – there’s the £14bn in debt, the multiple changes in ownership, the sewage, the leaking pipes, hosepipe bans, bills going up faster than inflation…
But there are some positives from Thames – they are undertaking a huge infrastructure project in the Super Sewer – a £4bn investment in a 25km tunnel that will help to alleviate sewage discharges into the Thames. This has increased bills, but through good engagement Londoners seem happy to pay for the infrastructure. Thames has rolled out one million smart meters which should help people to better manage their water use. They have been honest with people about the costs of the investment required to address sewage discharges. You can find many free places to fill up water bottles across London, avoiding plastic bottles.
In a LinkedIn post Sarah, described turning around Thames Water as a marathon and not a sprint, in another post she predicted that it would take 8 years. This reflects the unfortunate reality that many of the organisations that we need to achieve the transition are not ready to undertake the task. The practices of the past are embedded in the fabric of the organisation, personal objectives override the bigger picture, and the culture of any business can kill even the best strategy before it has learnt to walk.
We need organisations like Thames to lead the major shifts in our infrastructure if we are going to achieve a sustainable transition – the way that we use water and energy will be changed by these companies.
At a workshop last week, we debated how to change these organisations. Should we lead from the customer, or is it an operational excellence challenge, perhaps employees hold the key, or maybe they should adopt agile at scale and get nimbler?
