Missions - the new whip for wild problems? Dive into the method here

Social inequality is a wild problem that has far-reaching consequences for many people. In the London borough of Camden, they have taken up the fight. They have mobilized citizens and local stakeholders around missions to tackle inequality. And the success is so great that Prime Minister Keir Starmer has brought one of the key people into the cabinet to set the course for his mission-driven government.

In this article you'll learn how they created the missions in Camden that are so successful they have resonated with Downing Street - and Denmark.  

Missions as a method for real change is gaining political traction - locally, nationally and internationally. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has launched five major national missions and the missions in the London borough of Camden have shown great promise.

They have reduced the number of young people without education and jobs from 6% in 2018 to 3% in 2021, created affordable housing for over 1000 residents, strengthened the school system and implemented citizen-defined initiatives to prevent violence and support vulnerable youth.

Nick Kimber, who previously led the missions in Camden and has now been brought into the cabinet, has just been in Denmark to talk about mission thinking.

In a Danish context, the example from Camden is interesting to look at, for example when looking for inspiration on how to tackle the challenges in the parallel areas, formerly known as the residential areas on the government's ghetto list. These are areas that score well on at least two of the four parameters: high unemployment, high crime, low education and low income. Challenges similar to Camden's. Although the Ministry of Social Affairs and Housing has just announced that things are moving in the right direction, there is still a long way to go towards the goal of no parallel communities by 2030.

In INVI's Wild Problems Masterclass for Policy Entrepreneurs, we teach missions and the Camden case, which you can also learn about in this article.

Here is one of the outlines that provides an overview of the causes of the problem, which actors can tackle the problem, and how they can specifically address the problem. 

• Definition of missions

  Missions are ambitious, long-term and time-bound goals focused on creating positive value for society that

  1. Are so well-defined and concrete that it is possible to assess whether you have reached your goal

  2. Provides the framework for a portfolio of trial actions consisting of large and small, long and short, risky and safer trial actions, testing hypotheses on how to achieve the mission

  3. Encompasses investment and involvement across sectors, disciplines and stakeholders - from behavior change to policy to technological innovation

  4. Involve across levels - from the political level to civil society, and from management to the frontline worker

The missions in Camden

The borough of Camden contributes 1.2% of the UK's GDP and is home to many successful businesses, yet 43% of Camden children grow up in poverty. We Make Camden was born with the mission to reduce inequality in the central London borough.

Camden Council and University College London (UCL) set up the Camden Renewals Commission in 2020 to bring together a wide range of local stakeholders to tackle the root causes of inequality in the borough.

The missions in the Camden project were created through a thorough and inclusive process where 15 commissioners were selected from local stakeholders such as businesses, artists, volunteers and University College London (UCL), who are experts in mission-driven innovation. The Camden Renewal Commission held conversations and workshops with this broad group to identify the biggest barriers to equality and ensure that the missions were based on real needs.

From this process, they formulated four missions:

Diversity: "By 2030, those in positions of power in Camden are as diverse as our community - and the next generation is ready to take over."

Youth: "By 2025, all young people will have access to economic opportunities that enable them to live safe and secure lives."

Food: "By 2030, everyone eats well every day with nutritious, affordable and sustainable food."

Neighborhoods and neighborhoods: "By 2030, Camden's residential areas and their neighborhoods are healthy, sustainable and unleashing creativity."

In order to achieve the four missions, We Make Camden uses six approaches to monitor the missions and mobilize the relevant parties. Dive into the approaches here:

1. Developing vision and narrative
   This leg is about communication, and it has three objectives. (i) They develop a clear vision based on creative narratives about their preferred future. (ii) They continuously adapt communication to different audiences to mobilize broad engagement and create common goals. (iii) They show progress and developments to keep people engaged.

2. Leadership and responsibility
   The Camden Project aims to create "mission leaders" focused on realizing a long-term and shared vision for change among a broad range of stakeholders. Leaders look out of the box. They prioritize collaboration and results and do not focus on internal organizational development.

3. Governance, prioritization and planning
   A mission-driven approach requires leadership that can adapt to a wide variety of people and needs. The structures around the missions must support collaboration, qualify decision-making and maintain momentum by solving challenges along the way. Each mission requires unique approaches that evolve with the mission.

4. Experimentation and innovation
   Every mission requires you to try many different approaches and explore what works and what doesn't. This means experimenting, testing and adapting continuously. When you experiment, progress is more important than perfection. It's about getting started and taking action - failing and learning from your mistakes.

5. & 6. Partnership and co-ownership & learning and evaluation

   The big project in Camden is constantly evolving, so they are still learning what works in their context and what doesn't. That's why they are working on the last two legs under the above headings.

You can go much deeper into the We Make Camdens approach in the Camden Playbook link at the bottom of this article.

Are missions the model for future solutions?

We Make Camden is proof that missions work, but also how big an investment it requires. And missions can make a difference in many contexts if you make that investment. As we've previously written about in INVI's newsletter and talked about in the podcast Masterclass in Wild Problems, Keir Starmer has proclaimed that missions are fundamental to his government. Labor's missions are about economic growth, green energy, fighting crime, securing the future of vulnerable children and improving healthcare. It will be interesting to see if the Starmer government will invest enough in missions.

In a Danish context, it's also an interesting method to look towards - you could draw direct inspiration from Camden on how we can alleviate some of the major challenges that exist in "parallel societies". We Make Camden has also achieved its goal of getting young people into jobs and education - an obvious place to draw inspiration for how to help the 43,000 Danish young people outside jobs and education.

INVI continues to follow the results on the other side of the North Sea, as well as how the neighbors rub off on Christiansborg - and share it with you.

Last. Do you have missions in your fingers, but lack the tools to get a grip? Then sign up for one of our two Masterclasses: the one for senior leaders or the one for policy entrepreneurs.

Want to know more about We Make Camden? We've gathered links where you can learn more about their tools and approaches:

A practical tool for change
Camden Playbook
Dive into the guide on how We Make Camden works to realize their mission.

Get inspired by real-life stories
We Make Camden
Here you can experience real stories from Camden's trial actions that bring their missions to life - from youth projects to sustainable food initiatives.

Reflections and context behind the playbook
Camden Blog on Medium
Read Nick Kimber's blog post on how mission thinking and the lessons from Camden can transform governments.

The official report on Camden's missions
Renewal Commission Report
Get the full overview of Camden's missions in this detailed report that dives into data, analysis and results.