The Public Sector: Managing the Unmanageable offers practical advice to public sector managers on how to develop techniques to deal with the challenges they face, particularly in the areas of accountability, setting targets, risk management/encouraging innovation, managing people, decision making and working with politicians. Based on original interviews with politicians and senior public sector managers, including the last four cabinet secretaries, the book is full of anecdotes, actionable lessons and insights. Each chapter takes a specific aspect of management and starts by explaining why it is different in the public sector, then sets out ways for public sector managers to handle those differences and ends with an executive summary and a checklist to prompt managers to think about how they might change what they currently do.

The book has a foreword by Peter Mandelson and insights based on interviews with more than sixty successful public sector managers including: Michael Bloomberg, Brendan Barber, Sir Michael Barber, Lord (Michael) Bichard, Lord (John) Browne, Lord (Robin) Butler, Helen Carter, Sir Merrick Cockell, Charles Clarke, Lord (Geoffrey) Dear, Brian Dinsdale, Charles Farr, Lord (Charles) Guthrie, Lord (Chris) Haskins, Lord (Michael) Heseltine, Ken Livingstone, Paul Martin, Lord (John) Monks, Lord (Gus) O'Donnell, Sir Robert Naylor, Jan Parkinson, Sir Hayden Phillips, Jonathan Powell, Heather Rabbatts, John Ransford, Gill Rider, Paul Roberts, Sir Peter Rogers, Stephen Taylor, Lord (Andrew) Turnball, Sir Robin Wales, Nick Walkley, Ian Watmore and Lord (Richard) Wilson.