Books by Jonathan Simcock
Jonathan Simcock is the author of The Delivery Gap: Why Government Projects Really Fail and What Can Be Done About It and an expert in the challenges of major government project delivery. He is a former Executive Director of Major Projects in the Office of Government Commerce and stepped down as Chair of the Submarine Delivery Agency in the MOD in 2024. He has spent sixteen years leading, governing, assuring and advising major government projects.
The Delivery Gap: Why Government Projects Really Fail and What Can be Done About It
by Jonathan Simcock
The Delivery Gap is by Jonathan Simcock, who was himself involved in overseeing the delivery of large-scale projects for the UK government. The book is interesting not only for its insider analysis of what needs to change for the UK to do better—though the catalogue of projects that have wasted colossal amounts of time and money and not gone as planned is worrying. It's also a good way to get a glimpse of what's happening across a wide range of aspects of British life—including defence, welfare, the NHS—from a public sector perspective.
Interviews with Jonathan Simcock
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1
The Blunders of Our Governments
by Anthony King & Ivor Crewe -
2
How Westminster Works . . . and Why It Doesn't
by Ian Dunt -
3
How Big Things Get Done: The Surprising Factors That Determine the Fate of Every Project, from Home Renovations to Space Exploration and Everything In Between
by Bent Flyvbjerg & Dan Gardner -
4
Conundrum: Why Every Government Gets Things Wrong and What We Can Do About it
by Christopher Hope & Richard Bacon -
5
Clashing Agendas: Inside the Welfare Trap
by David Freud
The best books on Big Projects, recommended by Jonathan Simcock
The best books on Big Projects, recommended by Jonathan Simcock
In order to have fewer failed projects, we need to address some of the deep structural incentives in the system, argues Jonathan Simcock, who spent 16 years leading and advising on large UK government projects. He talks us through books to read to understand more about big projects and why they go wrong, and how to do better in future.
