From Story to Innovative Public Services: Bridging Policy and People

At StateUp’s Executive Leadership Programme in Cambridge (July 2025), Dr. Nicolás Rebolledo-Bustamante (Royal College of Art) made a simple, powerful case: policy will land better when our stories match people’s lived realities.

“we need to bridge the gap between the organisational world and the people's world. And this is all about putting the organisational capabilities, the logistics, the technologies of organisations at the service of what people need.”

Dr. Nicolás Rebolledo-Bustamante at the Summer 2025 StateUp Executive Leadership Programme The Digital State and the Digital Economy: Preparing for an Age of Resilience‍

3 ideas for closing the gap

1. Two worlds, one disconnect. Policy often lives in words and data while people live in images, experiences, and real-life problems.
   (As cited in the session: Matthew Taylor has described central governments as “publishing houses.”)
2. Translate story → service. Use narrative to align leaders and teams around real needs, then co-create with citizens and civil servants. Prototype in context to make sure what’s built actually works.
3. Design for users, not org charts. Keep people at the centre: complement big data with “little data” (what people say and do), and treat your whole stakeholder coalition—citizens, frontline staff, political leaders—as users of the service.

Why it matters: When narratives reflect how people actually live, services earn legitimacy—and that legitimacy protects and sustains change.

Interested in our executive leadership programmes ? Get in touch with StateUp.