Politicians don’t know what works, so we need to experiment

Politicians have feet of clay, too, and policies don't always work like they should. We need a political culture that allows experimentation - and the humility to accept when we get things wrong, too.

By Jonathan Breckon

(Photo By "I haven' failed. I've found a million ways that don' work." (Photo:Getty))

In case you hadn’t notice it’s election time. Politicians are making big promises in speeches, manifestos, and on Twitter. A future is being mapped out based on certainty with claims that they know how to fix Britain. But here’s the thing: they don’t really know what will work. There’s a dishonesty in us all colluding into thinking we have the answers. A better approach would be to commit to experimentation so that we try out new policies first. This is just what has happened in Finland, which also has a general election coming up in April, where three of their main political parties have formally committed to experiments in their manifestos.

If we want effective public services, we need an experimental, learning government – robustly and systematically testing things out, measuring them and growing what works. And, importantly, dropping policies that fail.