Centre for Knowledge, Innovation, Technology and Enterprise

Little Heresies Seminar Series

Little Heresies Seminar Series

Little Heresies in Public Policy is a seminar series that enables ideas to be explored which run counter to dominant political discourses.

These seminars build on a highly successful UK national tour in 2012-13 called ‘Kittens are Evil’ which attracted over 500 attendees and significant social media activity.

This set of seminars brings together the best talks from the tour with new material from a local network of little heretics.

Upcoming heresies

View our upcoming Heresies.

Sign-up now

Use the form below to sign-up to upcoming Heresies. Further details about each event will be available in due course. 

Previous heresies

#17: Why Charity Funding May be Doing More Harm Than Good - Jake Hayman (2 February 2017)

#16: Everything we know about management is wrong - Simon Caulkin (8 December 2016)

#15: Why sometimes evidence isn't enough - Peter Wright (10 November 2016)

#14: Curb your neuro-enthusiasm - Sue White (16 June 2016)

#13: Complexity and method: bridging the divide - Luke Craven (12 May 2016)

#12: Troubled families or troubling policy - Stephen Crossley (7 April 2016)

#11: Whitehall makes public sector performance worse - John Seddon (11 February 2016)

#10: Problems with Integrated Health and Social Care - Rob Wilson (3 December 2015)

#9: What went wrong with personal budgets? by the man who invented them - Simon Duffy (29 October 2015)

#8: Let's forget about the championing benefits of ICT innovation - Jane Hendy (10 June 2015)

#7: 'Public service markets' aren't working for the public or as markets - Kathy Evans (4 February 2015)

#6: How to save public services from silly slogans and weasel words - Charlotte Pell (3 December 2014)

#5: Offender health - why bother? - Andrew Gray (12 November 2014)

#4: The truth about procurement and other wicked diseases - John Little (10 September 2014)

#3: The truth about wellbeing and the trouble with measurement - Karen Scott (9 July 2014)

#2: Intelligent policing: how systems-thinking methods eclipse conventional management practices - Simon Guilfoyle (4 June 2014)

#1: Is payment by results doomed to fail? - Toby Lowe (9 April 2014)

Kittens are Evil official book launch

KITE's official book launch of 'Kittens are Evil' (volume 1) was held on 8 December as part of the Little Heresies Seminar: Everything we know about management is wrong. 

Professor Rob Wilson, Director of Centre for Knowledge Innovation Technology and Enterprise (KITE), Dr Toby Lowe, senior research associate and Charlotte Pell, visiting fellow of KITE, published the book to highlight damage caused by applying private sector thinking to public services.

For more information about 'Kittens are Evil' check the news article on Newcastle University Business School's website.