Will we to tolerate mediocrity, and to let our institutions drift or will we finally decide that being a small nation is precisely why we must demand excellence
Why does Wales so often accept second best?
It’s a question that has been nagging me since I started writing this business column 23-years ago and it has been brought into sharp focus by recent debates over the performance of some of our key institutions where we see the same pattern repeated of delivery that is underwhelming, insular, and far from world class.
Take our university sector. Wales has some extraordinary academics and pockets of excellence, but international league tables show our institutions slipping behind, research income lagging other UK nations and regions and partnerships with business remaining poor. Instead of being outward-looking hubs of global collaboration, too many universities are inward-facing, distracted by endless restructuring by mediocre management, and overly reliant on public funding rather than entrepreneurial energy.
And then there is the Development Bank of Wales. On paper, it should be a game-changer for the Welsh economy as a unique, publicly backed vehicle with the capacity to fill market gaps, support risk-taking entrepreneurs, and catalyse private capital. In reality, it has often been cautious, process driven and more focused on recycling the same pools of capital than on transforming the funding landscape.
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Whilst some suggest that it has done some good work, would anyone argue it sits alongside the best development banks in Europe? That was the ambition when I proposed its creation in 2014, but we have never come close.
And of course, there is the Welsh Rugby Union. At a time when professional rugby across the world is investing in excellence, rugby in Wales has been locked in endless infighting, financial short-termism, and strategic drift. It has presided over a system where our regions are chronically underfunded, where the grassroots feel neglected, and where governance reform has been painfully slow.
Rather than striving to build a sustainable, competitive structure for the long term, it has too often muddled through by patching up a broken model rather than rebuilding it properly and leaving the game weaker, not stronger.
The common theme in all of this is that “average” has become entrenched in many of our leading institutions with success measured by whether the structure exists at all and not by whether it delivers world-class results.
Why does this happen? Part of the answer is that the instinct has too often been to design institutions to fit within the status quo rather than to challenge it, prioritise control over outcomes and whilst that might provide those in charge with the occasional win, it rarely produces excellence in the long term
Leadership is another issue and time and again, appointments are drawn from a narrow pool of people or from those who won’t rock the boat. Instead of seeking out the best talent and bringing in those with new perspectives, there is insularity and groupthink resulting in a lack of courage to call out underperformance, to reform failing bodies, or demand more of our institutions.
This culture of “good enough” runs through much of our public life and since devolution, we have tolerated hospitals that miss targets, schools that struggle with outcomes, and infrastructure projects that drag on for years. Instead of benchmarking ourselves against the best in the world, we often shrug our shoulders and accept being at the lower end of UK league tables in health, education and economic competitiveness.
But the uncomfortable truth is that Wales cannot afford second best. We are a small nation with a fragile economy and if we want to thrive, we need institutions that are better, more ambitious, and more effective than those elsewhere. Every pound of public money spent and every structure we create must be focused on delivering world-class impact.
So what would that look like in practice? It means giving our institutions genuine independence and demanding world-class leadership. It means creating bodies that are accountable to the people and businesses they are meant to serve. And it means benchmarking ourselves relentlessly against the best whether in Europe, North America, or Asia.
The tragedy is that Wales has all the raw ingredients to succeed. We have entrepreneurs with global ambition, industries with deep expertise, universities with research excellence, and communities with a spirit of innovation. What we lack are the institutions to match that potential.
And, whether you like it or not, having the same political party in power in Wales for 26 years has contributed to this culture. When government never changes hands, complacency sets in and the civil service has little urgency to reform or change direction, creating a sense of inevitability where existing structures are defended rather than challenged.
Indeed, why did it take four and a half years and a summit last month in Newport for the current Welsh Government to finally realise that the economy should be its overwhelming priority?
But with the very real possibility of political change at the Senedd elections next May, the question must be asked whether this will finally be the moment to shake up a moribund system that has failed to deliver for far too long?
Will we continue to accept second best, to tolerate mediocrity, and to let our institutions drift or will we finally decide that being a small nation is precisely why we must demand excellence and why we must build institutions that are more ambitious than anywhere else.
Until we do, we will continue to lag behind and when future generations ask why Wales did not achieve more with the talent and resources it had, the answer will be painfully simple namely that we settled for second best when we could have demanded better.
