Better Decisions Better Outcomes
We empower public leaders to make better decisions for better outcomes, while building public trust and confidence.
Better decisions are those that are defined within a vision. They are better considered and coordinated decisions leading to greater confidence by:
public leaders “turning intent into outcomes”
key stakeholders willing to “work with public leaders”
suppliers willing to “engage commercially and contribute to community needs”
non-government investors willing to “co-invest”
public assurance that “scarce resources are invested to best meet needs”
What are Better Decisions?
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To capture full economic potential, reduce unemployment, and increase disposable incomes.
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Achieve a sense of “our place” with effective stewardship of natural resources.
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Meet people’s needs so they can reach their full potential.
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Achieve Maori potential. Be socially cohesive. Expand Community integration initiatives. Further celebrate diversity.
Who benefits from better coordinated and considered decision making?
Public Leaders
Public leaders gain greater confidence that they can deliver on time and within budget to achieve the intended benefits.
Non-Govt Investors
Non-Government investors gain more confidence to trust and subsequently co-invest with Government.
Key Stakeholders
Key stakeholders and Suppliers gain more confidence they can work with and trust Public Leaders
The Public
The public have greater confidence that scarce public money is being invested in a way that will increase their living standards.
What we do
Our Mission
At Barber Associates, we believe that the way to achieve better outcomes is through better decisions. We care about those who are vulnerable economically, socially and/or culturally and want to be part of the solution to eliminate the system of poverty that keeps them trapped so they can be all they are meant to be.
To this end, we created “Better Decisions. Better Outcomes”, a proven 5-stage method that enables public leaders to take a holistic, systematic, relational approach to engage and think with key stakeholders how best to achieve vision for better public value. It produces a Portfolio Business case to inform initiatives that require investment and policy decisions.
Dr. Joe Flanagan-Joint Chief Examiner of the UK Better Business Case Programme, Architect of the 5 Case Model, and author of the HM Treasury Guides for the development of Programme and Project Business Cases-fully endorses BDBO approach to the development of Portfolio Business Cases.
One of the mistakes we most often see is that business cases are written as a compliance document to secure funding rather than a campaign to deliver public value. If you focus on the funding, you will miss your funding target. If you focus on thinking through public value, you’ll get the investor wanting to invest more. Engagement is key and is just one of the elements we assist with.
Key Benefits
There are 8 distinct advantages of the Barber Associates Engagement Model:
Capability- It delivers capability so less consultancy support is needed in future.
Clarity-It enables clarity of the dependencies between the initiatives enabling the leadership team to determine the overall value of the projects.
Confidence- It ensures the right initiatives are identified from the get-go.
Engagement- It engages stakeholders in the short and long term.
Fiscal -It helps prioritise with tight budgets.
Participation- It enables increased public participation.
Transparency- It provides rapid scenario planning with trade-offs between initiatives.
Vision-It better places the development of long-term planning.
Our 5 Stage Engagement Model
We have a tried and tested engagement model with a simple 5 stage approach, with a large associate base whilst maximising local people to enable public leaders to develop a place-based Portfolio Business Case in 5 months using the 5 Case Model. As part of our unique approach, we assess and improve the quality of your decision making, and train and coach you in developing your business whilst maximising your internal capability.
BDBO addresses the why, what, when, how and who of decision making in the think phase. The 5 BDBO stages carefully set out the importance of engaging the right people in the right way (who) to think together to develop a business case (what) to inform a startup decision (when) that gives confidence the vision can be achieved (why).
Coaching Leaders for Better Decisions and Public Value
Rodney Barber provides high-trust coaching to leaders working in complex public and place-based systems. His work focuses on helping leaders make better decisions for better outcomes by strengthening the quality of decision-making within real political, institutional, and community contexts.
All engagements draw on Rodney’s Better Decisions Better Outcomes (BDBO) framework and his experience working with councils, communities, and developing-country governments.
Suburb-Level Coaching to Adopt the ACoRN Model
This offering supports suburb leaders to adopt and embed the ACoRN Model as a practical approach to strengthening community resilience and public value at the local level.
The ACoRN Model emerged from applying key stages of Rodney’s Better Decisions Better Outcomes (BDBO) framework at a suburb level, working alongside local leaders to identify the most practical public-value solution for building resilience in their community.
Nature of the engagement
· Short-term, high-trust coaching (not facilitation)
· Focused on leadership judgement, system alignment, and local ownership
· Designed to complement (not replace) community-led implementation
Investment
· 1 day per week for 2 months
· $500 per day
· $4,000 per engagement
Funding
· Potentially funded by local councils or partner agencies
District-Level Coaching to Establish or Apply BDBO
(Councils, Mayors’ Offices, Senior Executives, Regional Partnerships)
Option 1: Short-Term Coaching to Establish BDBO
This engagement supports senior leaders to establish the application of the 5-stage BDBO framework within their existing public value decision-making system, aligned to Long-Term Planning (LTP) processes commencing mid-2026.
Nature of the engagement
· Short-term, high-trust coaching
· Focused on improving confidence and clarity in decision-making
· Not facilitation, training, or report-writing
Investment
· 1 day per week for 2 months
· $1,500 per day
· $12,000 per engagement
Option 2: Medium-Term Coaching to Apply BDBO
This option supports leaders to apply the full 5-stage BDBO framework to a real place-based decision agenda, embedded within their public value decision-making system and Long-Term Planning (LTP) processes.
Nature of the engagement
· Medium-term, high-trust coaching
· Focused on real decisions, trade-offs, and implementation learning
· Builds internal leadership capability and confidence
· Not facilitation, training, or report-writing
Investment
· 1 day per week for 5 months
· $1,500 per day
· $50,000 per engagement
How Rodney Works with Leaders
RBA works with leaders who are willing to face complexity honestly, make difficult trade-offs transparently, and lead for outcomes that communities can see, trust, and live with.
This work is relational, decision-focused, and grounded in public value rather than short-term optimisation.
Rodney Barber
I am a social entrepreneur and public investment expert.
I am passionate about advocating for and equipping leaders to secure investment to enable resilient communities, whether at organizational, suburb, district regional or national levels.
I believe that the way to achieve better outcomes is through better decisions. To this end, I created Better Decisions. Better Outcomes TM, to enable public leaders to engage and think with others how best to deliver better outcomes for better public value to measurably improve living standards and eliminate systemic poverty.
I stand for leadership that listens, includes, and does what’s right even when it’s hard.
I bring communities and decision-makers together to work on what matters most — and make decisions they can be proud of, not just today, but in 10 years. I care less about quick wins and more about lasting outcomes — ones shaped by courage, connection, and what really counts.
I help leaders and communities shift from short-term fixes to decisions that stand the test of time — decisions grounded in integrity, shaped by real people’s voices, backed up by evidence and focused on outcomes that matter. I support them to see more clearly, lead more humanely, and build stronger, more resilient futures together.
I want to be remembered for leading with conviction, courage, and compassion — and for helping others find the clarity to act, even when it’s hard. I hope people experience me as someone who brings people together and believes in what’s possible.
If you want to know more about why I do this…
During my time at NZ Treasury from 2009 to 2016, I established the Better Business Cases Framework to inform decisions on initiatives. I led the capability development of the public sector nationally including the establishment of training, communities of practice, clinics and coaching. I had the framework evaluated in 2015 and one of the recommendations was to take a wider sector and country perspective. My BBC journey at Treasury is here.
I left Treasury in 2016, founded Barber Associates and created Better Decisions. Better Outcomes (BDBO) Framework, to identify the right initiatives to have an exuberant economy, stunning environment, thriving communities and vibrant cultures, with the enabling infrastructure. I have coached a district to do this and several public sector agencies as well as build and maximize their internal capability for ‘best public value’ investment decision making to achieve their vision.
In 2017 I trained and coached the government of a foreign country on how best to build decision makers’ and the public’s confidence and identify the right initiatives to achieve the vision.
In 2020 I commenced as a contract employee with the International Monetary Fund advising governments of developing nations how to improve decision making.
In my suburb, Newlands, I have used parts of BDBO to collectively engage with local leaders to set a vision for 2030, to build community wellbeing and resilience, and identify how best to achieve that vision and measure outcomes.
I have also applied BDBO to Public sector and NGO organizations.
My background
Meet the Associates
Brett Hodgson
Business Adviser and Director
Brett is an experienced executive having developed his skills through roles held at Board, Country and Regional levels for multi-nationals. Brett has also built his own successful IT services business. Brett specialises in governance, innovation and organisational performance through the development and mobilisation of teams with clear strategy, commonly shared goals and vision.
Stephen Davies Howard
Director at Davies Howard Group Ltd.
Stephen is recognised as a skilled facilitator accredited to conduct Investment Logic Mapping by the Victoria State Department of Treasury and Finance and he is the only independent (non-government employee) endorsed by the New Zealand Treasury as both an ‘Expert’ practitioner and reviewer for the Better Business Case process.
Lewis Weatherall
Director at Business Case Consulting Ltd.
Lewis specializes in assisting clients to develop high quality business cases using the Better Business Cases (BBC) approach. Lewis is a Treasury-endorsed Expert Practitioner and Reviewer, an APMG International approved trainer and an Investment Management Standard (ILM) facilitator.
Simon Vagn Larsen
Director at Open Service Design Ltd.
Simon co-designs and delivers innovation in many forms, including labs, for private and public sector organisations and assists with improvements in systems, culture, organisational development, and innovative change. Simon’s engagement equips people with the thinking, tools, processes, and the action of human-centered service design.
Peter Bonniface
Business Consultant at BRP Consulting
Peter specialises in working with organisations to help them develop investment proposals that are strategically aligned, compelling, and provide value for money. He is a Treasury endorsed Better Business Cases Expert Practitioner and Treasury accredited Gateway reviewer.
James Barnes
Director at Ingage Global Limited
James is the creator of the Relationship Equity Management (REM) Model, incorporating “Indigenous Thinking”. He has 30 years of practice proven local and international experience, specialising in Stakeholder Engagement and Relationship Management across Central and Local Government, and the Private and Not for Profit sectors. James is of Ngāti Porou descent which enables him to provide a cultural perspective to organisational transformation and change management.
Dr. Huong Nguyen
Dr. Huong Nguyen Huong works at the intersection of strategy, human resources, and foresight, helping organisations turn bold visions into practical outcomes. Drawing on experience with New Zealand government agencies, the OECD, and global futures initiatives, she supports organisations and communities to build the capabilities, leadership, and adaptability needed to prepare for what’s next.
Mark Abbot
Principal at Mark Abbot Consulting Ltd.
Mark specialises in organisational strategy and transformational change. His local government experience comes from senior executive and consultancy roles covering corporate asset management; sector strategy development and implementation; organisational planning and evaluation; and programme management of transformational infrastructure.
Bill Mcdonald
Strategic Finance and Investment Advisor
Bill is a trusted advisor with 25+ years of senior experience in public sector finance, investment strategy, and infrastructure planning. He specialises in complex project evaluation and business case development aligned with government frameworks. A former CFO at Wellington City Council, he has led work across major infrastructure and service delivery projects, including prison development, port revitalisation, fleet electrification, and urban investment planning. Bill is known for his calm, strategic approach and ability to translate complex objectives into practical, evidence-based outcomes.
Jamie Scott
Director at Jordan Scott Consulting Limited
Jamie Scott (MHRINZ) is a Director of Jordan Scott Consulting with 30+ years’ experience in HR leadership, training, facilitation, and coaching, including senior national HR roles. He is an active member and former Wellington Branch President of the Human Resources Institute of New Zealand, and a Senior Consultant with Inspire Leaders. He is also an accredited Senior Associate and Trainer with the Forum Corporation, a global leadership development organisation. Jamie delivers leadership development, coaching, and team effectiveness programmes, and is known for his engaging, practical facilitation style and strong client relationships.
He is accredited in:
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
DISC Behavioural profiling and 360 feedback instrumentation
Hay McBer and Lominger Competency modelling
The Leadership Circle (TLC) 360 profiling tool
Team Management Index (TMI)
Human Synergistics LSI1 and LSI2 Profiling tools
ICC Accredited Coach