When a recent Globe article reported that Justin Trudeau's PMO will create “Delivery Units” to drive the prime minister's priorities, it caused a stir on Twitter: How does this square with Trudeau's commitment to end centralization in the PMO, people wondered?Delivery Units are the brainchild of Michael Barber, who was a senior aide to British Prime Minister Tony Blair and is the author of a recent book on the subject.Barber's task in the Blair PMO was to ensure that the prime minister's big commitments were realized, including the reform of education and healthcare. In the process, he put his finger on a serious problem in the system and came up with a solution.In government, Barber tells us, having a good idea is only 10% of the job. The other 90% lies in “delivering” it. This, in turn, points to a deep flaw in the Westminster system, which holds that elected officials set policy (ideas), while the public service delivers it.Once ideas are handed off to officials, politicians have little control over what happens to them. According to tradition, they are not supposed to meddle in government operations. However, given that 90% of the work happens there, so do most of the mistakes. If a policy fails to achieve its goal, often it has something to do with implementation.This lack of control over what happens inside the bureaucracy can be deeply troubling for politicians. Barber's idea was to bridge the divide by creating a special team in the PMO that would oversee and help carry out delivery of the prime minister's key commitments. Delivery Units thus brought the operations of government into the PMO and, indeed, right to the desk of the prime minister.From the bureaucrats' viewpoint, this is a two-edged sword. On the good side, having the weight of the prime minister behind an initiative is a huge help in moving it through the system. Officials are inclined to get things done quickly and to get obstacles out of the way.Moreover, issues today are often multi-faceted. As a result, delivery of, say, a climate change or security strategy will involve multiple departments, and perhaps even other governments and/or stakeholders. Making this kind of collaboration work can be a big challenge and having the PMO at the table is usually a major asset.On the downside, having the Centre constantly looking over your shoulder can be intimidating and meddlesome. There is a huge power imbalance here and people who have power have a tendency to start using it. We've all heard the story.As the Centre slowly takes control, the department's autonomy starts slipping away. Officials lose their confidence and start trying to give the answers they think their political masters want to hear. In the end, government is less effective, not more—which is why politicians were banned from meddling in operations in the first place.Is there some way to keep this dynamic in check?Barber's book has lots of sound ideas about how to make Delivery Units work. We can sum up most of the main ones in four phrases: Get clear on your goals. Set clear indicators and measure your progress. Don't be afraid to experiment. Always hold yourself to account.But while these are all excellent principles, they say nothing about centralization. None is either inherently centralizing or the reverse. They are neutral on the subject and could be used either way. If Barber's list of principles for Delivery Units ended here, the proposal would be a worrying one, indeed.However, he adds one last principle, which is quite different from the others because it is about the culture of Delivery Units. He presents it in the form of a question: Can we help? Barber's answer defines the kind of working relationship he believes the Delivery Units must forge with line departments to make this arrangement work: The [Delivery Unit] didn't just monitor the performance of government. It also rolled up its sleeves and helped solve problems. When it succeeded, it congratulated the relevant department rather than taking credit for itself. We never yelled at people, West Wing style. Instead we built trusting relationships. We took the view that we shared responsibility for the outcomes. So Barber's view is that the working relationship between the Unit and the department must be genuinely collaborative. This is not just about being polite or friendly. It is a way of doing business that, as he notes, is based on trust. And trust requires openness, mutual respect and shared responsibility. Building such a relationship is the only real bulwark against centralization.I don't know how well Barber succeeded in avoiding centralization in the Blair PMO and I'll leave that for others to debate. I'm interested in how well Trudeau's Delivery Units will work. He has set the bar on centralization very high and I think Barber offers some real food for thought for planners in the Trudeau PMO.On one hand, the delivery of big projects, such as a new climate change regime, will need support and coordination from the Centre. Done the right way, Delivery Units could be a huge help.On the other hand, The PMO has a long history of turning coordination into control. It would be a serious mistake to underestimate how deeply that culture is embedded in the institution—whoever occupies it.In setting up these units, Barber's cultural principle therefore will be of critical importance. Putting it into practice must go beyond promises and good intentions. These Units should be based on clearly define roles and responsibilities and include protocols to resolve conflicts quickly and fairly.Only by preserving the autonomy of the departments will these Units succeed in building a relationship based on genuine trust, rather than control.And that is the essential condition both for making them work well, and for fulfilling the prime minister's pledge to end centralization.Dr. Don Lenihan is Senior Associate, Policy and Engagement, at Canada 2020, Canada's leading, independent progressive think-tank. Don is an internationally recognized expert on democracy and Open Government. He is currently the Government of Ontario's principal advisor on its Open Dialogue Initiative. The views expressed here are those of the columnist alone. Don can be reached at:[email protected] or follow him on Twitter at: @DonLenihan