From Probability Government to Possibility Government
The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative is collaborating with Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Coronavirus Local Response Initiative to support mayors as they manage COVID-19. This article, advice for city leaders, covers key points from session seven of the Coronavirus Local Response Initiative, drawing on the work of Mitchell Weiss and Jorrit de Jong.
The COVID-19 crisis has made the previously unthinkable part of our new daily reality, forcing a huge number of innovations and adaptations at every level of society. As city leaders, you are at the helm of many of these changes, and you understand the risks and the stakes at play in the choices you make. How can you act now in a way that maximizes learning and informs future action while managing risks? What kinds of experiments drive innovation, and how can you face the challenges inherent in experimenting “in public” — with your constituents’ eyes on you, money under your stewardship, and lives and livelihood depending on you? How can you transform what was once unthinkable into new understandings of what is now possible?
Possibility Government is a different kind of government than we typically practice. Governments often confine themselves to questions of what is probable: What can we reasonably expect or do based on readily quantifiable information, resources currently at hand, and what we have seen work in the past? Probability government is appropriate in places, but too often leads to middling outcomes. Possibility government is the pursuit of new programs and services that may only possibly work. This means, they probably won’t work. This is the realm of the entrepreneur: Most new ventures fail. But the ones that succeed, can be transformative.
Possibility Government is not new — it has always been a necessary feature of democratic governance — but it is especially necessary in the face of COVID-19, and it is a fact of public life at present. Much of what you are doing is untested, and acknowledging to yourself, your teams, and your residents that some of what you are doing will not be successful is simply a recognition of reality. At the same time, you can promise them that while you will pursue the merely possible, you will not waste time on the delusional.
Effective Possibility Government requires a shift in mindset on the part of public officials and the public. Elected and appointed public servants must engage in Possibility Leadership: sourcing, trying, and scaling new efforts. And residents must engage in Possibility Citizenship: permitting, encouraging, and co-participating in the development of these efforts. Possibility Government = Possibility Leadership + Possibility Citizenship.
We’ll all have to move together.
↗ ️Guidance on ideation, experimentation, and growth
About the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative
The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative is a collaboration among Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Business School, and Bloomberg Philanthropies. Its mission is to inspire and strengthen city leaders, as well as equip them with the tools to lead high-performing, innovative cities. Learn more on the Initiative’s website.
