Making Tomorrow Better Than Today
A few weeks ago my colleague Anthony Jaz introduced Medium readers to a new Canadian Federal government program called “GC Entrepreneurs”. He shared with you that we are an eclectic team of 17 public servants who have accepted the challenge to work on innovative projects with the ultimate goal of improving the lives of Canadians. Simply put, making tomorrow better than today for all of us.
My name is Brian and I am part of the GC Entrepreneur team. My home department is the Communications Security Establishment, Canada’s centre for cyber security excellence. I am very proud and excited to work with my fellow team members to, among many other projects, improve work place well-being in the federal public servants.
I am really pumped about my new job. Why? I am really excited because I truly believe that our mandate, in its broadest application, is to help make tomorrow better than today for Canadians.
That’s a tall order. I am really excited to write and share my thoughts on four days of incredible “public sector innovation” training that the GC Entrepreneurs took during the last week of April. The training is called the “States of Change Learning Program”. It is delivered by an international team from the UK-based innovation foundation called Nesta. Before I talk more about Nesta training, I’ll provide some context for new readers and an explanation as to why such an intensive program is being offered to support 17 policy entrepreneurs?
In mid-April I started an assignment as an “entrepreneur” with the Impact and Innovation Unit of the Privy Council Office (PCO). A big part of the job is supporting Deputy Ministers that are members of the Deputy Minister Task Force on Public Sector Innovation. I even attend the meetings with my Associate Deputy Minister, and get this, I am allowed to say something. At this meeting, my deputy and I are equals, colleagues, buddies. The other big part of the assignment is working with small teams to deliver results on high priority issues. My two projects involve artificial intelligence and work place well-being.
To understand why the Deputy Minister Task Force on Innovation exists and why a team of 17 entrepreneurs support them, you need look no further than the wonderful report that the Clerk of the Privy Council, Mr. Michael Wernick, submitted to the Prime Minister a few weeks ago. It’s on its way to becoming a best seller and is called the Annual Report on the Public Service.
Mr. Wernick told our Prime Minister that as part of public service renewal, the government of Canada will adopt “modern tools, processes and organizational structures.” Still with me? This is where it gets really good. The Clerk underlines in his report that the “new Deputy Minister Task Force on Public Sector Innovation has welcomed the first cohort of policy entrepreneurs to help unlock talent in the Public Service. The entrepreneurs will spend one year tackling cross-cutting priority projects, with the aim of accelerating transformative approaches to how programs are delivered.”
Now, one year from now, the Clerk of the Privy Council is going to have to explain to the Prime Minister the activities of Brian and CSE’s Associate Deputy Minister that led to the outputs that created outcomes of benefit to Canadians. The emphasis will be on “outcomes”. A year from now, will Canadians be happier, wiser, wealthier, healthier and safer because of our work? It is my sincere hope that in the next annual report to the Prime Minister, there will be a picture of my Associate Deputy Minister….let’s call her Shelly…., me and 17 other policy entrepreneurs and stories about how we delivered results and made life better for Canadians. I admit, it is an ambitious goal. And frankly, I think the Clerk is making a big commitment to the Prime Minister. But I am glad he made the commitment. Go Clerk! And I will concede that I was worried about that until I took “States of Change” training.
Here’s the epiphany from the first day of “States of Change” training that resonated with everyone and explains why innovation is such a hot topic in government. Our government institutions were created in the 19th century. And these institutions are struggling, not just in Canada but globally, with the challenges of the 21st century. Simply put, our current government processes and structures are poorly aligned with the purpose of government. For example, government ministries are hierarchical and aligned vertically, but the problems we face hit us horizontally. Rarely, if ever, does one problem that Canada and Canadians face lands squarely in one department. Add to the environment rapid technological and societal change and we can see how government can fall behind. That’s the macro picture. But part of the micro picture is what actions can we take to meet the challenge?
The PCO and Task Force Deputy Ministers want, where possible, for public servants to be more entrepreneurial. And they are asking 17 policy entrepreneurs to tackle their projects like high tech start-ups. Yes, we recognize that government operates in a political environment, not necessarily a business or market environment, but there are opportunities for change and an entrepreneurial spirit that right now we are missing.
So, last week, 17 eager, optimistic, skilled public servants completed the first of four phases of innovation training. Think of the first phase as a hockey training camp. Lots of “chalk talk” sessions to cover innovation theory and strategy, lots of intellectual jumping jacks to stimulate the brain, lots of novel team building experiences to help us connect and bond.
I want to emphasize that the learning was not passive. Often, the goal of the Nesta team was not to answer every question but to help us ask the right questions. Here is a bullet list of course content in no particular order:
· Professionally executed “parallel” thinking exercises to get us out of our public service comfort zones.
· Very useful insights into the global state of public sector innovation using case studies from Denmark, Finland, the UK and US.
· Some powerful visualization techniques, concepts in communication
· Conversations about the experimental mindset
· The concept of hypothesis: “Innovation amateurs talk about good ideas; experts talk about testing hypotheses.
· Team building dynamics and competencies
· Principles involved in building a collaborative community
· Performance measurement
· Foresight, exploring multiple futures as a means to anchor a conversation about the present
· Project governance, organizational principles
So, what’s next? Well, there is the famous JFK observation, “For of those to whom much is given, much is required.” That means, 17 entrepreneurs have a lot of work to do in the month of May in preparation for Nesta’s return and the second phase of training. That means lot of hustle. But here’s the entrepreneur advantage, we have the backing of the PCO, the Deputy Ministers, we have great training, lots of freedom and our own drive. Let’s see what happens.
Stay tuned.
