A friend sent me a link to a very interesting TED presentation by David Logan on tribal leadership. He talks about the 5 stages of naturally forming human tribes. His hypothesis is that by understanding the shared tribal tendencies we can become better human beings. Leaders must understand how to deal with people at all 5 stages and help people move to a higher level. Take a look at this video and you will probably recognize some people you know.
David Logan on tribal leadership | Video on TED.com
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Preparing the next Generation of Public Servants
I was having a conversation a few days ago about what kind of skill sets governments are seeking when they are recruiting public servants and what recent employees are saying that they need in terms of skills.
In my years in government I worked in different areas - policy development, program management, operations and financial/fiscal policy. I wanted to have a fully rounded experience in government and was lucky enough to work in different areas and ministries. Having worked most of my career at the Ministry of Finance (Treasury Board, Fiscal Policy) I was always surprised by the lack of financial understanding in some key areas. I was always of the view that a fully fleshed out policy document had to have a robust financial analysis (and these days the full detail of the accounting issues involved - don't you just love PSAB!). But too many times, policy documents were developed without a full understanding of the financial impacts.
Which brings me to what some recent MPA graduates said in a survey that was part of a research paper sponsored by the Canadian Association of Programs in Public Administration (CAPPA) and the Canada School of Public Service (CSPS). The respondents to this survey noted the need for more practical education and that there should be more senior practitioners as instructors. They would have like to have been exposed to real life examples of briefing notes, cabinet submissions/ memorandum to cabinet and treasury board submissions.
As well, they would have wanted greater exposure to actual governmental processes such as budget & estimates and central agency and cabinet approval processes. They also commented that it would have been good to have greater exposure to financial management, government accounting, project management and HR management. Finally they recommended that real life public policy/administration case studies be used to complement the theoretical course work.
Well what can I say! Are schools of public administration & policy listening to this feedback? I hope so! And to those schools and to governments I want to underscore that IPAC which brings together academics and practitioners has a well developed case study program that we are in the process of revitalizing. We have over 150 cases in public administration and policy & we are in the process of refreshing these cases, developing new cases and we will soon launch a new case study website. Stay tuned for more in this early in the new year.
In my years in government I worked in different areas - policy development, program management, operations and financial/fiscal policy. I wanted to have a fully rounded experience in government and was lucky enough to work in different areas and ministries. Having worked most of my career at the Ministry of Finance (Treasury Board, Fiscal Policy) I was always surprised by the lack of financial understanding in some key areas. I was always of the view that a fully fleshed out policy document had to have a robust financial analysis (and these days the full detail of the accounting issues involved - don't you just love PSAB!). But too many times, policy documents were developed without a full understanding of the financial impacts.
Which brings me to what some recent MPA graduates said in a survey that was part of a research paper sponsored by the Canadian Association of Programs in Public Administration (CAPPA) and the Canada School of Public Service (CSPS). The respondents to this survey noted the need for more practical education and that there should be more senior practitioners as instructors. They would have like to have been exposed to real life examples of briefing notes, cabinet submissions/ memorandum to cabinet and treasury board submissions.
As well, they would have wanted greater exposure to actual governmental processes such as budget & estimates and central agency and cabinet approval processes. They also commented that it would have been good to have greater exposure to financial management, government accounting, project management and HR management. Finally they recommended that real life public policy/administration case studies be used to complement the theoretical course work.
Well what can I say! Are schools of public administration & policy listening to this feedback? I hope so! And to those schools and to governments I want to underscore that IPAC which brings together academics and practitioners has a well developed case study program that we are in the process of revitalizing. We have over 150 cases in public administration and policy & we are in the process of refreshing these cases, developing new cases and we will soon launch a new case study website. Stay tuned for more in this early in the new year.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Intelligence Squared
I have just come across a wonderful website from the UK that promotes debate on topical issues. It is from an organization called Intelligence Squared.
This organization was founded 7 years ago and sponsors debates that can be seen on-line or on BBC TV as well as live in the UK as well as New York, Sydney, Kiev and Hong Kong. The format is to have a specific statement debated by 2 in favour and 2 opposed with the audience voting at the start and the end of the debate. Recent debates include "The Catholic Church is a Force for Good", "Did the New Deal Work", "Democracy is not for Everyone" and "The World in 2050".
I highly recommend this website & if you have a chance to see the debates live go for it! It is great to see such a high level of discourse and debate on important issues.
This organization was founded 7 years ago and sponsors debates that can be seen on-line or on BBC TV as well as live in the UK as well as New York, Sydney, Kiev and Hong Kong. The format is to have a specific statement debated by 2 in favour and 2 opposed with the audience voting at the start and the end of the debate. Recent debates include "The Catholic Church is a Force for Good", "Did the New Deal Work", "Democracy is not for Everyone" and "The World in 2050".
I highly recommend this website & if you have a chance to see the debates live go for it! It is great to see such a high level of discourse and debate on important issues.
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