PIF System Level Findings: Better strategy and role clarity lifts capability

1/3/2020

The third quirk speaks directly to what lifts the capability of the public service. In short, coherency in strategy and clarity about the agency’s role in the broader system appears to be positively correlated with capability (see diagram below).

The strategy and role dimension involve ensuring each agency can clearly articulate its future direction to Ministers, their staff, and their partners and stakeholders in a way that is consistent with its statutory purpose.

This dimension is also about ensuring that every agency has an operating model that efficiently delivers on the strategy, as everyone knows their roles and responsibilities.

Finally, this dimension also includes how the agency works with its Minister so their Minister can work with others. This consists of the efficiency of servicing Ministers and the quality of free and frank advice.

Comment: Regulatory Standards Bill

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the regulatory standards bill. As someone involved in regulatory systems and policy, I want to talk about their design and likely impact. Let me be direct: these proposals lack any supporting evidence that they would improve our regulatory environment. Instead, they demonstrate a troubling pattern of overreach. The fundamental problems are st...

The Knowledge Wave’s Bitter W …

Apropos of nothing - except for the current vibe coming out of Wellington. Let's be frank about what went wrong with the Knowledge Wave circa 2001 and 2003. I remember sitting in those early conferences - all optimism and powerpoints about our gleaming tech future. But in reality, we were trying to bolt a Silicon Valley dream onto a country that runs on milk powder and tourist dollars. Here's...

Public Services in Crisis? A Tale o …

Note: This analysis was initially prepared as a commissioned piece for a local private sector client in December 2024. With their permission, I am sharing these insights more broadly to contribute to the ongoing dialogue about public service reform. While the core analysis remains unchanged - at the time this post was published - from the original submission, it has been formatted for wider circu...