In May 2015 Henry and Sarah were invited to Singapore where the UNDP Global Centre for Public Service Excellence (GCPSE) is based to facilitate a shared space event on the future of public service work.
As provocation for this event, Collaborate developed 5 shifts in public service that they believe will be needed for the future of work (in the public service landscape) to be a successful one:
- From government as service delivery…. to government as a platform
- From public sector workers as bureaucrats… to public entrepreneurs
- From risk management as institutional… to risk as collaborative and social
- From fixed and controlled… to adaptive and ‘messy’
- From public sector ethos… to ’service to the public’ ethos
Collaborate then facilitated a shared space event with representatives from across the globe to see if these shifts had relevance to different countries, at different stages of development and with different public administration systems.
We helped participants develop these themes in more detail and articulate what this meant for them and the organisations and systems they work with.
Off the back of Collaborate’s paper and the event, the UNDP GCPSE have written the following paper, taking and developing these themes based on outputs from the workshop.
We would like to thank all those who came to the shared space event for their time, energy and creativity in developing these ideas.