Canadian Government Executive - Volume 22 - Issue 3

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20 / Canadian Government Executive // March 2016
Middle Management John Wilkins
6. Will government balance the needs of today with intergenera-
tional fairness for tomorrow?
What middle managers need to know
Complexity takes many forms, short of chaos. Organizational pat-
terns are characterized variously — non-linear, unpredictable, in-
terdependent, emergent, fragmented, infinite, networked, sponta-
neous, sensitive, dynamic … even viral.
Experts argue that thinking has not kept pace with the com-
plexity of the world and that smarter decision making is needed.
Intuitive ways of thinking about problems are not enough. More
sophisticated strategies for interpreting and responding to com-
plexity are required. The search for certainty and simplicity af-
fects how complex problems are handled.
At the same time, human instinct draws upon mental imagery to
make problems more manageable. Middle managers must be able
to vision an alternative future to become “disruption ready.” They
need greater boldness to lead amidst expanding complexity and to
thrive on chaos. Rather than accepting the status quo, they need to
push back and offer new options that alter the playing field.
Culture, values, knowledge, and communications are at the
heart of managing complexity. Classical approaches and rational
scientific management can be dysfunctional. Experience calls for
a management style that is reflective, pragmatic, adaptable, and
humanistic. Managers look to innovation hubs and new technolo-
gies to test collaborative ways to solve complex problems.
Changing the world requires innovative thoughtboldly imag-
ined, rigorously researched, strenuously reviewed, clearly com-
municated. Intellectual friction encourages new ways of looking
at and tackling public policy problems. The cause is simple, the
issues are complex, and the task is challenging.
NEXT ISSUE: Diversity
John Wilkins is Associate Director, Public Management with
the Schulich School of Business, York University (jwilkins@
). He was a career public service manager in
Canada and a Commonwealth Diplomat.
D avid Thompson was a British-Canadian fur trader, sur-
veyor, and mapmaker, known to indigenous peoples
as Koo-Koo-Sint or “the Stargazer.” He travelled 90,000
kilometres and mapped nearly five million square kilo-
metres of North America. He has been described as the “greatest
land geographer who ever lived.”
Thompson explored new frontiers to see the big-picture possibili-
ties of a strange, forbidding continent. He scanned the whole night
sky with his trusty sextant to decipher the cosmic starscape and
imagined a vast expanse under the heavens. His quest transcended
the intricacies and complications of geopolitical boundaries.
The Canadian frontier challenged the hardiness of brave home-
steaders who sought to stake a claim for a better life. Aided by in-
digenous peoples, they created a great place to live, work, and do
business. Canada became a world leader in stable government, rule
of law, social justice, resource management, and trade relations.
Some say that Canada’s public institutions have grown stale and
inward looking. They subsidize failing systems and pursue poli-
cies that favour special interests over greater interests. The Fron-
tier Centre for Public Policy has another view:
“In 21st Century Canada the new Frontier is the Frontier of
Ideas. Bold ideas challenge mainstream views, engage the public
and improve economic and social growth. Poor, opaque policies
discourage participation and fail to meet the public interest. Unbi-
ased analysis that supports the former while making transparent
the latter, that is the new Frontier.”
The Ontario Public Service
Ontario Cabinet Secretary Steve Orsini gave an “inside outlook”
on government at York University last October. His “Leadership in
a Dynamically Changing World” keynote highlighted the trends
that contribute to complexity — fierce global competition, slower
productivity growth, increasing public expectations, innovation
imperatives, fiscal constraints.
Orsini touched on lagging productivity, climate change, and in-
come inequality as intractable issues for Ontarians. The Govern-
ment’s priorities are investing in people’s talent, building modern
infrastructure, creating a productive business climate, and ensur-
ing retirement security. These are underpinned by fiscally respon-
sible, accountable, citizen-centred, innovative public service.
The audience was left with six questions about the complex
challenges ahead:
1. Will slower private sector productivity press government to cut
taxes and/or invest in growth?
2. Will the public pay for growing demand for high-quality health
care, education, and infrastructure?
3. Will rising income inequality cause government to redistribute
income to reduce poverty?
4. Will uncertain federal fiscal capacity compel new federal-pro-
vincial fiscal arrangements?
5. Will the world unite to address climate change before the risks
to society become too great?
Mapping new frontiers … Complexity
Things just get curiouser and curiouser.
— Lewis Carroll (1865): Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland