Canadian Government Executive - Volume 24 - Issue 01

January/February 2018 // Canadian Government Executive / 11 The Interview ational workforce”, and see the incorporation of corporate wis- dom with the enthusiasm, energy and innovative spirit of some of the younger public servants? We have to do it, and there’s a bit of an ur- gency to it, so no one tool or one answer is going to solve that. We can have formal and informal mentorship programs, and lots of tools. that allow people to connect with each other in a sort of LinkedIn/ Wikipedia-style environment that helps you bust through org charts, and people that have the same community, whether they’re scientists or working on the same issues, such as immigration. They can find each other in these environments very quickly, and it overcomes some of the ri- gidity and bureaucracy of the past. So we will encourage that take up. As a sort of a pattern, we have to be flat- ter. I’m very proud, as I always say, that I climbed 15 rungs of the career ladder to my current job, but I’m appalled that there were 15 rungs. There shouldn’t have been. And I think we also have to be more nim- ble and shape shifting.. My experience is you need to put teams together of multiple disciplines, across organizations when you have a common problem. Say the legal- ization of cannabis or opioids or climate change framework. You bring them to- gether, you do a piece of work, and then you change the organization again. So it’s a public service that will continu- ally bemoving it’s shape, it’s organizational structures. I keep thinking of the staircases in the Harry Potter castle moving around all the time. That’s not a comfortable en- vironment for some public servants who crave stability and hierarchy, so there’s a culture change element to that as well. And for me, if I can just go on a bit longer, there’s a strong link between this conver- sation around innovation and the diversity conversation because we have so much to do that we just can’t afford to leave voices outside or talents unused. So the more that we can bring all of our various communi- ties together and mobilize them, we will simply get more done for Canadians. Q: One of the requirements of the nimble organization is the ability to collaborate more effec- tively, and I’ve noticed that you and the Provincial and Territorial Clerks from across the country have taken the new approach to, and emphasis on, collaboration. I believe a recent meeting was held in a more open setting. Many of today’s big policy and program issues are truly national, as are issues effecting public services. So what do you think the future holds for federal, provincial, territorial collaboration on some of these files? Well I think, again, there’s sort of two parts to that. There’s a common agenda and aspiration, which you saw in a state- ment that all federal, provincial, territo- rial clerks and cabinet secretaries signed, which is to send a clear signal from the top that risk taking was okay, that innova- tion’s encouraged. We keep being told that you need that kind of tone from the top, and that leadership from the top, so we’re happy to provide that. We have all come to similar diagnostics in our similar juris- dictions. We all have different approaches and different possibilities of dealing with them, but finding talent, growing talent, learning how to operate in the new so- cial media environment. These forces of disruptive technology. They’re common whether you work in Ontario or New Brunswick or the federal service. I think it also is what Canadians have come to expect when it comes to solving problems or delivering services. They’re not interested in seeing governments bicker about shares and responsibilities and jurisdiction. They just want their gov- ernments to act, and that’s pushed both the federal government and provincial governments and local governments to work together. An issue like climate change mitigation, how to attract good, well-paying jobs in the growing parts of the economy, indig- enous reconciliation, keeping people safe from bad things. All of these are efforts that require collaboration. There’s no one level of government that has all the an- swers. So the skill set that politicians and public servants are all developing is that collaboration and partnership skill, which is how do you craft win/win solutions, And I think governments in Canada are particularly good at that. Q: Michael, our public service organizations are a key part of our Canadian society. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action has really set a very high bar for public services at all levels across the country. My sense is there’s a lot of goodwill and initiatives underway within the Federal system right now to try to implement the recommenda- tions and connect with indigenous communities in a deeper and more meaningful way, perhaps paving the way for a real change in the way public services are delivered and policies developed. Clearly we’ve still got a long way to go on that, but I’m wondering if you have any observations on that and how you think the federal system is doing in its evolution and adapt- ing our public service values? That’s a big question. One quick comment is it is an important example of how, as the country shifts and evolves, public sector institutions have to shift with them, and we’re caught up in those societal shifts. So we have experienced a national conversa- tion around mental health over the last ten years, from destigmatizing it to what are we going to do, in concrete terms. And that’s been a national conversation, and it’s rippled through all levels of government, An issue like climate change mitigation, how to attract good, well-paying jobs in the growing parts of the economy, indigenous reconciliation, keeping people safe from bad things. All of these are efforts that require collaboration.