Canadian Government Executive - Volume 27 - Issue 02

March/April 2021 // Canadian Government Executive / 19 MILLENNIAL OUTLOOK good. If 2021 is to be a year of change, what star will guide the journey? New normal These troubling times are also rife with op- portunity. Millennials’ aspirations are cap- tured in watchwords like “the new normal”. Along the lines of Maslow’s Hierarchy, they revisit ascending new norms of survival, success, and significance as ways to live. Their issues and questions are about (1) Identity: Who am I?; (2) Importance: Do I matter?; and (3) Impact: What is my pur- pose? What is the “new normal”? Is it better, just different, a course correction, or still evolv- ing? A Chinese proverb offers perspective: “If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fish- ing. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a life- time, help somebody.” CGE again invited first-year candidates in the Master of Public Policy, Administration and Law at York University’s School of Pub- lic Policy and Administration to enlighten its readers. These young professionals and mid-career managers study remotely, on- line, weeknights, and weekends. Their hectic lifestyles balance studies, work, and family virtually. Eight out of ten are women. Public Management is the first course in their two-year postgraduate program. The final assignment is to select, research, and write an original article on a topic of in- terest. The purpose is to consolidate new learning, advance thought leadership, and practice creative writing. At the conclusion of the Fall 2020 term, 47 (2019 – 50) students authored articles. One- third (2019 – 7) survived voluntary, post- course rounds of review and editing to be published on the Millennial Outlook page. The thematic threads are summarized below. People issues are down but still front of mind in 40 per cent of the articles, 64 per cent when combined with the related Lead- ing theme. Policy issues are also down some- what across a range of inequities associated with children, disability, education, Indig- enous people, and privacy. The strategic upsurge in Technology displaces other the- matic considerations. Strong leadership un- derscores the priority on harnessing techno- logical innovation and harmonizing remote workplaces during the pandemic crisis. The implications of the COVID-19 con- text for the new People-Technology-Lead- ing trinity are evident in virtually all articles. Authors use key words like alone, anxious, digital, divisive, individual, inequitable, polarized, powerless, precarious, stressed, surviving, telecommuting, and virtual to describe the public sector environment. The “new normal” emerging in 2021 comes down to human synergies. The future of work in the public service samples a buffet of expectations: agility, change/risk management, collaboration, communication, community, digitization, empathy, engagement, inclusion, innova- tion, mental/physical health, motivation, privacy, productivity, purpose, recognition, remote/online delivery, resilience, satisfac- tion, security, shared values, teleworking, thriving, and workplace modernization. Student authors are at a crossroads in their learning journeys. By graduate school, they are expected to exhibit the character and competence to advance their thinking be- yond passive learning by replication to mas- ter applied analysis and original thought. This means eschewing Millennial anonym- ity and anxiety to exude the confidence to speak up and contribute selflessly to col- lective learning. They plan to practice what they preach and what they learn. Postscript A postscript on what to do while a new brand of hopeful public service is unfolding: keep the faith, stay ready, and be bold. Martin Lu- ther King, Junior put it this way: “Whatever your life’s work is, do it. A person should do ... [their] job so well that ... [others] could do it no better. If it falls to your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, like Shakespeare wrote poetry, like Beethoven composed music; sweep streets so well that all ... will have to pause and say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper, who swept his job well.’” John Wilkins is adjunct Faculty in Public Management at York Univer- sity. He was a career senior public servant and diplomat. (wilkins@ yorku.ca) GOVERNANCE: People Technology Policy Service Finance MANAGEMENT: Leading Planning Controlling Organizing 70% (33) 40% 17% 11% 2% 0% 24% 4% 2% 0% 19 8 5 1 0 30% (14) 11 2 1 0 72% (36) 46% 4% 16% 2% 4% 16% 4% 2% 6% 23 2 8 1 2 28% (14) 8 2 1 3 75% (39) 50% 10% 11% 2% 2% 10% 3% 6% 6% 26 5 6 1 1 25% (13) 5 2 3 3 THEMES 2020 ARTICLES ( n = 47) 2019 ARTICLES ( n = 50) 2018 ARTICLES ( n = 52) Source: GS/PPAL 6000 A & B 3.00 Public Management, Fall 2018/2019/2020, York University