Spring 2023 // Canadian Government Executive / 21 MIDDLE MANAGEMENT vices, and means of operating. Eight leading examples are featured in the accompanying table. Lessons for managers Innovative institutions continuously assess their capacity to handle tasks and access alternative sources of expertise. Many need to strengthen policy capacity, as well as to develop new skills in managing people, contracts, technology, finances, and risk. They use a combination of in-house experts and external consultants. Regardless of resource mix, transfer of knowledge must happen throughout the process to support capacity building, customized solutions, and selfmanaged projects. Hubs, labs, and nudge units offer cuttingedge lessons. Since government transfers the majority of spending to third parties, it is worth getting to know the levers for engaging entities in the broader public sector. Managers should beg, borrow, and steal to forge strategic relationships but should also be wary of prolonging connections beyond their useful life. Public managers can expand expertise via horizontal designs and modern human resource strategies by: • Promoting nimble, agile, and adaptable skill sets in response to constant change; • Investing in capacities that improve public governance, policy, and reform; • Targeting job-related expertise for impactful development; • Pinpointing gaps in workforce capabilities using data and evidence; • Attracting competencies that enhance the value proposition and market segmentation; • Nurturing a learning culture for continuous public service renewal; and • Engaging employee expertise in opportunities that drive change. John Wilkins is a Teaching Practitioner with the School Of Public Policy and Administration at York University. He was a Career Senior Public Servant and Diplomat. (wilkins@yorku.ca) Canada: Central Innovation Hub Canada: MaRS Solutions Lab Denmark: MindLab United Kingdom: Behavioural Innovation Team United Kingdom: Policy Lab United Kingdom: Warwick Policy Lab United States: NYU Wagner Innovation Labs United States: Public Policy Lab Public sector innovation Social/policy innovation Public/social innovation Nudging Open government Policy innovation Social/policy innovation Social/policy innovation Federal government departments, other innovation units Government/ private actors, non-government organizations, foundations Danish government departments, other jurisdictions Government Government Academia, knowledge organizations Government, academia, private partners Government actors Behavioural/nudge economics, big data, social innovation Co-production, co-operation Quality/ethnography/ anthropology methods, design methods (e.g., rapid prototyping, experimentation, humancentred design, testing) Nudging Practical end-user/ customer experience focus, prototyping, design Academic knowledge Connecting scholars, thinkers, and practitioners Co-production, co-development COUNTRY: UNIT FUNCTION PARTNERS TOOLS Source: Kathy Brock, Bryan Evans & Andrea Migone (2016): There is method to this madness: public service innovation as methodology; Appendix 1 – Innovation Units; 26.
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