It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, … it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, … the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, … in the superlative degree of comparison only. ‒ CHARLES DICKENS (1859): A TALE OF TWO CITIES
The audacity to hope believes that the best is yet to come. First, we ask: Why me? Why now? Why this? Then, hope moves us forward, energizes the present, lightens the darkness, and increases faith. It is infectious, healing, and practical. It purifies, defends, and stabilizes during life’s storms. Hope gives us the providence and strength to overcome difficulties and hardships.
At the 2004 Democratic National Convention, a pre-presidential Barack Obama opined:
“Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope? I’m not talking about blind optimism here—the almost wilful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don’t talk about it, or the health care crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it. No, I’m talking about something more substantial. It’s the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker’s son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too. Hope in the face of difficulty. Hope in the face of uncertainty. The audacity of hope!”
Expectation
The conventional view is that hope is built on uncertainty. It is the common desire for something good in the future. The thing in the future we desire offers reason why our hope might come to pass.
An alternative view is that hope is built on faith. There is confidence and moral certitude that something good will happen. Hope is about expectation. We watch and wait with expectation for help or the resolve to change things.
Expectation manifests itself in the fundamentals of public management:
- Integrity – the presence of pressure produces hope;
- Innovation – the process of pressure produces hope; and
- Accountability – the promise after pressure produces hope.
Community
Hope is collective, as well as individual. By example, the African cultural concept of Ubuntu is a metaphor for hope in a communal setting. Hope multiplies among people and roots itself in community. African paremiology applies indigenous knowledge to public governance.
Ubuntu is a Nguni Bantu word meaning humanity. It is often translated as “I am because we are” or “humanity towards others”. It is used in a more philosophical sense to mean “the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity”.
Ubuntuism is a hopeful philosophy, ethic, and ideology that spread during the transition of African countries to majority rule. It became more widely known following South Africa’s post-apartheid rise to democracy in 1994 under Nelson Mandela. It was popularized with English-language people through the Ubuntu theology of Desmond Tutu. Ubuntu was a formative influence on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission chaired by Bishop Tutu. It imbued good governance with humanity.
Good practice
Hope floats the boat called “good practice”. The search for excellence in public administration features innovations in management practice that aim for integrity in performance and accountability for results. It distinguishes between good, better, and best to pinpoint SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, timely) practices. Benchmarking seeks to answer the W5 question of public management—What works well, where, and why?
The upcoming series on this page begins with an overview of the theory and practice in public sector reform. Then, the tale of the tape is told in ten lessons learned about international good practices:
- Respect setting, context, and culture
- Align vision, policy, and strategy
- Champion leadership development
- Build teamwork as virtual organizations
- Build capacity as centres of expertise
- Build relationships as communities of practice
- Model intrapreneurship in innovation
- Strengthen accountability for results
- Institutionalize recognition and rewards
- Cascade whole-of-government innovations.
