In 2016 I wrote the blog ‘Monetizing Being a Public Servant‘ which looked at the question, ‘what do you do after your retire from the public service?‘. That blog was an individual’s perspective of what to do post-retirement. This blog takes a slightly different view in that it asks: ‘should society more actively engaged retired public servants through an alumni function?‘
What exactly does government do? No, this is not the start of a Libertarian rant, this is a question of what are some of the big building blocks of a modern government as it pertains to education. My first pass suggests that there are eight, as listed below. It will be interesting to do some research on each of the blocks in sequence and see if I missed any or included too much in my first pass.
By way of clarity, this is not a discussion about the philosophy of government, the degree the state should interfere in the economy or the affairs of its citizens or the programs it should (not) provide. Also, this focuses exclusively on education although I consider education starting at birth and ending with working. In addition, there is a continuous exit and entry process. A high school student gets their first job or a middle-age person is laid off and returns to school for re-training. To this end, I am proposing that there are 8 core functions or enablers of education:
Each of the above functions transcend the Education government-function and are found more or less through out the rest of government. Conversely, there are functions that are absent or implied in the above list that are more prominent in other areas of government. For example, taxation exists in the Education function, at least in Canada, through property assessments. However, I will de-emphasize this function mostly because other areas of government perform these tasks on behalf of education (e.g. a ministry of finance).
As a straw dog and 50,000-foot view, what do you think? Have I missed a function noting the focus on education or would you remove an element? Next stop on the school bus, curriculum.
Two previous blogs* about the Experience-database (Ex-db) discussed how individuals use this tool to track what they have done to respond to job ads or consulting opportunities. Can the value be increased with the employer being part of the tracking effort? For organizations thinking of implementing a talent management tool, creating an interim one based on this thought-exercise can be a useful proof of concept in understanding what information and processes are useful before buying.
Continue readingDiscusses utilizing the Experience Database (Ex-db) to record and analyze experiences. It guides users on populating four key tables with their information and introduces job application statuses. Users can generate reports to compare their capabilities with job requirements, enhancing their resume and job application process.
Continue readingI am 50-[COUGH] years old meaning that I have been working since the 80’s or about 30+ years. If you are like me, remembering what you had for breakfast is challenging enough as compared to what you were working on years ago.
Continue readingIt is important to periodically stop and reflect on accomplishments and the Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA) of Alberta do this through their achievement awards.
Continue readingNext January I am off to a new gig, it is back with the Alberta Public Service. In December I will be leaving the Vienna Based International Organization (VBIO) I am currently work for. It has been a good/strange/learning ride and have met some great people and have had a few successes – but time to get back to reality (and my pridwife, shoveling snow, etc.).
One of the upsides of starting a new role is that you get to leave your baggage behind and start afresh. Ideally you take what you have learned from your past mistakes and ask yourself how you can be a better person, employee and boss. The following is in my spirit of my ‘Phrankisms‘, homage to Steven Covey and also a (non) secret plan of how I hope to carry myself into my new role in a few months.
Ideally you should know the shark tank you are easing yourself into wearing your brand new (metaphoric, I hope) Speedo on your first day. A word to the wise, work communities are surprisingly small. I have been in about 6 separate work-eco-systems (Health, ERP Implementations, Consulting, NATO, Vienna and the Government of Alberta). In all cases, the community members had a high degree of connection – even before social media tools such as LinkedIn. When you are a young pup the pool is large; as you take on more senior roles the shark tank gets smaller.
What does this mean? One’s brand becomes more important and it becomes increasingly more difficult to shed a ‘poor-brand’ within a given Shark Tank. I don’t have a specific set of actions for my new gig other than to carry a simple awareness that brand matters and don’t be surprised who has heard of you from obscure corners.
My New Gig Desired Brand (and my LinkedIn Summary): Accomplished Professional Accountant with proven success in corporate budgeting/reporting, strategic planning, system implementations, process improvement, internal controls, contracting and organizational change. Specialties: Budgeting, Strategic Planning, Process Design and Improvement.
We have all sat in marathon mission statement drafting sessions in which the merits of a definite versus indefinite articles are discussed ad nauseam. This is something I discussed in a risk management context: Purpose: Why Does the Organization Exist, what are its objectives?.
Is there a consistent and wide spread understanding of what the organization does? Widespread is both top-down and inside-out.‘
Whether or not an organization has a purpose, the unit a person is working for should have a reason to exist. In my chosen profession, finance and accounting, we are ultimately in the business of client service. Certainly we need to consider risk, controls and compliance – but ultimately we are there to make the rest of the organization successful.
My New Gig Leadership Maxim: I will take pride in the work I am doing. I will seek to improve the craftsmanship and quality of the product or service of my team’s efforts to help the rest of the organization be successful.
Leadership varies by circumstances and individuals. There are a few individuals who are larger than life and leadership comes naturally to them. For most, it is a skill and behaviours to be learned – and that is the good news! Good leadership is not innate and can be practiced and improved upon. Have you ever heard of the leadership boat metaphor? ‘There are some who need to row the boat and a few who need to steer it‘ (2×2 courtesy of Governance Today).
Courtesy of Governance Today.
I would suggest the maximum can be expanded a wee bit to be more complete:
My New Gig Leadership Maxim: ‘Leadership is recognizing that a large group of rowers must be well led by a smaller group who steer. These two groups are in turn shoved into the water by fewer individuals who can provide a general direction of where to take the boat and then who must trust the rowers strength and the skill of those who will steer‘.
Now that we all have our places in the boat and ready to start rowing or steering or shoving, now onto my next reminder: Shut Up and Listen. Steven Covey said this more eloquently in his fifth habit (of Seven): Seek first to understand and then be understood.
There is an inverse relationship between one’s seniority and the amount one should talk. Of course it is hard not to talk, the more senior you are the more reverently people file into the meeting room, eyes diverted waiting for a divine message. However, unless you can process tap-water into a nice Merlot, you had better be listening:
My New Gig Leadership Maxim: The person who talks the least and softest is often listened to the hardest.
If necessary, after asking a question, I will silently count to a number (e.g. 30, 60, etc.) before saying anything else. Silence is okay and it allows people to respond in a more intelligent fashion.
As an extension of the above, it is easy to use email as a form of conversation. As a result, sending an email at 9PM on a work night or early Sunday AM may seem nothing more than ‘chatting’. However, the more senior one becomes the less latitude you have to send emails out of all hours. Your staff will wonder if they should respond and wonder if is it an expectation that they be available and online during these periods?
The reality is that unless there is a baby dying or building burning to the ground, almost nothing requires an immediate response. Also, the last person to join the email conversation often has the greatest impact on the conversation (see the above for more on this).
My New Gig Leadership Maxim: Email belongs in work hours; use delay send and other functions to keep it there. Alternatively let emails stew in the draft folder. If the email is complex or controversial, send it after going for a walk or a good night’s sleep.
I will make better use of messenger like tools (e.g. Lync/Skype) for informal communication rather than email. A messenger tool allows me to ask discrete question without the implied formality of an email – better still; a messenger tool means that email is seen as more formal and therefore has more impact. To this end, I will also try to start each email with Thank You and Great Work and then the email content. Of course walking over to the person or telephoning them builds even better person connections.
‘Walking the Ship before the Battle’, ‘Management by Walking Around’ or ‘Eat One Lunch a Week in the Staff Cafeteria’. These are all examples of the importance of moving beyond formal positional authority and building casual informal contact with both direct reports and the organization in general.
By being visible at least once per day, creates a human connection which builds trust and a shared sense of community. By having lunch in the cafeteria you are building on a very strong human connection between food and community.
My New Gig Leadership Maxim: Strive to say good morning to my staff and try to physically visit other staff at least once per week in an informal setting (e.g. popping in, saying hello, a coffee, walk, etc.). Visit to listen, visit to understand but don’t commit – that requires a formal setting‘.
Humans are hard-wired to seek out community and affiliation. If the work environment is not providing this environment then the humans will create their own affiliation and management will have no control over its direction, values or purpose.
This human foundation is based on realistically aligning the somewhat immutable organizational objectives to the honourable personal objectives of the staff. This alignment is based on trust; the staff must believe that the leader has their individual and collective backs. This does not reduce personal accountability or responsibility – but it does mean that when they honourably screw up you won’t throw them under the bus.
A side benefit of building the trust and community is receiving ‘organizational-intelligence‘ from your staff about the organization. As with all information though, never believe/react to information blindly, trust your sources but verify before you act.
My New Gig Leadership Maxim: I will create a client service focused organization that people are proud to be a part of. I will help people understand the larger organizational objectives so they can align their personal objectives to them.
Related to this, I will set up periodic team and 1:1 meetings with my staff. These are the most important meetings in my calendar and protect them accordingly.
I will set up a method to track our operational and project work to not only make people accountable but also so they have a tool to prioritize their work and in due course remember the good work they did for when they go on to their next gig.
While leaders and managers are expected to have vision of what the organization should be and where it should go, the best vision is one that is collectively formed rather than a messiah-like-prophecy. Invite others to contribute to the vision by not starting off with the position of ‘do it this way’. Participation leadership increases group cohesion and helps to teach leadership. To be clear, accountability remains with the leader and in a few instances a ‘GO DO IT‘ mantra is needed.
My New Gig Leadership Maxim: ‘I will strive to ask for input and recommendations before making significant decisions. I will make it clear that their contributions does not reduce my accountability but it does increase my team’s participation in the decision and helps them learn decision making‘.
Strategic indifference means picking your battles and recognizing the principle of Control, Influence and Affect – CIA. You are not going to win all or even most of your battles so get over it. Steven Covey discussed this in Habit 3: Put First Things First Manage your life according to your needs and priorities. Spend time doing what fits into your personal mission, observing the proper balance between your production and building your production capacity.
My New Gig Leadership Maxim: I will seek to pick my battles carefully applying my team’s limited resources to the highest priority operational and project work. Having said this, it is my expectation that my team constantly becomes more efficient and effective so as to absorb higher work loads with static resources.
Bonus! Some bonus questions to ask as you receive information:
That is quite a list and I already know that I will have varying levels of success. Once again, the upside of starting a new role is the ability to become a better person, leader, manager and mentor to my staff. Wish me luck and I will let you know when I start the NEXT gig as to how this one fared.
Sitting in my new office, in a new city, on a new continent in a different country than usual; a staff member asked me: ‘Why Are You Here?’. A seemingly innocuous question that took me aback for a response.
For those who faithfully follow my blogs (hey, it could happen), you will know that I snowshoe, cycle, hike, blog and generally hang out in north-central Alberta (aka the Edmonton area). This past week has not been a normal one as I finished work with the Government of Alberta on Friday, hopped on a plane Saturday, landed in Vienna Austria on Sunday and started with an international organisation on Monday, whew.
The role? I am the Deputy Director of an international organization. Lots more on the organization in coming blogs, but for now, Why am I Here?
Over the past two months, it has been a whirlwind both in Alberta and finalizing this sojourn to Central Europe. So whirlwindy that time for simple questions such as Why Are You Here had barely time to be answered… until now…
To start, I believe in managed serendipity. Take a read of the blog from a few years ago, but one theme of this life-philosophy is: a) answer the door when opportunity knocks, and, b) opportunity usually knocks when you are in the bath tub. In other words, opportunity is seldom convenient.
The next reason to be here is that I just spent 3.75 years in a very good gig at the Government of Alberta within the Ministry of Advanced Education as the controller for a large IT shop. A good gig is not the same thing as an easy one; nevertheless, I look back at the body of work my team accomplished with pride.
But, all good things must come to an end and the government has chosen to change how it delivers IT services toward a much more centralized model. I really do wish the government the very best as it seeks to consolidate this critical function. I have my own views on the merits of making things bigger but that is no longer my business. Suffice it to say, when the music stopped I was left without a chair and was just as happy to be left standing.
The intention is to return to the government. I am a few years away from my first retirement number so my preference is to at least arrive at that number and then see how the world looks. I enjoy being a member of the Alberta Public Service but sometimes it is important to take a vacation from yourself.
Finally the last but not least reason is because Vienna is a cool city and the organization does important work. I think there will be lots to learn and I look forward to cycling, walking and exploring this part of the world.
Of course nothing is ever free. The costs include the time and space from family, friends and familiar circumstances. There is also always a risk of taking a risk. Although I am guaranteed a job upon my return what it will be is an uncertainty. Living in a city in which you feel like you are 3-year-old language wise is always humbling (my goal is to speak ‘not-bad’ very-bad German in six months).
So that is why I am here, to scare myself a bit, to contribute to a larger civil society via the organization and to learn/hone my professional skills in a different context so I can return to the Government of Alberta refreshed, retrained and refocused.
Wish me luck and look for more on Vienna, the organization and new adventures.
As an accountant, I am both proud and obligated to report my Continuous Professional Learning and Development (PD). The following are my calendar year 2017 activities which total more than 300 hours (which does not included are some of my social activities such as cycling and snowshoeing). I have no problem making these as a public declaration given that accountants serve the public. Within the comments field I will include the learnings, whether it is verifiable or not (e.g. I have a bit of paper to prove that I was there).
| Date | Event | Time (Hours) | Comments |
| 2017 | Awards and Nominations | 20 | Member of CPA Alberta awards and nominations committee. This included attending meetings (~10 hours), reviewing and managing submissions (~20 hours) and developing future plans to improve public sector participation (see the blog series of the same topic). |
| 2017 | FMI – Disruptive Writers | 100 | Although I am only claiming 100 hours, this was actually about 200 hours of effort. Nevertheless, some great learnings from this event including:
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| Sep 19 | FMI – Lost Dutchman’s Mine | 3 | Attended and supported its promotion and planning. |
| July/ Aug | Attended and participated in the GoA ERP planning sessions | 5+ days for ~10 hours | – Learned best practices of supply chain management. – Participated in planning sessions for the GoA. improved facilitation methods. |
| Jun 22 | Forrester Briefing – Digital Transformation: Charting a Digital Strategy in the Age of the Citizen | 2 | Breakfast meeting with the topic of:Technology has mobilized citizens with information and access power they’ve never had before. That changing expectation compels government agencies and organizations to transform to meet their needs. Attendees will: – Master digital’s new rules. – Learn how to differentiation through digital innovation. – Identify the technologies to transform your digital experiences and operations. |
| Jun 6 | FMI Planning Session | 2 | Facilitated a planning session to establish the next year’s programming for the Edmonton Chapter. |
| May 17 | GoA: Management Engagement Sessions | 2 | Facilitated session on employee engagement, management’s role and the GoA employee engagement program. |
| May 17 | FMI: Building a Healthy Workplace | 120 |
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| Apr 12 | Public Institution Cyber Security Protocols Working Group Session | 6 | Facilitated and attended this work session between the Ministry of Advanced Education and Alberta’s post secondary institutions. Focus was on how to harden cyber security. |
| Mar 30 | CPA Alberta – Get Connected 2017 | 2 | Attendance at the CPA Mixer between employers and new and existing CPAs. |
| Feb 26 | Public Sector Certificate Level 1 | 40 | For my thoughts on this program see my blog of the same name. |
| Feb 14 | First Look at Microsoft Dynamics 365 | 2 | Presentation by Sierra Systems providing an overview of Dynamics 365 technology. Held at the Glenora Club. |
| Feb 9 | The Alberta Economy – Between a Budget and a Hard Place | 10 |
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| Jan 31 | People Leader Community Network – Info Session | 1 |
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| Jan 24 | Field trip to Treasury Board and Finance | 2 |
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| Jan 18 | Blockchain Innovation Session #2 | 2 | The role of block chain currently and in the future within the public service. Presentations by PwC and current users. |
| 322 | Total Hours |
I find myself on the Chartered Professional Accountants Awards Nomination committee. We are responsible for identifying individuals who are eligible to receive one of the following awards:
Organizational Biology 