Defintely worth a listen - Robert Sutton is an insightful observer and commentator on organisational issues, and is the author of the A.R.S.E (Asshole Rating Self-Exam) test.

 

His observations on the significant and disproportionate negative impact of "jerk" behaviour on organisational performance have direct relevance for the APS and public sector organisations generally.

 

ABC RN Background Briefing…

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The APS SOS survey addresses the question of whether or not the APS is ready for the future, but does it in a way that doesn't elicit a definitive response.



The question I regularly ask my colleagues and contacts in and around the APS (at SES, EL and APS levels) is:



"Do you believe the APS is capable of effectively addressing the policy tasks of the next decade in its current mode of operation?"



The consistent answer, generally delivered without hesitation, is "NO".… Continue

A copy of my submission to the Reform of Australian Government Administration (Moran) Review is attached for information.



DGJ submission to RAGA v1.0.pdf



It proposes the establishment of a One-APS Capability Improvement Program (CIP) that would establish a consistent and coordinated approach to the direction,… Continue

This apocryphal quote from Albert Einstein is a nice way of stating Stafford Beer's cybernetic proposition that real systemic change can only be effected at the metasystem level - not within individual system 'boxes'.

There's been a convenient myth for a very long time that public sector productivity is difficult to measure, and that public service productivity can't be usefully measured. Hand-in-hand with this has been the proposition that the modern APS is now 'very efficient', with the implication that any future efficiency gains can only be marginal.



Over the last five years I have come to the firm conclusion that:



- public sector and public service productivity CAN be measured, and… Continue

If you don't learn anything else this month, find out about Ashby's Law of Requisite Variety. When you understand this the world will look very different.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ross_Ashby

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ross_Ashby#Variety



It's all… Continue

I strongly recommend the following two books:



Tony Judt "Ill Fares the Land" (Penguin, February 2010) - an excellent critique of what happened to social democracy in the last 30 years, and the problem with inequality.



http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/apr/29/ill-fares-the-land/…



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