The demise of the bureaucrats in a time of cut backs
A little while ago I was in the capital for work with a couple of colleagues. We're also female, good friends, fit, healthy and high achievers, so we planned to go out for dinner. The banter on the way to the restaurant was typical, and despite an arrange of life challenges we were in high spirits. Walking towards our destination I sighted a lesser spotted bureaucrat I had previously worked with. I say lesser spotted because over the last five years or so this group, especially in the capital has been being culled (made redundant). I told my colleagues to walk on, and took the time to reacquaint myself with this ex colleague. Now it's a conundrum for me because I actually think a reduction in bureaucrats was necessary and has been beneficial. Specifically, a significant amount of clearly irrelevant work has ceased and improvements have been made in operating models. Yet, the bureaucrat I came across looking slovenly and unloved, commented how infuriating he had found the project we worked on due to the lack of vision to improve. On the other hand I had found his contribution frustrating due to his lack of appreciation for the complexity of the sector of the project, meaning his bureaucratic approach would have been a disaster. He failed to recognise that the team, whilst not always aligned, had the future of the sector in mind and a commitment that past errors would not be repeated. I guess that's the difference between a bureaucrat and a sector champion. I guess a challenge is how to transform bureaucrats to champions, because we need their knowledge but we need to engage them fully in their work. It was a depressing conversation all round, and I was glad to join my colleagues for tapas and engage in more inspiring conversation about the challenges of progress and development in the public sector. I'll continue to look for the lesser spotted bureaucrat and try not to walk on by.