Public service craft is a specific set of skills built around principles embedded in a system. How people take that in and practice it can look very different. Developing a training model that embraces curiosity and openness but that also has a streak of pragmatism around the things that public servants need to get their job done is definitely something to work towards, and extending an invitation for people to curate that experience for their own career rather than just a checklist to cross off could be very powerful in the future. Listen in as Kate Driver, CEO of IPAA ACT and co-founder and board member of the CoRE Learning Foundation, explains this further.
In this frequently asked question, Kate Driver, CEO of IPAA ACT and co-founder and board member of the CoRE Learning Foundation, talks through interesting past research from the Foundation for Young Australian’s research into what employers were looking for in terms of skills of the workforce today, as well as some interesting new insights coming out of the Crawford School of Public Policy around what it means to show up to work with empathy and humility. Many different skills are needed in the public sector now and in the future. Organisations that embrace the diversity of skills and do not privilege one over the other stand to benefit the most.
List of resources referenced in this FAQ:
Foundation for Young Australians research - Our Reports: The New Work Order Series - FYA
Crawford School of Public Policy |
Dr Laurie Santos, Yale University - The Science of Well-Being | Yale Online
Dr Angela Duckworth - https://angeladuckworth.com/
Kate Driver, CEO of IPAA ACT and co-founder and board member of the CoRE Learning Foundation, talks about the importance of thinking about the impact you are trying to achieve in this frequently asked question. Kate talks about how valuing diversity and the impact of what you are doing, not necessarily how you get there, can help to start opening up a different culture that speaks to different interests and focuses, and by grounding these conversations in respect and curiosity, you can begin to shape it differently.
Kate Driver, CEO of IPAA ACT and co-founder and board member of the CoRE Learning Foundation, provides an analogy to differentiate between the impact of something versus the outcome. The impact is something that goes beyond what you can't often predict and control, and it can make a significant difference to the way you think about the outcome you're trying to deliver versus the impact you're trying to create.
Kate Driver, CEO of IPAA ACT and co-founder and board member of the CoRE Learning Foundation, talks us through her past experiences working at cultural institutions where it was often difficult to articulate the exact outcome of investing in inspiring students on their school excursions, but when they looked at the potential impact to students in their lifetime, it created an environment where curiosity was valued, art and expression were valued and imagining things differently was equally valued as some of the curriculum that they were studying. Even though it may seem like 'nailing a bit of jelly to the wall,' there is still enormous value in inspiration.