Vision
At ThePublicOffice we are driven by a desire to see better life outcomes for citizens. We believe improving people’s lives is not something that should be done to or for people, hence our name: we are the PUBLIC office. We work with organisations that want to review what they do and how they do it, who want to be inspired by the art of the possible, and who understand that citizens themselves have a critical role to play.
Principles
We are committed to helping organisations (or groups of organisations) to learn to do things themselves. We don’t want to run interesting little ‘projects’; our ambition is always to create systemic change. So we work to embed expertise within the system, to help colleagues learn how to do things differently themselves. Central to the way we work, therefore, is learning: making explicit what is going on, helping people reflect on their own data, beliefs, processes and practice, and building the capability to operate in new and more effective ways. Honest, reflective conversations are a big part of this.
Practicalities
- designers (strategic, service and social)
- producers (people who can translate , build relationships, steward ideas and people)
- researchers (harnessing user insights, context setting and problem framing)
- documenters (creating adaptive and context-specific tools, and light-touch ways to gather learning across the work)
- people who understand how existing systems work (deploying policy knowledge and cultural sensibilities)
- communications and “movement building” experts.
“The committed person brings an energy, passion, and excitement that cannot be generated if you are only compliant, even genuinely compliant. The committed person doesn’t play by the ‘rules of the game.’ He is responsible for the game. If the rules of the game stand in the way of achieving the vision, he will find ways to change the rules. A group of people truly committed to a common vision is an awesome force. They can accomplish the seemingly impossible.” Peter M. Senge
