December 10th, 2021
In the spirit of transparency and candour, Kevin and Jill publish weeknotes reflecting on the what and why for their team.
Kevin's notes
And with that, our 28 week streak came to end; you may have noticed, we finally missed a weeknotes last Friday. This is almost exclusively due to me moving houses, an excuse I think is more than fair. Nonetheless I do have some lingering regret, and I hope you, our faithful reader, will forgive us.
So what have I been up to? The converging premonitions of March madness (govspeak for fiscal year budget throughput efforts) have an influence on all our focus areas as we look to plan and deliver strong over the next quarter. Let's do whirlwind tour of all the work in progress across my current collaborations.
Environmental Protection Division
Our current design discovery is set to report out before the holiday break, setting the stage for an expanded scope kicking off in the new year. Earlier this week, we participated in a co-creative staff opportunities workshop run by Disco, which provided an early look at the findings from the research. I was reminded of a critical component of delivering critical and challenging recommendations: always include the positive. It’s tough work being frontline in the public sector, and folks deserve to hear what they’re doing well, so much of which often going unrecognized. I’m looking forward to our next scope of research kicking off in January, as to paraphrase a talented designer on the project, operating in this kind of domain is like flying a plane; you burn much of the fuel on takeoff, then it’s more efficient flying once you reach altitude.
BC Parks
Whew, really coming into the home stretch on an intersecting suite of initiatives. First, day use pass is launching next week, the first product/service that Parks will properly own and operate in-house. This is huge! Next up, after much delay and pause, the new bcparks.ca beta in late winter. Then, further delivery of revamped yet-to-be-revealed core services and the continued integration of these streams in to a coherent, accessible, highly usable experience for the public. It’s exciting times and now more than ever, the strategy is delivery.
CleanBC
A great week of alignment work as I look to really understand the breadth and depth of all public-facing content and services tagged with the brand. Big thanks to Elaine at CAS for the invaluable backgrounder pieces and for Meg and Kelsey (GDX) for driving the work with me. This is going to be very rewarding to focus on in 2022, high value climate action material for the public — it’s why I’m here!
Other things
Before it becomes the ancient past (meaning, more than two weeks ago), big thanks to the Public Sector Network for having Jill and I speak at their Innovation Show — British Columbia last week. Our talk was titled Innovators at Work: Partnering to Deliver Better Services and we had a blast running through good practice and emergent strategy for pushing novel process in our complex organizational environments. I feel like we had a good cadence and of course our materials were stellar, thanks to Harry. Jill and I make a good team for this kind of public speaking, hoping for more opportunities in 2022!
And in the spirit of the holidays I’ve been doing a lot of catching up in the network, with coffees (IRL and virtual) with mentors, mentees, old friends, new colleagues, and other folks in between. Relationships are the enabler and catalyst to so much of what we strive to accomplish in this zany game, and I’m grateful always to those who make the time to stay close.
Jill's notes
I am a tad burnt. I don't know about you, but the past two weeks (I know we took a hiatus) have been long. This whole year has been long. I'm incredibly proud of my team and the ministry staff writ large as they continue to battle unprecedented environmental emergencies.
If you know me, you've heard this, but I'm not a die-hard for any particular cause. I don't wake up in the morning seeking to solve climate emergencies (career-limiting move?) or redefine the fundamentals of health care. I'm not that focused. I do, however, wake up ready to fight for the people that have that drive. I live and breathe making those passions a reality. I love delivering the quick wins and orchestrating the multi-year transformation pathway to tackle those complex (sometimes wicked) problems fundamentally. And so, I find myself spread too thin, pushing on too many levels, being emotionally engaged in far too many meaningful, worthwhile, and important causes. A few highlights:
- CleanBC. I'm so excited to be working closely with the CleanBC initiative and starting to stitch together a cohesive approach to delivering services to the public. This is the stuff Kevin and I get fired up for. Public value, real evidence, forming a cross-ministry team. It's gold.
- Environmental Protection Division. We continue to push on two fronts. We're working towards delivering a business case to the Digital Investment Board in March (to be ready in Jan) and the actual business of doing the work. They are fundamentally different, and for a good reason. One, proving you have a valid rationale for funding, with clear evidence and the right level of commitment. Two, how do you hack the bureaucracy to get it done? How do you structure the team? How are people, experience, outcomes tied into the roadmap? I said today; it's not a plan; it's a roadmap. And they are different. I meant that. To me, a plan has to be followed. A roadmap signals intent and direction. It can and will change, but it's your best guess using all available info at the time.
- Application inventory. Yes, this again. We are finalizing it now. Sam from our crew has leaned in, and it reminds me how amazing he is synthesizing information, taking on new challenges, and delivering. Our IIT partners have leaned in. This is the push. We hope to provide initial insights next week.
- BC Parks Service Transformation. So much time spent with this crew of humans. We are churning. This is a challenging space, and in a short time, they will release their first fully managed and developed product to the world. Followed incrementally by many more. Exciting, nerve-wracking and challenging times ahead with the promise of some big rewards.
One of my amazing mentors recently shared with me a frank story of how a leader can shape the team's mindset. How a feeling at the top can be infectious. This week that reared its head. Sometimes it's necessary, and other times it's misguided. No matter what leadership role you are in, never forget that your team is looking up to you. Double so if you have influence, I always wondered why senior leaders sometimes felt closed off or deliberately kept core pieces from the team. It's not malicious (albeit occasionally misguided). It's a survival tactic. Sometimes it is about protecting the team from the whiplash of executive winds. It might even be a straight-up disagreement where the winds are coming from. But it can backfire too. When you can't find the balance, especially with high-powered resources, they can get lost. I have no silver bullet it’s just something to be aware of. Communication is key, it always solves those challenges. And so, I find myself finishing the week with a full day of impromptu chats. I can say with certainty: I know more, I’m better positioned, and it was worth it.
