October 22nd, 2021
In the spirit of transparency and candour, Kevin and Jill publish weeknotes reflecting on the what and why for their team.
Jill's Notes
Oh, sweet Friday! Thank you for showing up. The week was fast, slow, and jam-packed with some long hours. Top of mind this week was my leadership style and the stark realities of the echo chamber in my network (for good and evil).
Oh, the echo chamber
An intelligent colleague of mine (he knows who he is) reminded me politely that those who “get” the work we do in the digital space get it and provide a powerful echo chamber for our "great" ideas. That can be oh so validating and oh so limiting. Let's unpack that.
Context
We talked about a critical piece of implementing our digital strategy, how do we increase digital era leadership, skills and competencies. We are partnered with the Exchange, working with the Digital Academy, and well connected in the "who" is doing this across other jurisdictions (e.g. the GDS Academy, CSPS Digital Academy etc.). While we build these materials collaboratively and re-use where we can, we seem to be sourcing all our ideas and feedback from that very familiar group of insiders.
Problem
Right. I speak the language. I get the vision. I love this stuff. The operations lead in the Environmental Protection Division doesn't because they don't need to. Our executives have massive and complex issues to manage. Why should they prioritize digital era leadership and implementing a digital strategy? Why should they care? I am not the user. I shall repeat it over and over again.
So what?
First, it's always a good reminder to reconsider who you are delivering for, what they need, and why they need it. Second, we need to co-create this within a broader learning framework. A combination of quick wins and a thoughtful long-term curriculum. How might we openly crowdsource this work, given that many of my colleagues are doing this across government and beyond? And, create it with the real people we are supporting rather than reinforce internally how cool our slides look and great we are at presenting them. I say this humbly as someone who led another full-day Introduction to Digital Era Leadership course with her shiny deck, and candid overshares yesterday. This section is me admitting I'm part of the problem, and I intend to be part of the solution. I'm very excited to lean in and do this work with Ashley Dryburgh, a new addition to the Digital Academy team.
On leadership
I spent some time this week charting my career path and defining what and where I want to go. I was challenged to be bold and clear. I was also reminded that personal and family priorities are equally crucial in career choices. I know that sounds silly to write down, but we don’t often talk openly about those parts of our lives in professional conversations. Sometimes for good reasons and others not so much.
My reflection included a timely link that Harry shared with our team on the late Colin L. Powell's Thirteen Rules of Leadership from the U.S. State Department.
- It ain't as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning.
- Get mad, then get over it.
- Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.
- It can be done.
- Be careful what you choose. You may get it.
- Don't let adverse facts stand in the way of a good decision.
- You can't make someone else's choices. You shouldn't let someone else make yours.
- Check small things.
- Share credit.
- Remain calm. Be kind.
- Have a vision. Be demanding.
- Don't take counsel of your fears or naysayers.
- Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.
Make these your background, write them on your wall, and model them whenever you can.
Other weekly happenings
- Jeff Card invited me into senior solution architect interviews. As the only non-architect on the panel, I must admit I understood a generous half of the conversation. But those I connected with made me smile. It is truly a gift to be able to speak strategy, plain language, and architecture.
- I did a guest stint for the lovely humans at PSA who run Managing in the B.C. Public Service for their leading virtual collaboration module. Over 200 keen public servants on the call and, as always, some great new takeaways. My favourite one:
TOFU — Take Ownership Follow Up.
- We met with executive leadership in the Environmental Protection Division early this week to present our Service Design plan with our partners Jackie and Caitlin at Disco Innovation Studio. Later in the week, we took a deeper dive with a few meetings to streamline the direction. We have also confirmed an Architect and a B.A. to support rounding out a small but mighty team led by Kyle Murray. As a reflection, I am still finding the palpable tension between building a business case that gets approved & spending our time getting the intel to create a killer service. Shouldn't it be the same?
- Our newly re-named Digital and Service Transformation Committee (formally SIP) had an excellent presentation from Julie Chace on their latest initiative to modernize public engagement in the EAO. They are walking that path in partnership with our GDX colleagues and the Telus Strategic Initiatives Fund. It certainly sparked lots of debate, questions, and conversation. The IIT also provided an update on our finances and applications. It's a complex topic, and we need to know more. I've heard the same from others across government.
- We've had lots of progress in BC Parks and are deep in team formation and the odd growing pain. I'm very excited to (re)welcome Meherzad Romer to team [name to be determined formerly known as Falcon] as our senior scrum master. He comes just in time to represent the team's needs and support their growth as they come together.
That's it for this week, on to the weekend.
Kevin's Notes
Two workdays until not out of office— he is returning on October 27th, 2021, leaving Jill to continue to commit to ALL the work on his behalf, just kidding. Mostly.
