The Social Progress Index for 2018, shows that Australia slipped from 6th (Tier 1) to 15th (Tier 2) place between 2017 and 2018. Our lowest component scores were for: Inclusiveness Access to Advanced Education Health and Wellness Personal Freedom and Choice Environmental Quality Australia’s highest component scores related to: Nutrition and Basic Medical Care Water… Continue reading Social progress – we must do better
Hearts and minds in public policy
The importance of restoring regard for kindness alongside hard-headed analysis in public policy deliberations is highlighted in the new Carnegie UK Trust report Kindness, emotions and human relationships: The blind spot in public policy. The report argues “that the great public policy challenges of our time demand an approach that is more centred on relationships;… Continue reading Hearts and minds in public policy
(Shadow) values dictate behaviour
For an insight into how we can all trick ourselves into saying one thing and doing another, The Ethics Centre report on their review of Cricket Australia’s culture is a valuable resource. Peter Drucker’s observation that ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’ has been acknowledged as a fundamental truth for many years, and yet we continue… Continue reading (Shadow) values dictate behaviour
Improving board deliberations
In my view, the quality of board decision-making is usually determined less by the time invested in an issue at the board table than the time spent before the meeting considering what points should be made and questions raised in the deliberations. I recently updated my Director’s Deliberative Checklist for a client, and thought I… Continue reading Improving board deliberations
Meanwhile, back in the real world …
While Environment Minister Melissa Price was suggesting that the IPCC climate change report was ‘drawing a long bow’ to recommend phasing out coal in favour of low-carbon energy sources, businesses, insurers, lawyers, accountants, peak bodies, and even Government regulators have all been getting on with the job – both here and internationally. In their December… Continue reading Meanwhile, back in the real world …
Climate change and the Minister’s ‘long bow’
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report which has gained so much attention over the last couple of days, was met with a soft response by Environment Minister Melissa Price, which may not be all that surprising given her voting record on climate issues. Bob Ward’s Opinion piece in The Guardian notes that “the dangers if governments ignore efforts… Continue reading Climate change and the Minister’s ‘long bow’
Criteria for a Public Policy Business Case
In my previous post about a research project, in which two think tanks with decidedly different heritage and focus were invited to assess the same 20 policy initiatives using a common set of criteria (effectively a draft evidence-based policy standard), I mentioned that those criteria had been developed by Prof Kenneth Wiltshire AO, and previously… Continue reading Criteria for a Public Policy Business Case
Improving trust in public policy
The newDemocracy Foundation’s efforts ‘to improve public trust in how we take public decisions’ include a research project which sought to discover whether a meaningful, widely-accepted standard for evidence-based policy making might be achievable. They did this by asking two think-tanks known to have very different views to ‘stress test’ 20 major policies and see… Continue reading Improving trust in public policy
The 7th and 8th thinking hats
The ‘six thinking hats’ promoted by Dr Edward deBono will be familiar to most people, along with the concept that governing boards should make use of these to explore the full range of perspectives when making significant strategic or policy decisions. This post suggests that some other thinking hats may warrant consideration, but first let’s… Continue reading The 7th and 8th thinking hats
Governance for Grown-ups
As long as a story involves magical beings, hidden treasures and/or an heroic journey, children are rapt and fully engaged. As soon as a storyteller shifts the focus to moral instruction, their eyes glaze over and they seek other engagements. The rewards of work and responsibility are not generally appreciated, and the benefits of building… Continue reading Governance for Grown-ups