Creative governance need not have to depend on original ideas. It can improve on an existing successful model.
Muhammad Yunus from Bangladesh pioneered the concept of microfinance through his Grameen Bank. He won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in 2006.
Matt and Jessica Flannery who heard Mohammed Yunus’s talk at their university were so inspired that they decided to do something. They started a community site called Kiva to match individual would-be lenders with poor entrepreneurs via the Internet. Lenders visit the Kiva website, read about the businesspeople asking for support, and then loan as little as $25 to anyone they choose. Like the Grameen Bank , Kiva helps people out of poverty but on an expanded global scale , leveraging on the enormous reach of the internet.
Kiva (the word is Swahili for "unity"), in San Francisco, deals with potential borrowers through its network non-governmental organizations who disburse it to the entrepreneurs. Those same NGOs screen the various applicants before their requests are posted on Kiva. They have the responsibility of identifying responsible entrepreneurs, disbursing the loan, collecting repayments and giving lenders periodic updates on how the business is going.
The money is eventually paid back to the NGOs, sent back to Kiva and returned to the lender. The lender can choose to withdraw the money or lend it to someone else.
The Kiva concept was given a tremendous boost when it was featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, the Today Show, and readers of former US President Bill Clinton's book Giving. This created a unique situation in charity where there was a shortage of businesses in need of loans!
Kiva's founders say their success is due in part to strategic partnerships with corporations like Google, Yahoo, YouTube, Starbucks, and PayPal and also to the dedication of its staff and volunteers.. They help reduce Kiva's cost of operations and help direct Internet users to the Kiva website.
Details of Kiva can be found in www.kiva.org.
Comments
For every success like Kiva, there must be hundreds of others which died a natural death due to lack of resources. The founders of Kiva were fortunate in that their friend and neighbor, Premal Shah, who was then an executive at the on-line payment company PayPal decided to join them.
It’s time for governments to practice Creative Governance by setting up a mechanism of support and funding to increase the chances of people like the Flannerys to succeed in their altruistic ambitions.
Talk on Creative Governance
Please email me at DrYKK@mindbloom.net if you want to invite me to present an illuminating one hour Talk on Creative Governance and thereafter to facilitate a session to help solve a prevailing public and social problem in the spirit of Creative Governance.
I would appreciate if you could share Creative Governance stories with me so that they could be featured here. Please forward your response and contributions to DrYKK@mindbloom.net
Monday, December 31, 2007
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Creative Governance through Social Sector Investment
I found US presidential candidate Barrack Obama’s call for social sector investment as a good example of Creative Public Governance.
According to Obama, while the federal government invests $7 billion in research and development for the private sector, there is no similar effort to support non-profit innovation. He promised that as President, he will launch a new Social Investment Fund Network. This Network will get the grass roots, the foundations, the private sector and the government at the table. It will invest in ideas that work; leverage private sector dollars to encourage innovation; and expand successful programs to scale. Obama will also launch a new Social Entrepreneur Agency to make sure that small non-profits have the same kind of support that the government gives to small businesses.
Among the specific projects that he has in mind are:
• Classroom Corps : College students, recent graduates and retirees mentor young people; engineers and scientists will help make sure the next generation of innovators is educated in America.
• Energy Corps : To free ourselves from energy dependence and to confront climate change, to work on renewable energy projects, to teach folks about conservation, to help clean up polluted areas and to send talented American engineers and scientists abroad to help developing countries promote low-carbon energy development.
• Peace Corps : Double the size by its 50th anniversary in 2011 to reach out to other nations to engage their young people in similar programs, so that we work side by side to take on the common challenges that confront all humanity.
• USA Freedom Corps : An online network where Americans can browse opportunities to volunteer. You’ll be able to search by category, time commitment, and skill sets; you’ll be able to rate service opportunities, build service networks, and create your own service pages to track your hours and activities.
• Social service for students: A goal for all American middle and high school students to perform 50 hours of service a year, and for all college students who perform 100 hours of service a year will be entitled ton annual American Opportunity Tax Credit of $4,000 to make tuition affordable.
In most developed and developing countries, there is a phenomenal growth in the non-profit sector. Many of them have pioneered social innovations that benefited the society immensely. More often than not the next great social innovation won’t be generated by the government but more likely by the non-profit sector. Investment in the non-profit social sector will create new opportunities for all its people to serve, and to direct that service to the most pressing national challenges.
To quote Obama: “We will create new opportunities for all Americans to serve, and to direct that service to our most pressing national challenges. … because when it comes to the challenges we face, the American people are not the problem – they are the answer.”
Talk on Creative Governance
Please email the blogger, Dr.YKK at DrYKK@mindbloom.net if you want to invite him to present an illuminating one hour Talk on Creative Governance and thereafter to facilitate a session to help solve a prevailing public and social problem in the spirit of Creative Governance.
According to Obama, while the federal government invests $7 billion in research and development for the private sector, there is no similar effort to support non-profit innovation. He promised that as President, he will launch a new Social Investment Fund Network. This Network will get the grass roots, the foundations, the private sector and the government at the table. It will invest in ideas that work; leverage private sector dollars to encourage innovation; and expand successful programs to scale. Obama will also launch a new Social Entrepreneur Agency to make sure that small non-profits have the same kind of support that the government gives to small businesses.
Among the specific projects that he has in mind are:
• Classroom Corps : College students, recent graduates and retirees mentor young people; engineers and scientists will help make sure the next generation of innovators is educated in America.
• Energy Corps : To free ourselves from energy dependence and to confront climate change, to work on renewable energy projects, to teach folks about conservation, to help clean up polluted areas and to send talented American engineers and scientists abroad to help developing countries promote low-carbon energy development.
• Peace Corps : Double the size by its 50th anniversary in 2011 to reach out to other nations to engage their young people in similar programs, so that we work side by side to take on the common challenges that confront all humanity.
• USA Freedom Corps : An online network where Americans can browse opportunities to volunteer. You’ll be able to search by category, time commitment, and skill sets; you’ll be able to rate service opportunities, build service networks, and create your own service pages to track your hours and activities.
• Social service for students: A goal for all American middle and high school students to perform 50 hours of service a year, and for all college students who perform 100 hours of service a year will be entitled ton annual American Opportunity Tax Credit of $4,000 to make tuition affordable.
In most developed and developing countries, there is a phenomenal growth in the non-profit sector. Many of them have pioneered social innovations that benefited the society immensely. More often than not the next great social innovation won’t be generated by the government but more likely by the non-profit sector. Investment in the non-profit social sector will create new opportunities for all its people to serve, and to direct that service to the most pressing national challenges.
To quote Obama: “We will create new opportunities for all Americans to serve, and to direct that service to our most pressing national challenges. … because when it comes to the challenges we face, the American people are not the problem – they are the answer.”
Talk on Creative Governance
Please email the blogger, Dr.YKK at DrYKK@mindbloom.net if you want to invite him to present an illuminating one hour Talk on Creative Governance and thereafter to facilitate a session to help solve a prevailing public and social problem in the spirit of Creative Governance.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Creative Governance through eGovernment
Introduction
One of the most effective ways for Creative Public Governance with the widest reach and possibly with the greatest impact is through eGovernment.
It is a priority in the European Union which defines it as the use of information and communication technology in public administrations combined with organisational change and new skills in order to improve public services and democratic processes and strengthen support to public policies. The potential of eGovernment goes far beyond the early achievements of online public services.
The European Union Approach
The EU has even established a website on Breaking Barriers to eGovernment (Ref:www.egovbarriers.org/). The Barriers to eGovernment project team has identified seven key categories of barriers that can block or constrain progress on eGovernment: leadership failures; financial inhibitors; digital divides; poor coordination; workplace and organizational inflexibility; lack of trust; and poor technical design. The project aims to collect further information about barriers relating to eGovernment from stakeholders.
The approaches for overcoming these barriers seek tto stimulate innovation at least four key categories:
1. Legislative solutions, where legislation at member state or EU level has been or can be developed to overcome barriers to eGovernment, such as, harmonisation or co-ordination problems, identified as a key obstacle to eGovernment progression.
2. Technological solutions that build on innovative designs and uses of new communication and information technologies and applications in Europe or around the world. Potential solutions include the use of social networking and community sites, for example, broadly defined as Web 2.0. Can such applications be harnessed by government in creative and useful ways?
3. Citizen-centric solutions are those focused on empowering the users of eGovernment, creating real incentives for the public to use eGovernment applications, for example by more effective segmentation of the public that enables strategies to be tailored for specific groups, or by innovative ways of interacting with intermediaries standing between citizens and governments.
4. Organizational solutions are changes that can be made within the culture or structure of organizations to facilitate eGovernment, for example, understanding and addressing resistance of those who have considerable organizational learning invested in off-line channels.
The Korean Government Approach
The Korean eGovernment initiatives have won a number of awards. They include:
• United Nations Public Service Award (UNPSA) for 2007 to Korea's Ministry of Justice for its immigration clearance service KISS (Korea Immigration Smart Service)
• e-Asia Award for its online Korea's Public Procurement Service (PPS) system at the 25th Asia Pacific Council for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (AFACT) held in Aug. 2007. PPS is the nation's largest online shopping mall for public organizations.
The success of the Korean model has attracted the interest of the China Government. China's State Council Information Office and the Korea's Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs signed a memorandum of understanding in the e-government sector in Feb. 2007 to explore the possibility of adopting the Korean model.
e-Government National Awards
The UK Government through its Cabinet Office created the world-wide e-Government National Awards 2007 (Ref: www.e-governmentawards.co.uk/ )with sponsorships from the private sector. The Awards recognise and praise the best in public sector ICT & e-Government - across local & central government, non-departmental public bodies, non-governmental organisations and other deliverers of e-government services.
Comment
The internet is playing an increasingly important role for the Government in the delivery of its services , interacting with the public and getting valuable feedback. It’s time that all Governments take and active interest in this and share their successful models to bring about a better world for their citizens.
The author, Kam Yew (Dr.YKK) is an international speaker, trainer and best-selling author on creativity. He is available for keynote speeches, in-house training and problem-solving & idea generation facilitation. He can be contacted at DrYKK@mindbloom.net
One of the most effective ways for Creative Public Governance with the widest reach and possibly with the greatest impact is through eGovernment.
It is a priority in the European Union which defines it as the use of information and communication technology in public administrations combined with organisational change and new skills in order to improve public services and democratic processes and strengthen support to public policies. The potential of eGovernment goes far beyond the early achievements of online public services.
The European Union Approach
The EU has even established a website on Breaking Barriers to eGovernment (Ref:www.egovbarriers.org/). The Barriers to eGovernment project team has identified seven key categories of barriers that can block or constrain progress on eGovernment: leadership failures; financial inhibitors; digital divides; poor coordination; workplace and organizational inflexibility; lack of trust; and poor technical design. The project aims to collect further information about barriers relating to eGovernment from stakeholders.
The approaches for overcoming these barriers seek tto stimulate innovation at least four key categories:
1. Legislative solutions, where legislation at member state or EU level has been or can be developed to overcome barriers to eGovernment, such as, harmonisation or co-ordination problems, identified as a key obstacle to eGovernment progression.
2. Technological solutions that build on innovative designs and uses of new communication and information technologies and applications in Europe or around the world. Potential solutions include the use of social networking and community sites, for example, broadly defined as Web 2.0. Can such applications be harnessed by government in creative and useful ways?
3. Citizen-centric solutions are those focused on empowering the users of eGovernment, creating real incentives for the public to use eGovernment applications, for example by more effective segmentation of the public that enables strategies to be tailored for specific groups, or by innovative ways of interacting with intermediaries standing between citizens and governments.
4. Organizational solutions are changes that can be made within the culture or structure of organizations to facilitate eGovernment, for example, understanding and addressing resistance of those who have considerable organizational learning invested in off-line channels.
The Korean Government Approach
The Korean eGovernment initiatives have won a number of awards. They include:
• United Nations Public Service Award (UNPSA) for 2007 to Korea's Ministry of Justice for its immigration clearance service KISS (Korea Immigration Smart Service)
• e-Asia Award for its online Korea's Public Procurement Service (PPS) system at the 25th Asia Pacific Council for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (AFACT) held in Aug. 2007. PPS is the nation's largest online shopping mall for public organizations.
The success of the Korean model has attracted the interest of the China Government. China's State Council Information Office and the Korea's Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs signed a memorandum of understanding in the e-government sector in Feb. 2007 to explore the possibility of adopting the Korean model.
e-Government National Awards
The UK Government through its Cabinet Office created the world-wide e-Government National Awards 2007 (Ref: www.e-governmentawards.co.uk/ )with sponsorships from the private sector. The Awards recognise and praise the best in public sector ICT & e-Government - across local & central government, non-departmental public bodies, non-governmental organisations and other deliverers of e-government services.
Comment
The internet is playing an increasingly important role for the Government in the delivery of its services , interacting with the public and getting valuable feedback. It’s time that all Governments take and active interest in this and share their successful models to bring about a better world for their citizens.
The author, Kam Yew (Dr.YKK) is an international speaker, trainer and best-selling author on creativity. He is available for keynote speeches, in-house training and problem-solving & idea generation facilitation. He can be contacted at DrYKK@mindbloom.net
Sunday, December 9, 2007
7 Progressions to Creative Governance
Introduction
Creative Public Governance requires the courage to use unconventional ideas for social change that brings tangible benefits to the people. Though not labeled as such, practically every country practices it in one form or another. However, by not having a common label, these creative practices are not publicized and therefore not shared to the world at large. The benefits are only restricted to the country or often to the small community where it operates.
My intention is that by coining the self-explanatory term of Creative Public Governance, these practices will be popularized and spread much more widely , ultimately spearheading a world-wide movement to create a better world for all of us.
Creative Public Governance need not be introduced officially by the government . In fact, it can be pioneered by an individual. The Nobel Peace Prize winner, Prof. Mohamad Yunus, for example developed the concept of micro-financing to help the poor. It has now permeated to many parts of the world even to advanced and developed countries.
I believe that in order to accelerate the diffusion of Creative Public Governance , a methodology is required. Based on my research and observations, I have developed the 7 Progressions to Creative Governance. I welcome your feedback.
The 7 Progressions to Creative Governance
1. Identifying the Core issue
2. Taking the Michelangelo approach
3. Searching globally for successful solutions
4. Innovating the wheel
5. Facilitating participative re-creation
6. Sensitizing, elaborating & winning acceptance
7. Recognizing & celebrating
1. Identifying the Core issue
Creative governance begins by asking questions to identify the core issue – identifying the cause and not just the symptoms. For example , if there is a drop in enrolment in science education , what is the underlying cause? Is it employability, teaching, facilities, perception, etc. We can do research on research that have been undertaken in this field as practically almost every issue has been researched before. Talk to the people on the ground who are the most affected. If necessary, do a confirmation research. The important thing to avoid is paralysis through analysis.
2. Taking the Michelangelo approach
The common approach is to start from where we are to where we want to go. A better way is that of Michelangelo approach where he visualized the image of David before he freed the figure by chipping away the unwanted pieces. Thus this approach involves starting from the destination and removing current obstacles that could obstruct its path.
3. Searching globally for successful solutions
Before trying new ideas, first do a search on whether a similar problem ahs been solved before. Sometimes the same or similar problem had already been solved in a small community within the same country itself. Many public innovations have been featured in magazines, papers and e-publications. Even unrelated creative solutions could trigger over practical innovations for public governance. This search will save a lot of time and reduces risk.
4. Innovating the wheel
Once successful solutions have been found, the next step is to adapt the solution to the issue at hand. This progression is termed “ Innovating the wheel” as there’s no need to re-invent a new solution when you can creatively imitate a proven workable successful solution. The creativity lies with the adaptation process.
5. Facilitating participative re-creation
This is an important step to get involvement of all stakeholders in formulating a solution. Their involvement will ensure their support for implementation and possible mitigate objections and protests. Moreover, it will cultivate a sense of ownership of the community.
6. Sensitizing, elaborating & winning acceptance
Progression 5 will only accommodate a limited number of interested stakeholders in the project. Prior to carrying out implementation, it is imperative to sensitize the involved the community on solution through the mass media or other forms of communication to let them know hat is coming. Then , it is followed by elaboration of the plans which could be politically and socially sensitive. Some people with vested interest could also be adversely affected.
7. Recognizing & celebrating
There’s nothing like recognition and celebration at both the launching and celebration of the project to motivate the community to support future projects. It will instill a sense of pride and ownership among members of the community, the government agencies concerned and the politicians who made the project possible.
The author, Kam Yew is an international speaker, trainer and best-selling author on creativity. He is available for keynote speeches, in-house training and problem-solving & idea generation facilitation. He can be contacted at DrYKK@mindbloom.net
Creative Public Governance requires the courage to use unconventional ideas for social change that brings tangible benefits to the people. Though not labeled as such, practically every country practices it in one form or another. However, by not having a common label, these creative practices are not publicized and therefore not shared to the world at large. The benefits are only restricted to the country or often to the small community where it operates.
My intention is that by coining the self-explanatory term of Creative Public Governance, these practices will be popularized and spread much more widely , ultimately spearheading a world-wide movement to create a better world for all of us.
Creative Public Governance need not be introduced officially by the government . In fact, it can be pioneered by an individual. The Nobel Peace Prize winner, Prof. Mohamad Yunus, for example developed the concept of micro-financing to help the poor. It has now permeated to many parts of the world even to advanced and developed countries.
I believe that in order to accelerate the diffusion of Creative Public Governance , a methodology is required. Based on my research and observations, I have developed the 7 Progressions to Creative Governance. I welcome your feedback.
The 7 Progressions to Creative Governance
1. Identifying the Core issue
2. Taking the Michelangelo approach
3. Searching globally for successful solutions
4. Innovating the wheel
5. Facilitating participative re-creation
6. Sensitizing, elaborating & winning acceptance
7. Recognizing & celebrating
1. Identifying the Core issue
Creative governance begins by asking questions to identify the core issue – identifying the cause and not just the symptoms. For example , if there is a drop in enrolment in science education , what is the underlying cause? Is it employability, teaching, facilities, perception, etc. We can do research on research that have been undertaken in this field as practically almost every issue has been researched before. Talk to the people on the ground who are the most affected. If necessary, do a confirmation research. The important thing to avoid is paralysis through analysis.
2. Taking the Michelangelo approach
The common approach is to start from where we are to where we want to go. A better way is that of Michelangelo approach where he visualized the image of David before he freed the figure by chipping away the unwanted pieces. Thus this approach involves starting from the destination and removing current obstacles that could obstruct its path.
3. Searching globally for successful solutions
Before trying new ideas, first do a search on whether a similar problem ahs been solved before. Sometimes the same or similar problem had already been solved in a small community within the same country itself. Many public innovations have been featured in magazines, papers and e-publications. Even unrelated creative solutions could trigger over practical innovations for public governance. This search will save a lot of time and reduces risk.
4. Innovating the wheel
Once successful solutions have been found, the next step is to adapt the solution to the issue at hand. This progression is termed “ Innovating the wheel” as there’s no need to re-invent a new solution when you can creatively imitate a proven workable successful solution. The creativity lies with the adaptation process.
5. Facilitating participative re-creation
This is an important step to get involvement of all stakeholders in formulating a solution. Their involvement will ensure their support for implementation and possible mitigate objections and protests. Moreover, it will cultivate a sense of ownership of the community.
6. Sensitizing, elaborating & winning acceptance
Progression 5 will only accommodate a limited number of interested stakeholders in the project. Prior to carrying out implementation, it is imperative to sensitize the involved the community on solution through the mass media or other forms of communication to let them know hat is coming. Then , it is followed by elaboration of the plans which could be politically and socially sensitive. Some people with vested interest could also be adversely affected.
7. Recognizing & celebrating
There’s nothing like recognition and celebration at both the launching and celebration of the project to motivate the community to support future projects. It will instill a sense of pride and ownership among members of the community, the government agencies concerned and the politicians who made the project possible.
The author, Kam Yew is an international speaker, trainer and best-selling author on creativity. He is available for keynote speeches, in-house training and problem-solving & idea generation facilitation. He can be contacted at DrYKK@mindbloom.net
Monday, December 3, 2007
Creative Public Governance
Is Kevin Rudd Ready for Creative Governance?
The people of Australia have spoken and they have voted for change. Kevin Rudd, the incoming Prime Minister has unveiled his team of change leaders. They have the historic opportunity to establish the best government the world has ever seen to leave behind an enduring legacy. Best government is about providing creative solutions in support of the fulfillment of our people’s needs and aspirations rather than stamping out social problems. This is where the concept of creative public governance lies.
Public governance is concerned with the conduct of governments at all levels to bring the best possible benefits to their citizens and to fulfill their responsibilities as members of the global community. I coined the term Creative Public Governance to define a system of government administration that embraces and introduces innovations to enhance the quality of life of the people using minimum resources for maximum lasting impact. It focuses on what to achieve rather than what to prevent. Fulfillment leads to joy and contentment whereas frustrations breed violence, crime and emotional turmoil. It is about changing mindsets and it starts with the leaders. Creativity begins by asking the right questions to identify the core issues and not taking the easy path to a temporary feel-good factor by addressing the symptoms. It is about exploiting limitations to drive breakthrough action. Creative Governance demands exploiting limits not ignoring them.
For Creative Governance to happen, strong and courageous leadership is required. Where consensus is required, leadership dies! Consensus is great when trying to determine which restaurant to go to for a meal not when charting a new course for the government. A leader, once convinced a particular course of action is the right one, must have the determination to stick with it and be undaunted when the going gets rough. A great leader seeks wise counsel and listens carefully. The leader projects the vision of the new course and acts decisively. When success is achieved, the leader says, "We did it!" If mistakes are made, the leader says, "I made a mistake. Let’s learn from it and move on."
Creative Governance minimizes mistakes and risks by adapting successful innovations in the public arena and not by creating new ideas. Creativity is used in imitating something good to make it even better. Experimentation is risky, costly, time-consuming with no guarantee of success. The Rudd’s government which already hit the ground running can ill-afford this highly uncertain experimental approach.
I have collated many examples from all over the world on what I consider to be creative governance and would like to highlight some of them here to enable you to understand, appreciate and relate them to the context of their possible implementation in Australia.
Creative Governance with Helmet Mounted Police Cameras
Police in UK had found a very effective and innovative way in tackling anti social behavior and violent crime. They found that digital cameras attached to police officers' helmets to be excellent evidence gathering tool and a visible crime deterrent. A camera about the size of a marker pen is fitted to the police helmets and officers can immediately hit a record button and tape what's happening in front of them.
The images are digitally encrypted onto a recording device attached to the officers' belt line. An essential feature of the cameras is that images cannot be deleted or edited in any way so that they could be used as evidence in courts. The indisputable evidence recorded by the helmet camera means that offenders have less opportunity to deny their involvement, leading to less paperwork for the police, earlier guilty pleas, less time spent in court and an increase in convictions. An unexpected additional benefit is that complaints on police brutality stopped since the police behavior is also captured on the camera.
Preliminary results show that the cameras are highly effective in crime convictions and prevention. Due to these cameras, arrests for violent crime have increased by 85 per cent in one area whilst at the same time the incidence of violent crimes has also fallen by between eight per cent to 18 per cent.
Isn’t time that the Australian police adapt this system for implementation?
Creative Governance for Drunken Rampage
A small town in the U.K had a problem with unruly young men after a drinking session at a local pub. In their drunk condition, they went on a rampage in the surrounding areas smashing cars and damaging public property. Many were hauled to jail to sober them up. However, the number of offences shot up instead of being reduced.
The police chief was in a fix. Through his discreet investigations, he discovered that the reason for the increase in drunk-related offences was the youth's perception of a 'macho image'. Those who went to jail actually boasted about achieving true manhood!
By understanding the problem, the police chief came out with an ingenious solution. He treated the jailed offenders like babies. They were fed baby food, given milk in baby milk bottles and spoken to by the wardens in the baby language. In a small community, news of this "baby treatment" spread like wildfire. Guess what? The offences disappeared as quickly as they had appeared! Perhaps this treatment could be meted out to the football hooligans as well.
This could be a valuable idea for the Australian police to consider mitigating drunken rampage especially among who just reached the drinking age of 18.
Creative Governance in Education
Education reform should focus on soft-wares and not hard-wares. It is about equipping your young people with knowledge and creative thinking skills. Unlike the older generations, they are born into the computer and internet generation. The education reform needs to reflect this.
I have selected an excellent example of Creative Governance in Education from Australia’s own backyard. In Adelaide, a small company eLabtronics has recently won the Electronics Industry Association’s inaugural award Support of Electronics Education for its contribution to Robotics Peer Mentoring program, for High School students. The company’s software Corechart has been described as a revolutionary technology breakthrough likened to Windows for microchip programming. The Anthill Australian business magazine termed it as a disruptive technology.
The students love and take to it like fish take to water. There is no programming language to learn. Since practically every electronic gadget or equipment contains microchips, the software has unlimited applicability. In fact, the students have used it to solve some of the pressing social problems in Australia such as water conservation, prolonging dry cell battery life by more than 10 times, more efficient usage of electricity, etc. So far, it has successfully stimulated interest in science and technology. Best of all, Corechart has been offered as technology sponsorship for interested parties, many foreign countries have already indicated interest. Surprising in Australia, despite it winning many awards and proven effectiveness, it has yet to find traction with the education authorities.
Perhaps the Education Minister Julia Gillard should take up the sponsorship offered by eLabtronics to create instant microchip programming geniuses to spark the education revolution. After all, computers without the right software to excite the imagination of the users will not go very far. Take concrete action before it escapes from the Australian shores again, just like many great Australian inventions (the black –box flight recorder, for example) before it.
Creative Governance in Urban Development
The city of Curitiba in Brazil offers one of the best examples of Creative Governance in urban development, including public transportation.
In 1972, the new mayor of the city Jaime Lerner, an architect and urban planner ordered a 48 hours transformation of six blocks of the street into a pedestrian zone. The municipal authorities were able to accomplish it in three days.
The creation of the pedestrian zone inaugurated a series of programs by Lerner that made Curitiba a famous model for urban planning. In promoting industrial development Lerner decided to admit only non-polluters. Curitiba constructed an industrial district that reserved so much land for green space that it was derided as a “golf course” until it succeeded in filling up with major businesses. Through the creation of over 20 recreational parks, many with lakes to catch runoff in low-lying areas that flood periodically, Curitiba managed, at a time of explosive population growth, to increase its green areas from 5 square feet per inhabitant to an astounding 560 square feet. The city promoted “green” policies before they were fashionable and called itself “the ecological capital of Brazil” in the 1980s.
Another of its famous innovations is the introduction of glass tubes that are boarding platforms for the rapid-transit buses. A light rail system would have required 20 times the financial investment and a subway would have cost 100 times as much.
Sydney’s Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, is on the right track when she engaged Danish architect and planner Jan Gehl.to transform Sydney. Now that the plan is ready, let’s hope implementation will take place speedily. This is one aspect of creative governance where proven expertise is sourced externally. In effect, it doesn’t matter where the ideas come from. Just start with adapting proven concepts and do some experimentations along the way.
Recently, the problems in the public transportation system in Sydney involving its trains, ferry and buses has been highlighted in the press. Instead of looking each transport mode separately, why not take a integrated approach and incorporate some of the features of the Curitiba transportation system?
Creative Governance in Aged Care
Using ‘happiness’ is his working principle, Dr. Hans Becker, chairman of the Humanitas Rotterdam Foundation in Netherlands transformed the Aged Care industry from one of institutionalisation to that of a vibrant living environment. It provides a marvellous example on how creative governance can be introduced into aged care.
Through his innovations, Becker restored joy of living, pride and dignity to Humanitas apartment elderly residents. He established a system that supports the self-determination, self-reliance, fun and bonding among its residents, carers, employees as well as revitalizing its neighborhood community.
The design of Age-proof residential complexes specifically manifests the core values and concepts of Humanitas. The complexes have cheerful and roofed-in village squares, often atriums. To accentuate well-being, the cure and care activities (physiotherapy, occupational therapy, nursing homes, etc) are a little hidden, while the cheerful and activating well-being services (luxurious restaurants, internet cafes, bars, hairdressers salons, supermarkets, beauty parlors, music) are prominently located at the centre. Cuddly pets, art and alcoholic drinks (‘a bottle a day keeps the doctor away’) are also encouraged. These facilities are open to the neighbourhood community thereby contributing to its vibrancy. In particular, this openness contributes to ‘excitement’ to the residents - something more interesting to talk about instead of complaining about illnesses.
The Humanitas model is something that the Ministry of Health and Ageing should consider since its funding system is similar to that of the Australian age-care. In fact, Australia too has its own creative governance in aged-care. Disused warehouses and other suburban buildings are being transformed into workshops and social gathering places for older men to get together, helping them to maintain their physical and emotional health. It also fosters cross-generation communication as the seniors impart their tool using skills to the younger generation. This so-called Men's Shed movement receives government grants and help from local councils, voluntary groups and churches.
Recommendation
Peter Drucker, the top management guru says that creativity need not be about coming out with new ideas. It can also be just adapting a great idea creatively to a local situation . He calls it creative imitation. An important step that the Rudd Government should take is to set up a Creative Governance unit in every department coordinated by his office. The key function of this unit is to do world-wide search on successful innovations that have relevance to his Government’s plans. After all, there’s no need to re-invent the wheel. All that is required is to improve the model and find new uses for it.
Kevin Rudd’s Government will then have the distinction of being the first Government in the world to place Creative Governance as the foundation stone for the implementation of his policies. If he does, the Australian Government will be the best in the world and a model for the rest of the world to follow.
Conclusion
The above write-up only offers a glimpse of what creative governance can do for the incoming government of Kevin Rudd. It would not be possible to explore its full potentiality without a proper presentation followed by Questions and Answers. In any case the term “Creative Public Governance” is a termed I coined to describe a possible fresh approach for the new leadership.
The author, Dr.YKK is an international speaker, trainer and best-selling author on creativity. Dr.YKK is available for keynote speeches, in-house training and problem-solving & idea generation facilitation. He can be contacted at DrYKK@mindbloom.net
3 Dec 2007
The people of Australia have spoken and they have voted for change. Kevin Rudd, the incoming Prime Minister has unveiled his team of change leaders. They have the historic opportunity to establish the best government the world has ever seen to leave behind an enduring legacy. Best government is about providing creative solutions in support of the fulfillment of our people’s needs and aspirations rather than stamping out social problems. This is where the concept of creative public governance lies.
Public governance is concerned with the conduct of governments at all levels to bring the best possible benefits to their citizens and to fulfill their responsibilities as members of the global community. I coined the term Creative Public Governance to define a system of government administration that embraces and introduces innovations to enhance the quality of life of the people using minimum resources for maximum lasting impact. It focuses on what to achieve rather than what to prevent. Fulfillment leads to joy and contentment whereas frustrations breed violence, crime and emotional turmoil. It is about changing mindsets and it starts with the leaders. Creativity begins by asking the right questions to identify the core issues and not taking the easy path to a temporary feel-good factor by addressing the symptoms. It is about exploiting limitations to drive breakthrough action. Creative Governance demands exploiting limits not ignoring them.
For Creative Governance to happen, strong and courageous leadership is required. Where consensus is required, leadership dies! Consensus is great when trying to determine which restaurant to go to for a meal not when charting a new course for the government. A leader, once convinced a particular course of action is the right one, must have the determination to stick with it and be undaunted when the going gets rough. A great leader seeks wise counsel and listens carefully. The leader projects the vision of the new course and acts decisively. When success is achieved, the leader says, "We did it!" If mistakes are made, the leader says, "I made a mistake. Let’s learn from it and move on."
Creative Governance minimizes mistakes and risks by adapting successful innovations in the public arena and not by creating new ideas. Creativity is used in imitating something good to make it even better. Experimentation is risky, costly, time-consuming with no guarantee of success. The Rudd’s government which already hit the ground running can ill-afford this highly uncertain experimental approach.
I have collated many examples from all over the world on what I consider to be creative governance and would like to highlight some of them here to enable you to understand, appreciate and relate them to the context of their possible implementation in Australia.
Creative Governance with Helmet Mounted Police Cameras
Police in UK had found a very effective and innovative way in tackling anti social behavior and violent crime. They found that digital cameras attached to police officers' helmets to be excellent evidence gathering tool and a visible crime deterrent. A camera about the size of a marker pen is fitted to the police helmets and officers can immediately hit a record button and tape what's happening in front of them.
The images are digitally encrypted onto a recording device attached to the officers' belt line. An essential feature of the cameras is that images cannot be deleted or edited in any way so that they could be used as evidence in courts. The indisputable evidence recorded by the helmet camera means that offenders have less opportunity to deny their involvement, leading to less paperwork for the police, earlier guilty pleas, less time spent in court and an increase in convictions. An unexpected additional benefit is that complaints on police brutality stopped since the police behavior is also captured on the camera.
Preliminary results show that the cameras are highly effective in crime convictions and prevention. Due to these cameras, arrests for violent crime have increased by 85 per cent in one area whilst at the same time the incidence of violent crimes has also fallen by between eight per cent to 18 per cent.
Isn’t time that the Australian police adapt this system for implementation?
Creative Governance for Drunken Rampage
A small town in the U.K had a problem with unruly young men after a drinking session at a local pub. In their drunk condition, they went on a rampage in the surrounding areas smashing cars and damaging public property. Many were hauled to jail to sober them up. However, the number of offences shot up instead of being reduced.
The police chief was in a fix. Through his discreet investigations, he discovered that the reason for the increase in drunk-related offences was the youth's perception of a 'macho image'. Those who went to jail actually boasted about achieving true manhood!
By understanding the problem, the police chief came out with an ingenious solution. He treated the jailed offenders like babies. They were fed baby food, given milk in baby milk bottles and spoken to by the wardens in the baby language. In a small community, news of this "baby treatment" spread like wildfire. Guess what? The offences disappeared as quickly as they had appeared! Perhaps this treatment could be meted out to the football hooligans as well.
This could be a valuable idea for the Australian police to consider mitigating drunken rampage especially among who just reached the drinking age of 18.
Creative Governance in Education
Education reform should focus on soft-wares and not hard-wares. It is about equipping your young people with knowledge and creative thinking skills. Unlike the older generations, they are born into the computer and internet generation. The education reform needs to reflect this.
I have selected an excellent example of Creative Governance in Education from Australia’s own backyard. In Adelaide, a small company eLabtronics has recently won the Electronics Industry Association’s inaugural award Support of Electronics Education for its contribution to Robotics Peer Mentoring program, for High School students. The company’s software Corechart has been described as a revolutionary technology breakthrough likened to Windows for microchip programming. The Anthill Australian business magazine termed it as a disruptive technology.
The students love and take to it like fish take to water. There is no programming language to learn. Since practically every electronic gadget or equipment contains microchips, the software has unlimited applicability. In fact, the students have used it to solve some of the pressing social problems in Australia such as water conservation, prolonging dry cell battery life by more than 10 times, more efficient usage of electricity, etc. So far, it has successfully stimulated interest in science and technology. Best of all, Corechart has been offered as technology sponsorship for interested parties, many foreign countries have already indicated interest. Surprising in Australia, despite it winning many awards and proven effectiveness, it has yet to find traction with the education authorities.
Perhaps the Education Minister Julia Gillard should take up the sponsorship offered by eLabtronics to create instant microchip programming geniuses to spark the education revolution. After all, computers without the right software to excite the imagination of the users will not go very far. Take concrete action before it escapes from the Australian shores again, just like many great Australian inventions (the black –box flight recorder, for example) before it.
Creative Governance in Urban Development
The city of Curitiba in Brazil offers one of the best examples of Creative Governance in urban development, including public transportation.
In 1972, the new mayor of the city Jaime Lerner, an architect and urban planner ordered a 48 hours transformation of six blocks of the street into a pedestrian zone. The municipal authorities were able to accomplish it in three days.
The creation of the pedestrian zone inaugurated a series of programs by Lerner that made Curitiba a famous model for urban planning. In promoting industrial development Lerner decided to admit only non-polluters. Curitiba constructed an industrial district that reserved so much land for green space that it was derided as a “golf course” until it succeeded in filling up with major businesses. Through the creation of over 20 recreational parks, many with lakes to catch runoff in low-lying areas that flood periodically, Curitiba managed, at a time of explosive population growth, to increase its green areas from 5 square feet per inhabitant to an astounding 560 square feet. The city promoted “green” policies before they were fashionable and called itself “the ecological capital of Brazil” in the 1980s.
Another of its famous innovations is the introduction of glass tubes that are boarding platforms for the rapid-transit buses. A light rail system would have required 20 times the financial investment and a subway would have cost 100 times as much.
Sydney’s Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, is on the right track when she engaged Danish architect and planner Jan Gehl.to transform Sydney. Now that the plan is ready, let’s hope implementation will take place speedily. This is one aspect of creative governance where proven expertise is sourced externally. In effect, it doesn’t matter where the ideas come from. Just start with adapting proven concepts and do some experimentations along the way.
Recently, the problems in the public transportation system in Sydney involving its trains, ferry and buses has been highlighted in the press. Instead of looking each transport mode separately, why not take a integrated approach and incorporate some of the features of the Curitiba transportation system?
Creative Governance in Aged Care
Using ‘happiness’ is his working principle, Dr. Hans Becker, chairman of the Humanitas Rotterdam Foundation in Netherlands transformed the Aged Care industry from one of institutionalisation to that of a vibrant living environment. It provides a marvellous example on how creative governance can be introduced into aged care.
Through his innovations, Becker restored joy of living, pride and dignity to Humanitas apartment elderly residents. He established a system that supports the self-determination, self-reliance, fun and bonding among its residents, carers, employees as well as revitalizing its neighborhood community.
The design of Age-proof residential complexes specifically manifests the core values and concepts of Humanitas. The complexes have cheerful and roofed-in village squares, often atriums. To accentuate well-being, the cure and care activities (physiotherapy, occupational therapy, nursing homes, etc) are a little hidden, while the cheerful and activating well-being services (luxurious restaurants, internet cafes, bars, hairdressers salons, supermarkets, beauty parlors, music) are prominently located at the centre. Cuddly pets, art and alcoholic drinks (‘a bottle a day keeps the doctor away’) are also encouraged. These facilities are open to the neighbourhood community thereby contributing to its vibrancy. In particular, this openness contributes to ‘excitement’ to the residents - something more interesting to talk about instead of complaining about illnesses.
The Humanitas model is something that the Ministry of Health and Ageing should consider since its funding system is similar to that of the Australian age-care. In fact, Australia too has its own creative governance in aged-care. Disused warehouses and other suburban buildings are being transformed into workshops and social gathering places for older men to get together, helping them to maintain their physical and emotional health. It also fosters cross-generation communication as the seniors impart their tool using skills to the younger generation. This so-called Men's Shed movement receives government grants and help from local councils, voluntary groups and churches.
Recommendation
Peter Drucker, the top management guru says that creativity need not be about coming out with new ideas. It can also be just adapting a great idea creatively to a local situation . He calls it creative imitation. An important step that the Rudd Government should take is to set up a Creative Governance unit in every department coordinated by his office. The key function of this unit is to do world-wide search on successful innovations that have relevance to his Government’s plans. After all, there’s no need to re-invent the wheel. All that is required is to improve the model and find new uses for it.
Kevin Rudd’s Government will then have the distinction of being the first Government in the world to place Creative Governance as the foundation stone for the implementation of his policies. If he does, the Australian Government will be the best in the world and a model for the rest of the world to follow.
Conclusion
The above write-up only offers a glimpse of what creative governance can do for the incoming government of Kevin Rudd. It would not be possible to explore its full potentiality without a proper presentation followed by Questions and Answers. In any case the term “Creative Public Governance” is a termed I coined to describe a possible fresh approach for the new leadership.
The author, Dr.YKK is an international speaker, trainer and best-selling author on creativity. Dr.YKK is available for keynote speeches, in-house training and problem-solving & idea generation facilitation. He can be contacted at DrYKK@mindbloom.net
3 Dec 2007
Is Kevin Rudd Ready for Creative Governance?
The people of Australia have spoken and they have voted for change. Kevin Rudd, the incoming Prime Minister has unveiled his team of change leaders. They have the historic opportunity to establish the best government the world has ever seen to leave behind an enduring legacy. Best government is about providing creative solutions in support of the fulfillment of our people’s needs and aspirations rather than stamping out social problems. This is where the concept of creative public governance lies.
Creative Public Governance is a system of governance that embraces and introduces innovations to enhance the quality of life of the people on a sustainable basis. It focuses on what to achieve rather than what to prevent. Fulfillment leads to joy and contentment whereas frustrations breed violence, crime and emotional turmoil. It is about changing mindsets and it starts with the leaders. Creativity begins by asking the right questions to identify the core issues and not taking the easy path to a temporary feel-good factor by addressing the symptoms. It is about exploiting limitations to drive breakthrough action. Creative Governance demands exploiting limits not ignoring them.
For Creative Governance to happen, strong and courageous leadership is required. Where consensus is required, leadership dies! Consensus is great when trying to determine which restaurant to go to for a meal not when charting a new course for the government. A leader, once convinced a particular course of action is the right one, must have the determination to stick with it and be undaunted when the going gets rough. A great leader seeks wise counsel and listens carefully. The leader projects the vision of the new course and acts decisively. When success is achieved, the leader says, "We did it!" If mistakes are made, the leader says, "I made a mistake. Let’s learn from it and move on."
Creative Governance minimizes mistakes and risks by adapting successful innovations in the public arena and not by creating new ideas. Creativity is used in imitating something good to make it even better. Experimentation is risky, costly, time-consuming with no guarantee of success. The Rudd’s government which already hit the ground running can ill-afford this highly uncertain experimental approach.
I have collated many examples from all over the world on what I consider to be creative governance and would like to highlight four of them here to enable you to understand, appreciate and relate them to the context of their possible implementation in Australia
Creative Governance with Helmet Mounted Police Cameras
Police in UK had found a very effective and innovative way in tackling anti social behavior and violent crime. They found that digital cameras attached to police officers' helmets to be excellent evidence gathering tool and a visible crime deterrent. A camera about the size of a marker pen is fitted to the police helmets and officers can immediately hit a record button and tape what's happening in front of them.
The images are digitally encrypted onto a recording device attached to the officers' belt line. An essential feature of the cameras is that images cannot be deleted or edited in any way so that they could be used as evidence in courts. The indisputable evidence recorded by the helmet camera means that offenders have less opportunity to deny their involvement, leading to less paperwork for the police, earlier guilty pleas, less time spent in court and an increase in convictions. An unexpected additional benefit is that complaints on police brutality stopped since the police behavior is also captured on the camera.
Preliminary results show that the cameras are highly effective in crime convictions and prevention. Due to these cameras, arrests for violent crime have increased by 85 per cent in one area whilst at the same time the incidence of violent crimes has also fallen by between eight per cent to 18 per cent.
Isn’t time that the Australian police adapt this system for implementation?
Creative Governance in Education
Education reform should focus on soft-wares and not hard-wares. It is about equipping your young people with knowledge and creative thinking skills. Unlike the older generations, they are born into the computer and internet generation. The education reform needs to reflect this.
I have selected an excellent example of Creative Governance in Education from Australia’s own backyard. In Adelaide, a small company eLabtronics has recently won the Electronics Industry Association’s inaugural award Support of Electronics Education for its contribution to Robotics Peer Mentoring program, for High School students. The company’s software Corechart has been described as a revolutionary technology breakthrough likened to Windows for microchip programming. The Anthill Australian business magazine termed it as a disruptive technology.
The students love and take to it like fish take to water. There is no programming language to learn. Since practically every electronic gadget or equipment contains microchips, the software has unlimited applicability. In fact, the students have used it to solve some of the pressing social problems in Australia such as water conservation, prolonging dry cell battery life by more than 10 times, more efficient usage of electricity, etc. So far, it has successfully stimulated interest in science and technology. Best of all, Corechart has been offered as technology sponsorship for interested parties, many foreign countries have already indicated interest. Surprising in Australia, despite it winning many awards and proven effectiveness, it has yet to find traction with the education authorities.
Perhaps the incoming education minister should take a good look at it before it escapes from the Australian shores again, just like many great Australian inventions (the black –box plane recorder, for example) before it.
Creative Governance in Urban Development
The city of Curitiba in Brazil offers one of the best examples of Creative Governance in urban development, including public transportation..
In 1972, the new mayor of the city Jaime Lerner, an architect and urban planner ordered a 48 hours transformation of six blocks of the street into a pedestrian zone. The municipal authorities were able to accomplish it in three days.
The creation of the pedestrian zone inaugurated a series of programs by Lerner that made Curitiba a famous model for urban planning. In promoting industrial development Lerner decided to admit only non-polluters. Curitiba constructed an industrial district that reserved so much land for green space that it was derided as a “golf course” until it succeeded in filling up with major businesses. Through the creation of over 20 recreational parks, many with lakes to catch runoff in low-lying areas that flood periodically, Curitiba managed, at a time of explosive population growth, to increase its green areas from 5 square feet per inhabitant to an astounding 560 square feet. The city promoted “green” policies before they were fashionable and called itself “the ecological capital of Brazil” in the 1980s.
Another of its famous innovations is the introduction of glass tubes that are boarding platforms for the rapid-transit buses. A light rail system would have required 20 times the financial investment and a subway would have cost 100 times as much.
Sydney’s Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, is on the right track when she engaged Danish architect and planner Jan Gehl.to transform Sydney. Now that the plan is ready, let’s hope implementation will take place speedily. This is one aspect of creative governance where proven expertise is sourced externally. In effect, it doesn’t matter where the ideas come from. Just start with adapting proven concepts and do some experimentations along the way.
Recently, the problems in the public transportation system in Sydney involving its trains, ferry and buses has been highlighted in the press. Instead of looking each transport mode separately, why not take a integrated approach and incorporate some of the features of the Curitiba transportation system?
Creative Governance in Aged Care
Using ‘happiness’ is his working principle, Dr. Hans Becker, chairman of the Humanitas Rotterdam Foundation in Netherlands transformed the Aged Care industry from one of institutionalisation to that of a vibrant living environment. It provides a marvellous example on how creative governance can be introduced into aged care.
Through his innovations, Becker restored joy of living, pride and dignity to Humanitas apartment elderly residents. He established a system that supports the self-determination, self-reliance, fun and bonding among its residents, carers, employees as well as revitalizing its neighborhood community.
The design of Age-proof residential complexes specifically manifests the core values and concepts of Humanitas. The complexes have cheerful and roofed-in village squares, often atriums. To accentuate well-being, the cure and care activities (physiotherapy, occupational therapy, nursing homes, etc) are a little hidden, while the cheerful and activating well-being services (luxurious restaurants, internet cafes, bars, hairdressers salons, supermarkets, beauty parlors, music) are prominently located at the centre. Cuddly pets, art and alcoholic drinks (‘a bottle a day keeps the doctor away’) are also encouraged. These facilities are open to the neighbourhood community thereby contributing to its vibrancy. In particular, this openness contributes to ‘excitement’ to the residents - something more interesting to talk about instead of complaining about illnesses.
The Humanitas model is something that the Ministry of Health and Ageing should consider since its funding system is similar to that of the Australian age-care. In fact, Australia too has its own creative governance in aged-care. Disused warehouses and other suburban buildings are being transformed into workshops and social gathering places for older men to get together, helping them to maintain their physical and emotional health. It also fosters cross-generation communication as the seniors impart their tool using skills to the younger generation. This so-called Men's Shed movement receives government grants and help from local councils, voluntary groups and churches.
Recommendation
Peter Drucker, the top management guru says that creativity need not be about coming out with new ideas. It can also be just adapting a great idea creatively to a local situation . He calls it creative imitation. An important step that the Rudd Government should take is to set up a Creative Governance unit in every department coordinated by his office. The key function of this unit is to do world-wide search on successful innovations that have relevance to his Government’s plans. After all, there’s no need to re-invent the wheel. All that is required is to improve the model and find new uses for it.
Kevin Rudd’s Government will then have the distinction of being the first Government in the world to place Creative Governance as the foundation stone for the implementation of his policies. If he does, the Australian Government will be the best in the world and a model for the rest of the world to follow.
Conclusion
The above write-up only offers a glimpse of what creative governance can do for the incoming government of Kevin Rudd. It would not be possible to explore its full potentiality without a proper presentation followed by Questions and Answers. In any case the term “Creative Public Governance” is a termed I coined to describe a possible fresh approach for the new leadership.
The author, Dr.YKK is an international speaker, trainer and best-selling author on creativity. Dr.YKK is available for keynote speeches, in-house training and problem-solving & idea generation facilitation. He can be contacted at DrYKK@mindbloom.net
3 Dec 2007
Creative Public Governance is a system of governance that embraces and introduces innovations to enhance the quality of life of the people on a sustainable basis. It focuses on what to achieve rather than what to prevent. Fulfillment leads to joy and contentment whereas frustrations breed violence, crime and emotional turmoil. It is about changing mindsets and it starts with the leaders. Creativity begins by asking the right questions to identify the core issues and not taking the easy path to a temporary feel-good factor by addressing the symptoms. It is about exploiting limitations to drive breakthrough action. Creative Governance demands exploiting limits not ignoring them.
For Creative Governance to happen, strong and courageous leadership is required. Where consensus is required, leadership dies! Consensus is great when trying to determine which restaurant to go to for a meal not when charting a new course for the government. A leader, once convinced a particular course of action is the right one, must have the determination to stick with it and be undaunted when the going gets rough. A great leader seeks wise counsel and listens carefully. The leader projects the vision of the new course and acts decisively. When success is achieved, the leader says, "We did it!" If mistakes are made, the leader says, "I made a mistake. Let’s learn from it and move on."
Creative Governance minimizes mistakes and risks by adapting successful innovations in the public arena and not by creating new ideas. Creativity is used in imitating something good to make it even better. Experimentation is risky, costly, time-consuming with no guarantee of success. The Rudd’s government which already hit the ground running can ill-afford this highly uncertain experimental approach.
I have collated many examples from all over the world on what I consider to be creative governance and would like to highlight four of them here to enable you to understand, appreciate and relate them to the context of their possible implementation in Australia
Creative Governance with Helmet Mounted Police Cameras
Police in UK had found a very effective and innovative way in tackling anti social behavior and violent crime. They found that digital cameras attached to police officers' helmets to be excellent evidence gathering tool and a visible crime deterrent. A camera about the size of a marker pen is fitted to the police helmets and officers can immediately hit a record button and tape what's happening in front of them.
The images are digitally encrypted onto a recording device attached to the officers' belt line. An essential feature of the cameras is that images cannot be deleted or edited in any way so that they could be used as evidence in courts. The indisputable evidence recorded by the helmet camera means that offenders have less opportunity to deny their involvement, leading to less paperwork for the police, earlier guilty pleas, less time spent in court and an increase in convictions. An unexpected additional benefit is that complaints on police brutality stopped since the police behavior is also captured on the camera.
Preliminary results show that the cameras are highly effective in crime convictions and prevention. Due to these cameras, arrests for violent crime have increased by 85 per cent in one area whilst at the same time the incidence of violent crimes has also fallen by between eight per cent to 18 per cent.
Isn’t time that the Australian police adapt this system for implementation?
Creative Governance in Education
Education reform should focus on soft-wares and not hard-wares. It is about equipping your young people with knowledge and creative thinking skills. Unlike the older generations, they are born into the computer and internet generation. The education reform needs to reflect this.
I have selected an excellent example of Creative Governance in Education from Australia’s own backyard. In Adelaide, a small company eLabtronics has recently won the Electronics Industry Association’s inaugural award Support of Electronics Education for its contribution to Robotics Peer Mentoring program, for High School students. The company’s software Corechart has been described as a revolutionary technology breakthrough likened to Windows for microchip programming. The Anthill Australian business magazine termed it as a disruptive technology.
The students love and take to it like fish take to water. There is no programming language to learn. Since practically every electronic gadget or equipment contains microchips, the software has unlimited applicability. In fact, the students have used it to solve some of the pressing social problems in Australia such as water conservation, prolonging dry cell battery life by more than 10 times, more efficient usage of electricity, etc. So far, it has successfully stimulated interest in science and technology. Best of all, Corechart has been offered as technology sponsorship for interested parties, many foreign countries have already indicated interest. Surprising in Australia, despite it winning many awards and proven effectiveness, it has yet to find traction with the education authorities.
Perhaps the incoming education minister should take a good look at it before it escapes from the Australian shores again, just like many great Australian inventions (the black –box plane recorder, for example) before it.
Creative Governance in Urban Development
The city of Curitiba in Brazil offers one of the best examples of Creative Governance in urban development, including public transportation..
In 1972, the new mayor of the city Jaime Lerner, an architect and urban planner ordered a 48 hours transformation of six blocks of the street into a pedestrian zone. The municipal authorities were able to accomplish it in three days.
The creation of the pedestrian zone inaugurated a series of programs by Lerner that made Curitiba a famous model for urban planning. In promoting industrial development Lerner decided to admit only non-polluters. Curitiba constructed an industrial district that reserved so much land for green space that it was derided as a “golf course” until it succeeded in filling up with major businesses. Through the creation of over 20 recreational parks, many with lakes to catch runoff in low-lying areas that flood periodically, Curitiba managed, at a time of explosive population growth, to increase its green areas from 5 square feet per inhabitant to an astounding 560 square feet. The city promoted “green” policies before they were fashionable and called itself “the ecological capital of Brazil” in the 1980s.
Another of its famous innovations is the introduction of glass tubes that are boarding platforms for the rapid-transit buses. A light rail system would have required 20 times the financial investment and a subway would have cost 100 times as much.
Sydney’s Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, is on the right track when she engaged Danish architect and planner Jan Gehl.to transform Sydney. Now that the plan is ready, let’s hope implementation will take place speedily. This is one aspect of creative governance where proven expertise is sourced externally. In effect, it doesn’t matter where the ideas come from. Just start with adapting proven concepts and do some experimentations along the way.
Recently, the problems in the public transportation system in Sydney involving its trains, ferry and buses has been highlighted in the press. Instead of looking each transport mode separately, why not take a integrated approach and incorporate some of the features of the Curitiba transportation system?
Creative Governance in Aged Care
Using ‘happiness’ is his working principle, Dr. Hans Becker, chairman of the Humanitas Rotterdam Foundation in Netherlands transformed the Aged Care industry from one of institutionalisation to that of a vibrant living environment. It provides a marvellous example on how creative governance can be introduced into aged care.
Through his innovations, Becker restored joy of living, pride and dignity to Humanitas apartment elderly residents. He established a system that supports the self-determination, self-reliance, fun and bonding among its residents, carers, employees as well as revitalizing its neighborhood community.
The design of Age-proof residential complexes specifically manifests the core values and concepts of Humanitas. The complexes have cheerful and roofed-in village squares, often atriums. To accentuate well-being, the cure and care activities (physiotherapy, occupational therapy, nursing homes, etc) are a little hidden, while the cheerful and activating well-being services (luxurious restaurants, internet cafes, bars, hairdressers salons, supermarkets, beauty parlors, music) are prominently located at the centre. Cuddly pets, art and alcoholic drinks (‘a bottle a day keeps the doctor away’) are also encouraged. These facilities are open to the neighbourhood community thereby contributing to its vibrancy. In particular, this openness contributes to ‘excitement’ to the residents - something more interesting to talk about instead of complaining about illnesses.
The Humanitas model is something that the Ministry of Health and Ageing should consider since its funding system is similar to that of the Australian age-care. In fact, Australia too has its own creative governance in aged-care. Disused warehouses and other suburban buildings are being transformed into workshops and social gathering places for older men to get together, helping them to maintain their physical and emotional health. It also fosters cross-generation communication as the seniors impart their tool using skills to the younger generation. This so-called Men's Shed movement receives government grants and help from local councils, voluntary groups and churches.
Recommendation
Peter Drucker, the top management guru says that creativity need not be about coming out with new ideas. It can also be just adapting a great idea creatively to a local situation . He calls it creative imitation. An important step that the Rudd Government should take is to set up a Creative Governance unit in every department coordinated by his office. The key function of this unit is to do world-wide search on successful innovations that have relevance to his Government’s plans. After all, there’s no need to re-invent the wheel. All that is required is to improve the model and find new uses for it.
Kevin Rudd’s Government will then have the distinction of being the first Government in the world to place Creative Governance as the foundation stone for the implementation of his policies. If he does, the Australian Government will be the best in the world and a model for the rest of the world to follow.
Conclusion
The above write-up only offers a glimpse of what creative governance can do for the incoming government of Kevin Rudd. It would not be possible to explore its full potentiality without a proper presentation followed by Questions and Answers. In any case the term “Creative Public Governance” is a termed I coined to describe a possible fresh approach for the new leadership.
The author, Dr.YKK is an international speaker, trainer and best-selling author on creativity. Dr.YKK is available for keynote speeches, in-house training and problem-solving & idea generation facilitation. He can be contacted at DrYKK@mindbloom.net
3 Dec 2007
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