The 3 C's

Once more I have come to the end of an assignment in Kabul. To cap it off, I thought I would share with you what I call the 3 C’s of civil service reform: Change management, Capacity building and Cultural dynamics.

Change Management is comprised of approaches, processes and techniques most commonly referred to as change management “tools” that facilitate the acceptance and integration of new ways of doing things. These tools might help create new structures, competencies, processing systems, policies and leadership within a civil service; they may either create traction for change, mobilize for change, reduce resistance to change, and even keep the change long enough to see it improve over time. The management of change is not a “one size fits all” therefore it is important to explore the wide array of “tools” available to organizations to ease their change effort. I would like to recommend a change management book written by one of my favorite authors, Lynda Gratton. The title of her book is: “Hot Spots: Why Some Companies Buzz with Energy and Innovation - and Others Don't”.
Similar ideas also exist in W. Chan Kin and Renee Mauborgne’s “Tipping Point Leadership”.

Capacity Building: Yes, the knotty capacity building makes its way at the top of reform work priorities. Here, it refers to the institutional and individual development that must occur to improve or alter results produced by a civil service. Let me emphasize that it is not just about “training”. Too often we see resources and time dedicated to this activity without any effort put into establishing the framework within which individuals will practice what they have learned. Developing a capacity building strategy must take into consideration everything that needs to be changed in order to bring about different results. This strategy should make reference to the systems, performance goals and indicators, the operational processes, the policies, templates, methods of communication, relationships… and the form they should take to produce desired results.

Cultural Dynamics: We all have a pair of lens through which we see our world and changing the colour of these lenses can be an incredible process of concessions, negotiations and assimilation within individuals and across groups. Bringing changes to a workplace often challenges beliefs and values held by a “culture”. Cultures are everywhere. There are national cultures, ethnic cultures, organizational cultures, regional cultures and generational cultures – all of which have their own set of values and beliefs. They may have the potential to move mountains or build walls. Learning how to work with diversity to plan and build a reform can make a great deal of difference.

To explore the world of cultural diversity, here are a couple of my favourites:
Riding The Waves of Culture: Understanding Diversity in Global Business by Fons Trompenaars

International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior by Nancy J. Adler

As well here is a great website produced by Citizenship and Immigration Canada
http://www.cp-pc.ca/english/index.html

A Silky Connection

Once the threat of cold weather is decidedly over and the picnic season is well underway, the mulberries make their apparition in Afghanistan; falling from attractive mulberry trees to adorn the ground with a pearl white, lace pink or dark purple hue. According to local experts, the mulberry is a primary fruit crop, originally brought to Afghanistan to support a highly specialized silk industry.

As it turns out, the sole food source of the silkworm is the leaves from the drought resistant mulberry tree. The silkworm cannot survive without the mulberry tree, producing an intimate connection and finest example of one species’ complete dependence on another for its existence. In Afghanistan, it also provides an example of how a society can benefit from such symbiotic arrangements.

While delicious fresh or dried mulberries are sold at the local bazaars in Kabul, the delicate work of collecting cocoons from the mulberry tree and producing silk by hand continues in cities such as Herat situated in the northwest part of the country. According to Wikipedia, mulberry silk is the finest and the most valuable variety of silk.

Photos from left to right: Afghan picnic summer 2006; Safi the Chef at Justice Sector Guesthouse June.08; Dish of mulberry June.08; silk scarf woven by master silk weavers in Kabul using ancient silk route traditions and purchased at the Zardozi shop, Kabul, Afghanistan.

Packaging the Machinery

The training function within a civil service at any level of government can be a complex machinery. For example let us look at training delivery mechanisms. There are centre-of-government institutions dedicated to training and education; ministries or departments with their own specialized training programs; institutions with training mandates at the sub-national level as well as elaborate multi-partnerships with educational institutions, associations and the private sector. Yes, governance and delivery models abound.

So, when asked by clients, especially in developing countries, to conduct training needs assessments, develop training strategies or create new training programs effort is made to consolidate and understand the training “machinery” of government. This helps build standardization and compliance while hopefully strengthening what works best within this machinery.

Here are its three main components:
1. Policy development: training legislation, policy framework, content of policy, policy making process, governance and delegation of authority.
2. Policy implementation: extent of the “training” practice within government, systems, processes and tools to implement within and across institutions.
3. Policy evaluation: accountability framework, approach to risk assessment, monitoring and evaluation and continuous improvement.

Photo: Government of Laos, Vientiane, Laos 03.05

The Most of Posts

After a year and a half of blogging I have noticed that my entries are either regarding the work or the work location. After some thought, I have decided to add a small indicator to my posts for easy reference.

The FarsidePost will contain information regarding the work location. As in the past it will focus on interesting information about the people, their culture and their experiences.

The InsidePost will focus on the work I do – ranging from wide-scale civil service reform to small scale organizational diagnosis. It will include advice, brief guidelines and helpful hints to facilitate the development, implementation and sustainability of workforce management changes in the public sector.

I hope you find them useful. My website will also be upgraded shortly. Stay tuned for further announcements.