This post is written by Idzva Kotwas, Policy Analyst, Canada.

  • The problem: How do you adapt your writing style as a new public sector employee or when working under new leadership?

  • The solution: Consider embracing a learner’s mindset.

  • Why it matters: It can help clarify areas of strengths to leverage, highlight areas for growth, build healthy approaches to taking feedback, and contribute to protecting your mental health.

Adjusting to writing for decision-makers in the public sector was a difficult transition, especially after an unusually long stint in the academic world. I felt insecure and intimidated by the demands for brevity when my instinct kept nudging me to include reams of context in everything I wrote. I was also unreasonably tolerant of amassing multiple drafts for a single writing task.

However, I decided to finally shed my identity as a “strong, academic writer”, and instead commit to wholly adopting a learner’s mindset. This helped me recognise my insecurities, review my documents for strengths and growth areas, and commit to taking feedback at face value rather than personally.

This happened over a few years, and I eventually learned to use some of the well-worn five ‘Ws’ to aid me in synthesising information for decision-makers. I also found that crafting a writing approach grounded in a learner’s mindset is particularly important when navigating the expectations and preferences of a new work environment or new leadership.

One way to write well

With every request for a briefing product, I take a few deep breaths to quiet the perfectionistic chatter, then formulate questions with a view to producing a useful and succinct document. These include:

  • What is driving the need for the briefing document?
  • Why now?
  • Who will be the main consumer of this information?
  • What do they need to know and why?
  • What will the next steps be and when will they happen?

These questions are by no means a template, and can, in fact, generate even more questions after these initial ones have been tackled. Instead, they are shared in hopes that those who are feeling stuck or discouraged by the task of writing in the public sector, will feel encouraged to take the time to craft an approach that works for them, and to develop their own questions.

"Adopting a learner’s mindset has helped reduce my anxiety and temper my tendency towards perfectionism."

What to do after submitting your writing

After submitting a piece of writing and receiving feedback on it, I typically go through the changes and determine why they were made. If I am unsure, I ask the reviewer and take note of the rationale. I then archive the initial and final drafts in a folder for future reference. To continue cultivating a learner’s approach, I also keep an eye out for public-sector writing resources.

To explore more about this mindset, a good place to begin could be Change Your Questions, Change Your Life: 10 Powerful Tools for Life and Work by Marilee G. Adams. She explores the role the act of questioning has in our lives and outlines the types of questions typically posed by those committed to learning, unlearning, risk-taking, and openness, among others.

Adopting a learner’s mindset has helped reduce my anxiety and temper my tendency towards perfectionism. I also try to not over-identify with my job and remember that who I am does not amount to what my position is. This last bit has really helped me sustain a learner’s mindset. I can better enjoy my work as it is a part of what I do, but not who I am.

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