From Spending to Impact

For decades, the public sector operated under the logic of spending. Efficiency was measured by the volume of resources applied, budgetary regularity, and procedural compliance. This approach, while still necessary in some respects, proves limited in the face of a reality marked by complexity, uncertainty, and growing social demands.

Today, what is required is a paradigm shift: from input-oriented management to impact-driven management. More than controlling expenses or meeting operational goals, it is about delivering public value, measuring social transformations, and building trust in the State's actions. And this change essentially involves a new way of leading and developing people.

The shift from the logic of spending to that of impact demands leaders who are better prepared to mobilize people around clear and significant missions. As Jessika Moreira (2025) noted in a recent interview with Nexo Jornal, it is necessary to break with the logic of mechanical execution and reconnect public service to its reason for existing: improving lives.

This is the essence of adaptive leadership, which Leite and Almeida (2022) and the Public Leadership Center (CLP, 2024) point to as crucial for the sector. Instead of merely controlling processes, adaptive leaders are capable of diagnosing complex challenges, mobilizing teams (cultivating empathy and active listening), and regulating the level of tension necessary for change, without letting resistance paralyze the organization.

This approach is already beginning to gain traction in practice. The LideraGOV program, conducted by ENAP and MGI, is an example of how the Brazilian State is training leaders with competencies focused on innovation and institutional transformation.

People Management as a Strategic Government Policy

In recent years, the federal government has been adopting measures to reposition people management. The authorization of nearly 16,000 positions in civil service exams (Agência Gov, 2025) and the modernization of development tracks (MGI, 2025) reveal an effort to replenish the workforce and, above all, renew state capabilities.

This agenda aligns with an academic movement that views the strengthening of the State through a Neo-Weberian approach. As recent studies by Papi (2023) and Papi, Gomide, and Viana (2024) indicate, this vision seeks to revitalize public values and build a new ethos for public service, which is directly reflected in the design of new civil service exams.

It is about building "state capacity"—defined by Ipea (2023) as the ability to produce the highest possible levels of social value. People management ceases to be about attendance and leave tracking (the "spending" on personnel) and becomes the engine for value delivery (the "impact").

The shift to impact-oriented management requires a change in mindset and monitoring tools. The challenge is to break with "the traditional logic of allocating more and more resources to policies without evaluating their returns," as pointed out in the federal government's Public Policy Evaluation guide (Brasil, 2023).

The most recent literature on state capacities, such as the CLAD (2025) report on Latin America, reinforces the need to articulate control and transparency with the real improvement of services. Institutional strengthening occurs not just through regulations, but through the State's real capacity to solve public problems based on evidence.

This view is complemented by the analysis of researchers like Carvalho (2023), who highlights the role of social control and citizen participation in consolidating the logic of impact. Public management, when connected with society, expands its legitimacy and improves its ability to generate value.

The New Cycle: From Process to Purpose

We are, therefore, facing a new cycle. A cycle that demands more than goodwill—it demands prepared leaders, quality data, simplified processes, and people management that recognizes the public servant as the protagonist of change.

More than asking "how much did we spend?", public leaders must ask: What did we transform? What did we deliver to the population? How are we improving people's lives?

These questions are simple, but powerful. They take us off autopilot and place us at the center of the public mission. It is in this direction that reforms, training programs, and academic studies are pointing: moving teams beyond the process and towards the purpose.

References

Agência Gov. (Oct. 2025). Maior entrega governamental em gestão de pessoas desde 2010. AgênciaGov.ebc.com.br.

BRASIL. (2023). Avaliação de Políticas Públicas: Guia Prático de Análise Ex-Post. Casa Civil/Gov.br.

CARVALHO, Ricardo V. de. (2023). Gestão pública, poder local e cidadania no Brasil. Cadernos de Educação, v. 22, n. 2.

Centro de Liderança Pública (CLP). (2024). Tipos de liderança: A Liderança Adaptativa no setor público. CLP.org.br.

CLAD - Centro Latino-americano de Administração para o Desenvolvimento. (2025). Relatório: Estado, Democracia e Desigualdades na América Latina e Caribe. (Ref.: Relatório CLAD/Gov.br).

IPEA - Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada. (2023). Capítulo 16: As capacidades estatais, serviços e trabalhadores na política de assistência social. In: Atlas do Estado Brasileiro.

LEITE, Denise; ALMEIDA, Paulo. (2022). Liderança adaptativa e seu impacto na gestão pública. DOM Contexto. Fundação Dom Cabral.

Ministério da Gestão e da Inovação (MGI). (Oct. 2025). Dia das Servidoras e Servidores Públicos: políticas de valorização e recomposição de quadros. gov.br/gestao.

MOREIRA, Jessika. (2025). Entrevista: “Gestão pública deve ir da lógica do gasto para a do impacto”. Nexo Jornal.

PAPI, Luciana. (2023). O Neoweberianismo para além da Europa: Uma Operacionalização para Pesquisas e Aplicação no Brasil. Repositório ENAP.

PAPI, Luciana; GOMIDE, Alexandre; VIANA, Rafael. (2024). Disputando Paradigmas de Administração Pública: o neoweberianismo como inspiração para uma reforma revitalizadora do Estado brasileiro. Cadernos Gestão Pública e Cidadania (FGV).