This post is written by Mikk Vainik, Founder and Chief Evangelist at Accelerate Estonia.

  • The problem: Too often we forget that government needs to take risks.
  • Why it matters: If we have the wrong kind of risk appetite, we will solve the wrong problems.
  • The solution: Use your curiosity to find and tackle risks on the systems’ level.

Governments are called upon to govern issues that are either guarantors of national interests (eg. defence, education) or carry too much risk for the private sector to act commercially (eg. health, environmental protection). Let me re-emphasise the latter – in many fields, it is just too risky for the private sector to successfully provide services needed by the population. Thus, government comes into play.
One might expect that once these policies are delegated to the public service, they should be able to manage the risks. But can you pinpoint anyone who feels that the public sector should take risks? Not really, huh? Is it not curious that we pool risks together and then kindly ask the government not to take too many risks when solving them?

Are we using the right methods?

My question was purposefully provocative and obviously a simplification. As public servants, we surely have some appetite for risk and toolkits to use. The rising trend of applying service design methods is a clear example of this. The amount of tools designed for this is mind-blowing – one could easily spend a week searching and comparing them. I’ve used design methods, too, and of course, they are fulfilling because they give tangible results as well as being playful and beautifully designed.

That is what the Accelerate Estonia team have practised, too, when we designed a workshop for the OECD last November. It is especially important that these methods give us peace of mind – something has been fixed, and we can measure it and declare success.

But did we fix the right thing? Was it not just a symptom of a bigger problem?

I am asking this because I feel government culture has a tendency to focus on the low-hanging fruits. Whenever a team within the Accelerate Estonia programme declares victory by saying they received positive feedback from government, I am both happy and cautious – did they really test the killer feature or was it just someone being nice to them? Usually, it turns out to be the latter.

Government culture has a tendency to focus on the low-hanging fruits.

Low-hanging fruit is an essential step in problem-solving and change management, but too often we stop right there. What if instead we went down the proverbial rabbit hole and discovered the root causes of the issue, not just the symptoms it conveys via particular (public) services?

I would argue that in this wonderful space of understanding complex problems, government culture lacks either the capacity or toolkit to manage the risks on a fundamental level. Even if we find the right move on a systems level, it is less tangible than working on a particular smaller problem or policy. It feels less rewarding and difficult to measure a systemic change. Thus we prefer to work in our known space and keep picking the low-hanging fruit.

Speaking of fruit, I love the example of how South Korea turned the food waste problem on its head by tackling it on a systems level. The results, to my mind, is what a government is supposed to do – manage the systemic risks and create opportunities for the private sector to thrive. As shown, there are rare examples, but they get us excited especially because they are rare: an exception to the rule.

Shall we leave it as it is and just sigh in awe when we see a system change with a lot of risk appetite? Or should different ranks of governments add systems thinking and the relevant toolkits as key artefacts of their culture?

It is OK to think in systems

I believe that as “managers” of pooled risk we have a clear mandate – and maybe even a responsibility – to spark change on the systems level. Once more – no harm in using service design methods! Quite the opposite – please do! But let your appetite for change take you further. It can feel unnatural, but it can be a rewarding way to challenge government culture.

I am not making this up. As per the legendary “Thinking: Fast and Slow“ by Daniel Kahnemann, it is natural for mankind to refrain their brains from thinking about difficult tasks, because this requires more energy from us and is used in ‘really important’ tasks. But maybe changing government culture is a really important task for you.

Let your appetite for change take you further. It can feel unnatural, but it can be a rewarding way to challenge government culture.

If so, then following the concept of the Entrepreneurial State by Mariana Mazzucato, we should be fighting for our right to take the risks and benefits in government. But how do we do that?

I have found it useful to learn from “Loonshots” by Safi Bachall. Two principles that will help you:

  • It has been done before, albeit not always successfully. You can easily learn from past examples of changing government culture.
  • You do not have to do it alone. But it is useful to position yourself as the gatekeeper between game-changing ideas and the rigidity of government structures.

In recent interviews with innovation-minded public servants in Estonia, I was curious to find that there is inherent hunger for discovering and questioning the system. It was quite the opposite of what I initially thought. I do not believe that such characteristics only apply to a few people in my native land. You will find such peers in your own government, too.

Finally, I have a confession and an ask. First of all, I do not know what the ‘right’ tool or method is for making a change in government awesome. All I know is that constant curiosity is needed. But I do encourage all of you to join the conversation, either here at Apolitical.co, via LinkedIn or – if you are up for it – just send a crazy idea our way at Accelerate Estonia. What could you do if you had a country for a year – let’s find out together!

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