This post is written by Ben French, Director at Ordinary Leadership.

  • The problem: Political uncertainty is adding to an already uncertain and volatile environment, creating decision paralysis and eroding morale.
  • Why it matters: We rely on civil servants to give politicians good advice and foresee problems in policy debates, but the current situation makes it hard to make decisions and lowers the morale of the people our politicians rely on for advice and policy implementation.
  • The solution: Remember to focus on the basics; provide routine to your team, focus on building consensus across a broad range of stakeholders, and plan for multiple possible futures.

Uncertainty has a certain amount of inertia to it. When confronted with uncertain and volatile environments, decision paralysis is not uncommon.

In British politics, the last year has been unusual. This tweet, “My son has lived through four chancellors, three home secretaries, two prime ministers and two monarchs. He's four months old.” pretty much summed it up.

As a coach to young civil servants, I've seen firsthand the impact of this insecurity on UK civil servants. It has caused me to reflect on my experience as a civil servant and working in the civil services of other countries. When we had three Finance Ministers in a year in South Sudan, I remember spending all my time trying to persuade people to keep preparing their budget. As you might expect, I had little success convincing people to do this extra work.

The truth is that uncertainty has a certain amount of inertia to it. When confronted with uncertain and volatile environments, decision paralysis is not uncommon. Why act if you might have to undo it later? It's especially difficult in the civil service, where Ministers make the final decisions and set the course of action.

Adapting to the new normal

Unfortunately, political uncertainty does not appear to be going away anytime soon–in the UK or elsewhere. So, what can civil servants, particularly junior ones, do to maintain momentum in an increasingly uncertain world?

Here are three principles that I encourage my young civil servants to consider.

Focus on the basics. Obvious as it might sound, it's useful to remember to focus on the basics—from the team and department meetings to regular communication and updates. I'm always surprised by how often routine practices get dropped when organisations face a period of instability. Harvard Business Review wrote a very useful blog on the value of the basics early in the pandemic. If you are a manager, focus on routines. They provide stability for your team and space to discuss the uncertainty that people are feeling.

Build consensus. Policymaking is a process of reaching a consensus. During times of uncertainty, this becomes even more important. It takes longer, and you must plan to involve a broader range of stakeholders. Examine stakeholder mapping tools to determine who is important to the policy issue and how you might engage them. You might even find that this produces a better result than you expected. BetterGovs has a really good policymaker-oriented guide to stakeholder mapping written by a former policymaker and politician who had to navigate uncertainty daily.

Plan for future possibilities. Sometimes you can't mitigate uncertainty again, and you need to plan for the different outcomes in these cases. A South Sudanese civil servant, one of the best civil service leaders I've ever worked with, was a master of this. They were always thinking about the future. The advantage of this strategy was that they could respond when things changed. This process is becoming easier. Most of the world now has access to increasing amounts of data that map political commitments and trends. Take the time to understand how the policy you're working on may change if the person in charge of your department changes. It's one of the advantages of working in government; you don't have to do as much digging to find out what your boss thinks. Look at these links: UK Parliamentary votes and They Work For You (a global repository of how politicians have voted).

Navigating uncertainty is difficult and is never enjoyable for those caught in the middle. We may feel out of control at times. There is no harm in seeking our coaching and mentoring services if you can. Peers–or external coaches–can be a valuable sounding board for navigating times of extreme uncertainty.

How you manage uncertain times rests with you and your team. But by focusing on the fundamentals, establishing consensus, and planning for future possibilities, you position yourself to manage uncertainty as effectively as possible.

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