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The Public Governance Institute seeks to reengineer our traditional
understanding of the word change in relation to public governance,
and wants to give new breadth to a complex issue that fundamentally
affects leadership and policy. In order to do this, we must
abandon our current conception of public-sector change –
one that expects endless deliberation and slow results –
and consider how we can make public governance more efficient
and productive.
The Public Governance Institute believes that public governance
will improve and public officials will better manage change
in the 21st century, but it will take examination with an open
mind and a willingness to adopt tried and proven organizational
change management techniques already widely accepted in the
private-sector.
Change is a tricky word because it quite literally has close
to 20 different definitions. A small sampling includes: to exchange,
substitute, or replace something; to pass or make something
pass from one state or stage to another; to become different,
or make something or somebody different; to exchange a unit
of money for an equal amount of lower denominations; and a different,
clean, or fresh set of something especially clothes. We conclude
from the preceding definitions that one can change water from
liquid to gas, change religion from Christianity to Judaism,
change a $100 bill, or even change long pants to shorts. These
definitions are exhaustive and even fail to mention change as
a state of time i.e. change occurs always and indefinitely despite
human awareness. Undoubtedly, change is a diverse topic.
Fortunately for us, some distinguished scholars, entrepreneurs,
and the like have devoted their careers to the study of change
of all kinds. They examine what causes change, who reacts best
and worst to change, what makes us resist change, and most importantly
how we can manage it better. These examiners – here the
Institute must give special attention to Daryl Conner of Conner
Partners based in Atlanta for he has most specifically influenced
the work of the Institute and its methodology – have created
volumes of information on the subject enabling the Public Governance
Institute to adopt a few key principles that have particular
relevance to nature of public-sector change. They proceed as
follows:
- Change is a process
- Change is not as mysterious as most people think
- Change typically unfolds in a manner that can be recognized
and predicted
- We all assimilate change at different speeds
- We can help ourselves and others recover more quickly and
effectively from the effects of change
The Public Governance Institute focuses on building the capacity
of pubic officials to successfully carry out their goals. It
places emphasis on: skills in strategic planning, internal and
external communications, the Nature of Change, the process of
change, implementation design, measurement of process and commitment
to change goals. It is dedicated to transferring its understanding
and knowledge to leaders at all levels of government, domestic
or international, in order for them to succeed in attaining
goals for successful leadership.
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