Major systemic changes require transformative government

Transition-related conflict in public authorities

Stepping on the gas while applying the brakes at the same time: this analogy still applies all too often when public authorities are faced with complex transition issues. Where one civil servant might be looking for ways to pursue an innovative solution to a social problem, it could be that civil servants elsewhere are still very diligently optimising an existing approach.

They do so with the best of intentions. Indeed, those civil servants often have no other choice, because the optimisation work is formally part of their job and they themselves often feel that they are doing what is right.

The effect, however, is that they contribute to maintaining the status quo. In normal times, their actions provide the necessary stability and would indeed be desirable, but at this time of major transitions, reinforcing an existing way of working may sometimes inhibit much-needed innovations and thus be counterproductive.

Questioning the current approach

‘Thanks to civil servants, we have tremendously good public services in the Netherlands. They work to the highest professional standards and are especially good at constantly optimising existing services. But with major systemic changes, optimisation no longer works. Instead, you have to question the current approach and consider how things could be done differently,’ says Rik.

He recently started working as a scientist at TNO Vector, where he focuses specifically on ‘transformative government’ – a term he coined himself.

Need for a phase-out process

It all started when Rik was himself a civil servant at the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. ‘Everywhere I looked, I noticed that many civil servants were eager to play a role in accelerating transitions, but that the organisation was mainly focused on risk management.

This focus on reducing risks is generally just the right thing to do, because it’s exactly what we as a society expect from the civil service. The only thing is that we’re currently at an impasse in many areas. This requires a totally different approach.

It also sometimes requires abandoning existing solutions because they’re no longer fit for purpose in the current situation. However, hardly any attention has been paid to this phase-out. Again and again, I find that many civil servants have never actually given this much thought. It’s also a difficult process, because in phasing out existing services, you inevitably end up with a losing side.’

Serving the public interest

What about innovation projects? ‘With those projects, the problem is that civil servants are generally eager to contribute to innovations that can accelerate a transition, but they face many uncertainties in doing so.

After all, how do you determine what the potential risks are of something that’s still in the development phase? Does such an innovation actually contribute to the public interest? And might such an innovation have unwanted effects in other areas?

These are important questions because, as a civil servant, you can’t simply use taxpayers’ money for innovation projects – especially if there’s a risk that such a project will have unwanted social effects.

Am I allowed to take action? That’s the question good civil servants must constantly ask themselves. It’s usually very difficult to answer that question with a resounding “yes”. This is because you’re dealing with complex transitions and systemic changes that can’t be achieved in the short term, but take decades, and where it’s difficult to substantiate in advance the extent to which a particular initiative will actually lead to the desired effect.’

New role not yet properly defined

Should we then just do nothing? Rik stresses that is in no way an option: ‘We’re hitting a wall in many areas in the Netherlands and social transitions are essential. These require far-reaching systemic changes in which the government plays a crucial role,

except the tricky thing is that this role has not yet been properly defined. As a result, it isn’t clear to civil servants what exactly is expected of them in the case of transformation processes. This is a missed opportunity, as civil servants really could be the guardians of transitions. However, this involves taking on new tasks.

That’s why I advocate transformative government, which offers civil servants the opportunity to work on transformation processes in a way that is different from what they’re used to. All this, of course, in such a way that these processes always serve society.’

The importance of a proper diagnosis

Another key concern is the fact that transitions take a long time and, given their complexity, it’s often difficult to determine what the next step should be.

Rik: ‘You currently see government organisations setting a distant goal, but then finding it very difficult to work out the details in operational practice. Properly diagnosing aspects of unsustainability can help and should also be part of the toolkit of civil servants.

In the first instance, this involves asking the right questions. Where are we now? Where do we want to go? How big is the gap between the two situations and what can help bridge that gap? The next step is not only to look at new initiatives, but also to assess what is currently unsustainable in the system. Especially that last part of the diagnosis is still all too rarely performed.’

Swimming against the current

Such a diagnosis includes identifying potential partners. Indeed, it’s clear by now that public-private partnerships can really make a difference, especially if they include knowledge partners.

‘Such a partnership is not always easy,’ Rik notes. ‘For example, you often see policy officials having to grow their expertise in a short time because they suddenly have to deal with issues they have no experience of.

I witnessed this, for instance, with Mobility as a Service (MaaS), a project of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management as part of which fellow civil servants entered into public-private partnerships and were faced with data issues. Despite strong resistance from colleagues at the Ministry who mainly saw risks, the civil servants were willing to swim against the current. By no means everything went well, but with that civil service team, you could see very clearly that they were doing everything they could to perform transition tasks.

Despite being only indirectly involved at the time, I was very curious to see what dynamics that project had created at the Ministry. That’s why I analysed that particular case for my thesis.’

Four recommendations for governments regarding transitions

Rik calls what happened at MaaS exemplary of the way the government handles transition processes. Time and again, it turns out that many civil servants are eager to play a more active role in transition issues, but encounter daunting institutional roadblocks in the course of their work.

This is also the thrust of what Rik heard during the focus groups he organised during his PhD research. It inspired him to come up with the following four recommendations:

1. Put transition tasks on the agenda and elaborate them into action plans and road maps.
2. Make a diagnosis of institutional structures that hinder transition tasks.
3. Invest in relationships with colleagues who hold the keys to fundamental policy changes.
4. Acknowledge the possible opposition of colleagues who view the situation from the viewpoint of other public values and are therefore wary.

In demand for lectures and workshops

Now that he is working as a scientific expert on transformative government at TNO Vector, Rik knows what he has to do: help civil servants put the four recommendations from his thesis into practice. In doing so, it helps that municipalities, ministries, implementing authorities, and other government organisations are already beating a path to his door to ask for lectures and workshops.

in conclusion, the time really seems ripe to get serious about transformative government. ‘As for my mission, I’m in the right place at TNO Vector,’ Rik adds. ‘Firstly, this is because Adaptive Governance is a priority here and absolutely everyone realises how important it is to have a government that’s able to respond quickly to innovations.

In addition, thanks to transformative innovation ecosystems and Orchestrating Innovation, we’re gaining new insights that are also very valuable when it comes to developing transformative government.’