Weeknote 19 of 2024

Ooof. I've been feeling the stress of the winter and holiday season - busy work, busy life. It took me a full week of chipping away at it to write this weeknote.

What happened

• I got a double-barrelled illness. Some sort of cold/flu coupled with pink eye, both brought home from school by my kids. I took two sick days which were the first sick days I've taken all year.
• Being sick meant I missed my division holiday events :(
• During this time period, I both started and then paused an engagement with a program area on some interesting work with a highly used service. We're in the middle of a Postal strike in Canada which seriously affects this service, but the intention is to pick it back up when the strike is over.
• I've also been working on a design project on our internal service offering in our division, which is going well aside from finding time in people's schedules.
• My director and I led an Intro to Design workshop for some finance people. It seemed to go well but we got zero feedback so who knows.
• I completed my mandatory fraud awareness and prevention course. Related: Of our mandatory courses in BC Gov, I learned that Info Management and Fraud Awareness are required to be renewed, but the Diversity and Inclusion course does not need to be renewed. It also seems like some important topics are missing; reducing bias and safety/respect in the workplace come to mind....what else?
• I attended a fantastic Design Community call with Tash Willcocks, organized by Harry, and set up another one for December: An Octopus Walks Into A Bar.
• I attended the annual Public Sector Network event in downtown Victoria. It was a great chance to connect with colleagues.

What went well

• I was quoted by Jennifer Pahlka so that was cool. I also listened to her interview on the Ezra Klein show and was excited to hear her talking about how trust in government goes both ways which was literally a talk I gave at FWD50 so I was pumped to know that I am in good company with my thoughts on public sector service delivery.
• I'm really appreciating the vibes on my small design team. We have a very calming and supportive virtual space.
• Although I generally don't enjoy networking and small talk, I feel I'm finally at a point where I know enough people in BC government that attending government events isn't painfully awkward and lonely. So the Public Sector Network was more energizing than normal this year.
• On a related note, I was approached by a few people I don't know who recognized me and give me kind feedback on various things. So that was nice and made me feel like maybe I am making a difference in a small way.

What was challenging

• It felt like a few things I've done went nowhere. Messages to people that weren't answered, work that stalled, ignored requests for feedback. It's fine but a bit discouraging.
• I've had a lot of my plate for the last few weeks. I've started my daughter in tutoring twice a week, which has added a lot to our rota of activities. Plus the stress of holiday events, holiday gifts and the drudgery of moving those elves every night.
• Solidarity with the striking postal workers, but it's frustrating that I spent a lot on custom holidays cards which are apparently going nowhere fast.

Things you should read

Some great blog posts over the last little while. The most important one IMO being the one from Jennifer Pahlka which inspired the bluesky post which she quoted me on:

Is there a path to responsible disruption?

I hope it’s not too late for the kind of clearing of the brush that controlled burns bring.

Eating PolicyJennifer Pahlka

Money talks

Estimating the cost and value of service design

The Service GazetteIgnacia Orellana

Embracing remote design sprints with Karel de Grote University College - TPXimpact

Read all about our recent experience running remote design sprints with Karel de Grote University College.

TPXimpactContact Steven

Finding services on government websites: progress, pain points and potential

Through our work with Kyiv and Bloomberg Philanthropies, Public Digital looked at how governments are making services easier to access through their websites.

What’s the difference between a delivery manager, a project manager and a scrum master | Roger Swannell

Roger Swannell |Roger

Politicisation, digitisation and the civil service

One of the issues about which the House of Lords regularly challenges the government is the civil service. As many members are ex- heads of the service or of a department, the quality of debate is…

Mediummartha lane fox

State, bureaucracy and power - Reflections of a bureaucrat

There’s no point in denying it: I’m a bureaucrat. As a career government worker, I’m part of the machinery of the state, for better or worse. I find the English expression “public servant” elegantly side-steps this reality and focuses on an idealized “public” that we ostensibly serve. The French expression, “fonctionnaire”, is perhaps more honest: I serve a specific function in the state apparatus. Part of my role is enforcing rules and maintaining the bureaucracy. I am, in one word, a bureaucrat.

Reflections of a bureaucrat – David Pepin – Notes, billets et récits écrits par David Pepin. UX, conception de contenu (content design), amélioration continue.David Pepin

Workshopping dxw’s design community – Imran Hussain

Imran HussainName *

Reading watching listening

I finished a few books including The Humans by Matt Haig which sounded a bit strange and not my thing but was really great. I loved the outsider perspective on the quirks of humankind, and it was surprisingly uplifting

I finished the Diplomat (good but a bit cheesy) and started on Silo, based on a book I read earlier this year. Beig sick also gave me a chance to watch some documentaries - Sweet Bobby on Netflix was shocking.

I listened to many podcasts but the one I highly recommend is The Moth - In Service Of. The last story was completely shocking and delightful.