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Government is risk averse. That is not a shocking statement for this audience and is the general viewpoint of the public. Honestly, I don’t want my government running like a venture capital firm taking giant risks in the hopes of big rewards. A little more “Steady Eddie” does it for me. However, being completely risk averse comes with its own risk, which is something we should contemplate.
If you want innovation in your organization, you need to try new things and create a culture where reasonable risk and reasonable failures are allowed. That sounds scary. But it is simply true. Not all new ideas pan out, and when they don’t in government, there are more than just economic consequences - there is both reputation and political risk, as well. Those risks affect staff and the elected officials they want to best serve, which means risk-taking is a partnership between the agency staff and the elected leaders.
Our TS Talent Solutions group is in the midst of several strategic planning processes with organizations. Many agencies are looking for some form of innovation: deploying AI in the organization, reengineering a permitting process, trying a new outreach strategy, being more aggressive on homelessness policy or authorizing major investments in a new capital project. Each vision has risk, but in asking staff to take the risk, I think it is important for elected leaders to recognize the risks and tell their staff: “It’s OK, take the risk.” Agency staff need to hear elected leaders say it and live up to it. And, if something doesn’t go as planned due to a reasonable mistake, chalk it up as a lesson learned and look to the next innovation.
It’s also important to tell the community that your organization is taking on a bit of risk and why this is justified. That won’t prevent naysayers from saying “I told you so” if something goes wrong, but it certainly is transparent, builds trust and it may even serve to create more enthusiasm for the success of the project.
Take reasonable risk. Do important things. Innovate.
Onward,
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