Today’s coffee partner is a Civil Servant who works in one of the bigger Whitehall departments.
We talked about the challenges of being counter-cultural in organisations that thrive on continuity and the status quo. We talked about leadership development programmes and how they reinforce conformity and short-term thinking even if that’s not what the organisation actually needs.
We explored how there’s no such thing as “the civil service” but how much of a challenge working in the public sector has been for the last decade. We talked about wicked problems and systems thinking and how you don’t solve wicked problems by breaking them down into smaller problems – it’s not how they work.
I was introduced to the idea of Human Geography, and also to two more books – Invisible Child and The Good Ancestor.
There was also mention of a wonderful career goal – that at the end of your career you are making new mistakes, not just repeating old ones.
You can find out more about #100Coffees, and even sign up yourself, here.
Running totals for those who like such things…
mmitII 