Through the Looking Glass: How Google Glass Could Radically Change Your Organization

by Nick Charney

---

A couple of weeks ago I read an article in Rolling Stone entitled "The Future of Movies: How Will Google Glass Change Filmmaking?". While it was obviously focused on the how Glass will impact the film industry, reading it sparked an idea about how organizations could lever Glass to better understand their day-to-day operations.


The idea is simple

1. Grab a junior employee, a low level executive, a mid level executive and the head of the agency; ensure they are all a part of the same reporting structure;
2. Equip each one with Google Glass;
3. Have them film their entire work day on a day where they typically interact with one another; 
4. Sit them all in a room together as all four videos simultaneously in a split screen; and
5. Engage them in an honest and professionally facilitated conversation as the movies roll. 

What might you see? Perfect alignment? Fodder for a revamp of Yes, Minister? Or something in between? 

In fairness, it likely varies from organization to organization. That said, I get the sense that information asymmetries is likely to be a key finding of any such experimentation. 

What do you think? 

Is your organization courageous, desperate, or driven enough to peer through looking glass?

And if so, what do you think they would find?

 

Public service renewal: the weekly round-up

Fellow govvies,

Here're the must-reads of the week. Stay warm and dry!

Snip snip:

•  Death by a thousand cuts: a compelling argument that a disaster-in-the-making is unfolding across government. 
•  And a more positive analysis to balance things out, the Delta Partners argue for a radical cultural shift.
•  It seems that the saga at DND is continuing … is it just media speculation that DND is facing an exodus of public affairs staff?

Remaking public service culture:

• An out-of-the-ordinary, short read on how and why bureaucracies can amplify psychopathic behaviour
• Got a youth network in your department? New to the public service? Then don’t miss this post on The Rise and Fall of Public Sector Youth Groups
•  Worth checking out: Transport Canada launched the new look for government web sites

This post has been a collaborative effort from Lee-Anne Peluk and Nicholas Charney.You can check out Lee-Anne's blog "In the Shuffle" at www.leeannepeluk.wordpress.com

Think IDEO, but for government

This entry may be last before the new year, and to be honest, has been a long time coming. You see, I've got this thought in my head and it seems to have taken up residence. I'm not sure how much you know about me, or how much you care to know, but I've spent the last four years in the public sector. I could bore you with all of the details but let's just say that I've experienced both the best and the worst this sector has to offer.

My initial experience was so abhorrent that I've made it my mission to try to make it better for others; I look to my father for inspiration and to my children for lessons in collaboration. I like to think that I have helped inspire public servants to be courageous, to rethink old mental models, and to alert them to the art of the possible.

I've met many great people, inspiring thinkers and doers, and for that I am incredibly fortunate. Many think I am living the dream, that I am one of the few who have come as close as you possibly can to an entrepreneur in the public sector.

There was a time when I agreed with them, but that time has passed.


We are ready for so much more

I was on the bus on my way to work yesterday and overheard three public servants speaking. One of them was talking about her son who was working as a student two days a week for a federal agency. He was doing so well that they wanted to bridge him in full time, only he didn't want that. In fact, "It is the last thing he wants, he is looking for something where he can be entrepreneurial."

It's not surprising, despite the best efforts of some of our best and brightest, even the most well-intentioned attempt at public sector innovation is suffocated by the traditionally bureaucratic: committees, policies, and briefing notes.

Perhaps it’s time for a complete redesign.


Or at least I am

I want to spend the next leg of my professional career working on all facets of public sector redesign. I've said before that:

Never before has technology allowed us to paint such a clear picture of what is informing decision-making, policy, and program delivery. Embracing a more open ethos and grabbing hold of enabling technology will do more for our public services than we could possibly imagine. It starts with a simple switch: connecting what we used to write in the margins of our paper based notebooks on the web.

In short, I want to focus on designing and implementing open systems for the public sector in virtual, intellectual and physical space. I want to help ensure that the most innovative ideas, practices and people are no longer lost, ignored or marginalized.

I have ideas on how this can be done both within existing public sector organizations, and as a private firm. I'm open to discussing this with anyone who gets me even one inch closer to being able to pull this together.

Think IDEO, but for government.

This column was originally published to cpsrenewal.ca by Nick Charney.