As published in the Mandarin 21 March 2025: Why generalists ARE specialists Firstly, congratulations to The Mandarin on their conference last week. It is one of the better conferences I have attended because they had the courage to allow competing ideas to be put forward. It was a bit unusual, the norm being a passing…
It’s on again, politicians throwing stones at each other over the public sector. One side says too many and the other says too few. It’s an argument designed to score points politically, to play to the leanings of the electorate. One is either for or against the public sector. You either think it to be…
It’s the scout’s creed “Do Your Best”, but sometimes doing your best just isn’t good enough. As published in The Mandarin 4 December 2024.https://www.themandarin.com.au/282939-veteran-suicide-when-doing-your-best-isnt-good-enough/ Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles and Australian Minister for Veterans’ Affairs Matt Keogh. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch) When I was asked if I would like to write…
As published in The Mandarin December 3, 2024 by Kiah MD John Glenn If I had realised this when I first started out my life would have been much easier – everywhere! I would have got more of what I wanted to achieve with much less angst. At home, at school, at work – did…
As published in The Mandarin November 1, 2024 by Kiah MD John Glenn Most of us have to get stuff done – at least at work! For some, it’s simply done by managing a process. Start at the beginning, work through the process, end up with an outcome. For most who read this, life is…
As published in The Mandarin October 29, 2024 by Kiah MD John Glenn It’s de rigueur to run performance-based contracts. Deliver the agreed performance, get paid. Don’t meet the performance standard, get paid less. Should make sense, but does it? Do the job, get paid In a business-to-business (B2B) relationship, if a company delivers faster,…
A large IT project off the rails, who would have thought? It’s not actually news and picking on the Defence ERP program is like shooting fish in a barrel. It’s not that people aren’t trying to do a good job, it’s just that sometimes they just dig a hole they can’t get out of by…
As published in The Mandarin September 27, 2024 by John Glenn and Kylie Pezdirc If we want the best possible public sector, we need more leaders questioning what has always been done. Not to seek consensus, but to challenge it. To challenge themselves. The status quo is yesterday’s answer to today’s problem. Consensus is the…
As published in The Mandarin September 10, 2024 by Kiah MD John Glenn I know I’m a heretic. Surely, it’s obvious we need good contract management. The Department of Finance has a well-meaning 50+ page guide to managing contracts. ANAO has a web page providing advice on better procurement and contract management (ANAO Insights: Audit…
You don’t have to be at the top to demand that your organisation delivers. Hold yourself, your colleagues and your leaders accountable. As published in The Mandarin September 17, 2024 by John Glenn Last week was a tough one for the Defence sector. But there are lessons for everyone in public service. I get told…
