Yip. Hear you Annika. My kids and mokopuna are over seas too. Im thinking of setting up a single plank poltical party called ANZAC-UNITY advocating for NZ to hook up with Oz again as an island state like Tasmania .
I endorse all your conclusions about the state of the Public Service. It's operating in a "keep your head down, don't rock the boat, don't question anything, only deliver outputs, not outcomes" mode. Very sad and a big waste of considerable talent.
Well done for having the courage to talk about the real issues
The way a re-organisation has been handled where I work has been shocking...I've been through re-organisations before but this which felt like it was generated by AI :-) You are so right about the outdated hierarchies.
One of the most gracefully worded, and correct, assessments of the fundamental problems with actual progression in this country’s public services (dare I say, could equally apply to many private organisations here).
As a native-born I get sensitive to criticism from those who don’t understand and appreciate the New Zealand way of doing things. But it does have fundamental problems that we need to accept and improve. Your balanced approach will be missed by those who you work with, I’m sure. I hope you return.
That's so kind Phil. And yes this NZ relationship to criticism can be frustrating to immigrants like me. But perhaps I should have added that I've still chosen to live here for 15 years for a reason (and assume I will again in future). German culture does produce quite an efficiency mindset, but it also makes a lot of people miserable even when they're doing fine. So there's something of a tradeoff in the balances.
I have a very good friend who is German. I love hearing his ideas and thinking around process and product improvements. I think a combination of German and Kiwi approaches (which you seem to epitomise) would be amazing (for both nations)
All the best with the move to Australia Annika, and hopefully we'll see you back here someday! In the meantime I'll keep an eye open for some of those Organisational Design functions. I do hope you will be leaving this Substack up (as it is a great resource), and perhaps you will also be able to post an update once your papers are published!
Annika, this was a little sad to read, not so much because of your personal decision to leave, but the observations you made. I too was warned about the damage my PhD would do to my career. That some simple and to me so obvious truths about life, the world and our economic models were too unpalitable for most. So I took to teaching about it. I taught common logic flaws. What the great thinkers of the past had really said, rather than what we think they said. One part of my armoury was a lesson on how organisations set up to chamge will develope processes in their own form. Further cementing the flaws. This is not well understood. It is almost never discussed and change practitioners dont have the tools to avert it. One other point, resilience in animals is driven by excess fat. Resilience in organisations is the same. Get your better use of money from better focus on outcome. Not by cutting fat. To hunt for efficiency is to beget organisational fragility. Take care of your soul, your mind, your body. Hug your friends and strangers alike. You are not wrong, you are so not wrong. Kia kaha.
Thank you so much for all your analysis Annika. With the exception of your work on IRD, I have agreed with it all. I wish I could day you were wrong in your views and argue for you to stay. But again your analysis of the situation is spot on. I wish you well in Australia and hope that, one day, you feel able to return. Take care Andrea
I was fortunate enough to be sent on the ANZSOG EMPA. Something mentioned over the time of the course was the likelihood of returning to our departments, only to be disappointed.
And it was true.
No-one who hadn't done the program wanted to know about or use the frameworks. Certainly not openly. I got to use them only by changing department and not saying I was using them: taking one piece at a time and building it into my team's practices. Five years to lay a foundation, and one restructure to have it all thrown away. But the team did some great work in those five years.
I empathize with your situation. I hope in future you get a chance to build action off your conclusions. Even if it only provides others with a moment of learning to work better, it'll be a moment more than they'd had before.
Wow, thank you Peter, that's a fascinating (and sad) insight. Sounds like this phase of Innovation Labs that we've had a decade ago. Where teams were sent away to do ideation on some public issue, and when they returned with their fully formed ideas they'd just implode. Like an meteroide flaming out on entry into our atmosphere. Interesting that ANZOG were so clear on that too. You can really only just focus on the few people who you've been able to touch with your new frameworks and ideas, and that's something. That's been big for me in this substack and I hope to do more of that in new channels. Thanks!
Yip. Hear you Annika. My kids and mokopuna are over seas too. Im thinking of setting up a single plank poltical party called ANZAC-UNITY advocating for NZ to hook up with Oz again as an island state like Tasmania .
I'd join that party :D
I endorse all your conclusions about the state of the Public Service. It's operating in a "keep your head down, don't rock the boat, don't question anything, only deliver outputs, not outcomes" mode. Very sad and a big waste of considerable talent.
Well done for having the courage to talk about the real issues
All the best with the new chapter in your life.
Thanks so much Caryl :)
The way a re-organisation has been handled where I work has been shocking...I've been through re-organisations before but this which felt like it was generated by AI :-) You are so right about the outdated hierarchies.
All the best for what comes next!
One of the most gracefully worded, and correct, assessments of the fundamental problems with actual progression in this country’s public services (dare I say, could equally apply to many private organisations here).
As a native-born I get sensitive to criticism from those who don’t understand and appreciate the New Zealand way of doing things. But it does have fundamental problems that we need to accept and improve. Your balanced approach will be missed by those who you work with, I’m sure. I hope you return.
That's so kind Phil. And yes this NZ relationship to criticism can be frustrating to immigrants like me. But perhaps I should have added that I've still chosen to live here for 15 years for a reason (and assume I will again in future). German culture does produce quite an efficiency mindset, but it also makes a lot of people miserable even when they're doing fine. So there's something of a tradeoff in the balances.
I have a very good friend who is German. I love hearing his ideas and thinking around process and product improvements. I think a combination of German and Kiwi approaches (which you seem to epitomise) would be amazing (for both nations)
Sad to see you go. I agree with your one fundamental thing.
All the best with the move to Australia Annika, and hopefully we'll see you back here someday! In the meantime I'll keep an eye open for some of those Organisational Design functions. I do hope you will be leaving this Substack up (as it is a great resource), and perhaps you will also be able to post an update once your papers are published!
Annika, this was a little sad to read, not so much because of your personal decision to leave, but the observations you made. I too was warned about the damage my PhD would do to my career. That some simple and to me so obvious truths about life, the world and our economic models were too unpalitable for most. So I took to teaching about it. I taught common logic flaws. What the great thinkers of the past had really said, rather than what we think they said. One part of my armoury was a lesson on how organisations set up to chamge will develope processes in their own form. Further cementing the flaws. This is not well understood. It is almost never discussed and change practitioners dont have the tools to avert it. One other point, resilience in animals is driven by excess fat. Resilience in organisations is the same. Get your better use of money from better focus on outcome. Not by cutting fat. To hunt for efficiency is to beget organisational fragility. Take care of your soul, your mind, your body. Hug your friends and strangers alike. You are not wrong, you are so not wrong. Kia kaha.
Thank you so much for all your analysis Annika. With the exception of your work on IRD, I have agreed with it all. I wish I could day you were wrong in your views and argue for you to stay. But again your analysis of the situation is spot on. I wish you well in Australia and hope that, one day, you feel able to return. Take care Andrea
I was fortunate enough to be sent on the ANZSOG EMPA. Something mentioned over the time of the course was the likelihood of returning to our departments, only to be disappointed.
And it was true.
No-one who hadn't done the program wanted to know about or use the frameworks. Certainly not openly. I got to use them only by changing department and not saying I was using them: taking one piece at a time and building it into my team's practices. Five years to lay a foundation, and one restructure to have it all thrown away. But the team did some great work in those five years.
I empathize with your situation. I hope in future you get a chance to build action off your conclusions. Even if it only provides others with a moment of learning to work better, it'll be a moment more than they'd had before.
Wow, thank you Peter, that's a fascinating (and sad) insight. Sounds like this phase of Innovation Labs that we've had a decade ago. Where teams were sent away to do ideation on some public issue, and when they returned with their fully formed ideas they'd just implode. Like an meteroide flaming out on entry into our atmosphere. Interesting that ANZOG were so clear on that too. You can really only just focus on the few people who you've been able to touch with your new frameworks and ideas, and that's something. That's been big for me in this substack and I hope to do more of that in new channels. Thanks!