Making Public Impact Happen, or Why I'm Leaving Consulting to Join the Ministry of Reforms

I. I still remember vividly when I started out as an intern at BCG. Right after my onboarding training, a week before officially starting, I received the long-awaited e-mail detailing my assignment. Naturally, I was wishing for a prestigious DAX company, or a consumer goods household brand whose products I'd been familiar with growing up.

To my surprise, the project I was assigned to carried the title: "Centre for Public Impact", which left my wondering: What is this thing called "Public Impact"? And how will I relate to it?

II. It turned out that the Centre for Public Impact was BCG's recently established public sector think-tank. Its mission was to advance public sector thinking and capabilities to help governments improve the impact of its services for citizens.

Given my passion for politics, policy debates, and questioning the grand scheme of things, I had - by accident - come to the right place. The right place to philosophize about how governments can do more with less, how tools like design thinking, nudging, or the delivery approach can be leveraged to improve outcomes for citizens - the right place to imagine the government of the future. This was not the type of consulting I had imagined.

III. When I returned as a full-time consultant, I was hungry. Hungry to change the world for the better, and to apply my new public impact mindset and toolbox to the most pressing challenges the public sector is facing in Europe today - ideally, to the enormous challenges my own government was facing at the time.

However, despite my best efforts, my assignments did not reflect this preference. I was able to cover a wide range of industries and geographies, make invaluable experiences, and get familiar with the full range of consulting tools and best practices a top-tier consulting company has to offer, but I was not able to achieve the (public) impact I was longing for.

IV. It was only a matter of time for me to realize that I would have to move on from my current role to be able to drive change and innovation in the public sector. Luckily enough, it was just at that point that a new election was called - which gave me the invaluable opportunity to get involved on the campaign trail, and, thanks to a favorable election result, the chance to support the newly formed government in a more substantial role going forward.

V. While any role in the public sector comes with unique challenges, opportunities, and a particular sense of purpose, I am especially grateful for the agenda I will be covering.

I have always loved my country - at the same time, I have always seen the need for Austria to carry out bold, structural reforms to become more competitive and fit for the future. As policy advisor to our new Minister of Justice and Reforms I will help define and drive such comprehensive transformation efforts. Yet again, I will be in the right place to imagine the government of the future - applying the public impact approach and the consulting toolbox to help shape our country for the better, and to improve the lives of our fellow citizens.

Please do get in touch if you are working in a related policy area or have made a similar professional move recently - any ideas on public sector innovation, good governance, large-scale reform efforts and related topics are more than welcome!