(#1) Symbiotic Governments | We cannot build the future using systems of the past

The Corona pandemic, with its corresponding scale of economic and health devastations, provoked an imperative sense of urgency across the world. In response, some governments (the likes of New Zealand, Germany, UAE) embraced the opportunities which emerged, while others less so. Far off eventualities, such as virtual cabinet decisions, virtual policy-making, even virtual schooling, were mobilized literally overnight (abandoning the confines of incremental progress).

Generally, change without a sense of urgency equates failure. But that ‘sense’ of urgency is a short-lived necessity, with a brief shelf-life. Which is why an equal measure of a ‘sense of opportunity’ is necessary. It is this balance between urgency and opportunity that could sustain the momentum which has been triggered by the pandemic.?To better address the world’s most pressing systemic challenges, it is time?for leapfrogging governments from 19th century mindsets and silos (such as ministries), towards 21st century structures and systems (such as missions).

Tackling the Context Before the Content

Numerous innovative government concepts have come forth – from agile government, citizen-centric government, to design-thinking government. I've been privy to translating many of these on the ground. Whilst each concept brings a great promise and expectation, many struggle in execution. Having experienced the inner workings of government, I’ve witnessed the anguish, struggles and hurdles of grappling with legacy systems; been perplexed by affiliated entities contending to find the next big thing; and involved in plenty of conversations on the drive for modernization and the push for transformation, yet repeatedly witnessed the collisions between optimistic intentions and realist execution.

The underlying problem is that all too often we create linear initiatives, tool, innovations, and interventions (i.e. the content), in an attempt to try and fix the context (i.e. entrepreneurial, forward-thinking and innovative governments). As humans, we have been molded to resort to such linear thinking – categorize and compartmentalize. Which is exactly why school models are defined by subjects (math, science, history); museums are divided by exhibitions (modern, contemporary, historic artifacts); and of course governments are segregated by ministries (health, education, defense). But life doesn’t fit into boxes; government shouldn’t either.

“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”?

― Albert Einstein

What if we changed the ‘context’, before resorting to redress the ‘content’.?The outcome so far is a thought experiment, which I summarize through this multi-part series. The primary aspect of the experiment looks at how we can begin changing the ‘context’ through missions-thinking – beginning with transforming government Ministries into Missions.

Ministries as instruments of linear-thinking

Ministries are the cogwheels of government, and the way they are structured and how they operate, plays an integral role in the success or failure of global governments.?By default, ministries are set up to operate in a linear-way. They are incrementally better than the version they were last year, but still anchored in the past (it’s hard not to be given current models).

They are linear in their decision-making:?Decision-making is a critical obligation embedded within Ministries, yet checks-and-balances of bureaucracy ultimately slow down the processes, making governments even more linear. They become bogged down with red tape from linear financial, procurement, personnel, and budgeting processes. The situation worsens when senior officials begin to pursue the narrowly defined interest of their own ministries over the welfare of the whole. Eventually, siloed agendas are formed, limiting the scope of impact and progress.

They are linear in their resource allocation: When government expenditure is distributed across ministries it’s typically based on the ‘OR’ philosophy. Do they value economic growth OR preservation? Is defense more valuable OR education? Spend on quick short-term wins for a re-election agenda, OR go for long-term visions, which typically have a higher return on investment (if a government is proactive and patient enough). Resource allocation is much easier in an ‘OR’ world; but this runs the risk of eliminating possibilities and alternatives by forcing us down single pathways.

Missions as instruments for non-linear thinking

Missions, by design, embrace the nonlinear ‘AND’ philosophy (i.e. valuing economic growth AND preservation; valuing defense AND education). The word mission carries with it a strong connotation. It is not a strategy limited to five years, nor a plan constrained to one or two years. It is a visionary purpose, with a clear, long-term aspiration, addressed across time (10+ years); such as, eradicating hunger, the colonization of Mars, or internet for all.?

“As we begin to understand complex systems, we begin to understand that we’re part of an ever-changing, interlocking, non-linear, kaleidoscopic world.”

- W. Brian Arthur

In 2018 Prof. Mariana Mazzucato, set out how mission-based innovations can bring together diverse sectors, to foster bottom-up innovation for solving complex challenges. She portrayed missions as dynamic interactions within an ecosystem; comprised of aligned ambitions and objectives; alongside coordinated economic, societal and technological aspirations.

This approach was applied to activate a mission-oriented government in Estonia, by tackling "wicked problems" through systems-thinking. The UAE government, as well, is experimenting with shifting mindsets across the Cabinet, from striving for “strategies” to aspiring for growth-missions.

Missions-thinking also has the potential of being embedded deep within the design of a government system. One proposition would be to design a system based on clusters of shared-purpose i.e.?Wellbeing or Resilience (note the image below). Similar to how each of the brain lobes have specific focus functionalities, each cluster would be characterized by a specific overarching theme – such as ensuring fair and equal prosecution under the ‘Missions for Justice’ cluster; or establishing and retaining strong international ties under the ‘Missions for Relations’ cluster. This allows for concentration within a specific domain of expertise.

Each cluster is then home to a specific set of clear and measurable long-term missions, such as ‘1 million high-tech entrepreneurs by 2030’ under the ‘Missions for Prosperity’; or ‘0 maternal deaths at birth by 2032’ under the Missions for Wellbeing. There are no limits to the number of individual missions within a cluster, as long as they are applicable and relevant. Each of these individual missions will be tagged with specific indicators to measure progress and share updates.

The key differentiator of this symbiotic government is the absence of siloed ownership. Government as a whole is mandated to create and achieve these missions, leveraging the expertise available across all mission clusters. This enables a seamless flow within the system, making government more future ready (fluid, agile and preemptive).

“The future holds numerous challenges that entail adopting a forward-looking approach towards updating the government structure and the way it works”.

- H.H Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum

Our world is prone to face many more dilemmas and crises, from climate change to the 4th Industrial Revolution. These afflictions cannot be deciphered separately. To effectively tackle future challenges, it’s imperative that we address the context in a systemic manner, before tackling the content (of course in a non-linear manner).

We need a symbiotic government to address the issues holistically, with systems operating as interrelated constituent parts, leveraging mission-thinking. This transformation has the potential to shift government systems of the past (hierarchical, siloed structure of independent ministries), into interdependently, interconnected, neural-like systems, with value and sustainability ingrained deep within their design.

Throughout this series, I aim to elaborate more on how governments can leverage Mission Thinkers to formulate the agenda of the future; the role of ‘Mission Clusters' in decluttering governments; how governments can ensure flow of information and insights via 'CoCreators'; and the vital role of 21st century leaders, as we embed Missionpreneurs within the interworking of government to drive the change required.

To help ensure we don’t run into another ‘agile’ or ‘lean’ methodology – great in theory but struggling in execution – it’s crucial to run a series of iterative dialogue and testing around the concept of missions, all the way through to deployment. Therefore, your views, inputs and comments are always welcome.