Six Key Pillars of Successful Modern-Day Governments

History tells us of the rise and fall of nations and indeed empires. From the Sumerians through the Greeks and Romans through to the modern day, the key factor that weaves through the thread of nations’ ascendancy is governance. Where ambition, leadership and strong values combine, nations have aspired to growth and development – even in the most turbulent of times. But in times of change and unpredictability lie opportunities – seeking them, making the most of them, is key to navigating the way ahead.

How can governments enable nations to succeed in such times? I believe there are six key components to consider.

?Vision

Governments are primarily entrusted with the role of serving people and fulfilling their aspirations. This begins by possessing a vision for the future. In times of rapid change, governments must be forward-looking and adopt a futuristic approach with long-term goals rather than getting burdened by short term cycles of four or five years. Government leaders and policymakers must think of themselves as designers of the future, with long-term objectives that drive national interests above all else. Future planning is critical and a 50-year timeframe should inform that planning and that includes encompassing permanent solutions to complex issues rather than temporary ones.

?Development

In today’s world, governments are competing – not for oil wealth – but for the wealth vested in minds and talents. Governments must not allow stagnation to creep in where human development is concerned, but they need to invest in scaling capabilities by upskilling and reskilling employees. With the evolution of new tech-enabled workplaces, public sector staff will have to upgrade no less than 40% of their core skills within the coming five years. That will lead to massive economic gains as investing in employee skills will increase global GDP by $6.5 trillion and global productivity by an average of 3% in the next decade, according to a study. Youth is critical to successful government – and that means competing with the private sector for young talent. Having more young workers Choosing the private sector is a clear wake-up call.

Governance

Failed states currently cost the world around billions of dollars annually. They do not create opportunity, they cost opportunity. And the failure is one of governance.For instance, Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew rose from a developing country with limited resources to an advanced nation in a single generation due to Lee’s work in empowering the institutions, establishing rigorous legislative policies, and investing relentlessly in education and development.

Additionally, it is critical for future-focused governments to adopt new models of governance that embrace agility and resilience in adapting to changes, when tackling new work approaches, policymaking and service delivery. Governments more than ever have to accelerate the transition to digital public service to fulfill people’s demands.

Despite a rise in public trust in governments at the start of 2020, it declined over the course of their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer report, the private sector is perceived by people to be the leader in addressing and delivering solutions to global issues. It has never been so important for governments to rebuild the trust in public institutions and that is in many ways a communications issue but is also rooted in the need to develop creative ideas and solutions. Governments need to drive not only innovation, but acquire a risk appetite.

?Entrepreneurialism

Many governments today still function according to the same hierarchies and models of 200 years ago. Preserving the status quo, holding the line, whatever phrase you like to use, a government focusing on stability in an unstable world is going to sacrifice agility and opportunity by focusing on those ‘tough choices’ rather than chasing new prospects. They truly need to move from being ‘observers’ to ‘change makers.’

Governments today need to think like startups, to embrace innovation and challenge institutionalized thinking.

For many in government that may well seem totally counter to the way they see their work – and that truly is part of the challenge – instilling an appetite for change and challenge in government is not easy – but it is critical if progress is to be made. ?Governments also need to be citizen-centric, and engage the public through design thinking in policymaking, strategy-building and decision-making.?

?Accountability

Regardless of the system of governance in place, public accountability is critical to the effective functioning of government. All too often, the civil service is not sufficiently transparent and lacks structures and processes that are built around accountability. And yet, service to the public is at the very core of the role of government. If government officials are not prepared to show how they are serving the public, how can they expect to gain the trust of that public? Setting KPIs and reporting against them is one of the most basic tenets of any administration and yet is often relegated to a box-ticking exercise – true accountability lies in public engagement at the point of service, right the way through to remunerating management based on effective KPIs and public feedback.

Accountability also means zero tolerance for corruption, which costs the world economy an estimated 5% of GDP, or $3.6 trillion annually, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF).

?Data

The pace of change in the next 50 years?is set to exceed anything humanity has experienced since the dawn of time. There are few priorities as great as the effective management of data and public information – maintaining personal privacy and data integrity, governments must pivot to considering information as critical to service provision. Understanding people’s habits and choices, presenting them with contextual decision-making situations and easy to understand, effective choices should not be the sole preserve of online advertising companies – governments need to think like social media platforms and act like ecommerce leaders. Embracing technologies like AI will only be possible in a structured, effective data-led environment – and yet the winners of the future will be those who do just that.

Going forward, governments have no choice but to be futurist and resilient in the face of global uncertainty. We are not running a 100-metre race; we are running a whole marathon and we need to be well-prepared.?