In a new episode of Leading Questions, Richard Johnstone, the executive editor of Global Government Forum, interviews Dr Dan Honig, professor of public policy at University College London and Georgetown University, about his new book, Mission Driven Bureaucrats. 

Subtitled Empowering People To Help Government Do Better, Honig’s book explores how civil servants can be empowered to drive better government performance. 

Honig argues that many public sector organisations are too focused on compliance – what he describes as an attempt to keep those who might want to do ill from doing it. 

Such as approach wears down public servants, leaving those who are driven to make a difference frustrated by the obstacles and compliance rules they face. 

This highly topical interview comes as the new UK government aims to focus government on five key missions, and provides insight on both how to realise progress on what Honig calls these grand missions, as well as using missions as a means to clearly state public service purposes – be that fighting fires or providing care, or being the best internal auditor. 

Honig says that empowering civil servants is vital to achieving all these missions, giving civil servants both autonomy and support as a team to deliver. 

Listen in full to hear about how to make mission delivery happen in government – from strategies to drive change like implementing ‘green tape rules’ to the role of leadership. If you have questions about how to make mission-driven change happen in government, please contact richard.johnstone@globalgovernmentforum.com – and we will ask Dan for his tips of adopting a mission approach in government.

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