Steve Harding, former city manager in California, provides a refresher course in optimism.
Like most professions, public managers are usually very good at explaining the what they do and how they do it. What they are not as good at is asking and telling “Why” they do it. This presentation is about how governmental professionals can reestablish a public service paradigm not only within their own organizations but in the communities they serve. The needs of bureaucracy and democracy are different but not mutually exclusive. Each will need to work together in order to develop a broader sense of common purpose.
Link: The Why of Public Service
Supplemental Reading
- Part I: Making Civic Sense of California
- Part II: Governing the California Republic
- Part III: Why Six Californias?