Joining forces today with @anastasiabekt.bsky.social at The Entrepreneurs Network and TBI colleagues to map out the road to the National Data Library. Instead of pointing to a gap in policy and saying “do this”, we share our take on how to help an exciting govt initiative succeed: bit.ly/3XgHjLQ 1/
10) Above all, trust your judgement and instincts. Policy is art as much as science. Know the rules to know when to break them. Sometimes the most radical act is just doing what needs to be done.
9) Be cordial, diplomatic, resilient - sure. But there's a goldilocks zone. Life's short. Times when you just gotta be yourself and go for it.
8) Leadership can't be outsourced. You can buy knowledge, but moving people and systems - that comes from within.
7) Follow people, not subjects. Find those you click with and stick with them, wherever they go. Prioritise great collaborators over great expertise.
6) Trust is everything in networks. Your basic currency. Have it, you can evolve anywhere. Lose it, no fancy title helps.
5) Embrace and transform disagreements. Success has many parents in policy. Dogma is death - change views fast when evidence demands. Agreement comes last - spend time in friction first.
4) If the system mostly agrees with you, you're doing it wrong. Radical ideas make people uncomfortable. That's why weirdos, misfits and disruptors drive change. Want to know where the centre's moving? Look to the edges.
3) If you're always playing by rules and seeking permission, you'll never get anything radical done. Bureaucracy exists to maintain, not create - to resist change, not enable it.
2) Policy work represents who you are. Evolution happens within before without. Know thyself, transform thyself. If you want change, be that change.
1) Evolution of policy work follows Nietzsche's three metamorphoses: overbearing camel that masters the system; defiant lion that challenges and reshapes it; playful child that reimagines what could be. Same fundamentals, different natures.
2024 was a blast. I worked with brilliant people, took on big challenges, delivered impact, and learned a ton.
Here are the 10 biggest lessons for me:
Alternatively, how not to write policy papers