A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post on Bureaucratic Navigators including one post co-authored with Sarah Chan. In these posts, the role of a bureaucratic navigator was introduced, a role which is essential to success for those who seek to inject innovation into the bureaucracy. You can read…

This week I wanted to share with you the experience of conducting virtual facilitation during a pandemic aka 100% virtual. The opening paragraph of my weeknotes is where I often share brief updates about my own life and non-work related items. This past week has been especially busy with virtual…

Where did summer go? It’s already Labour Day weekend but this year being a COVID year is much different than other years. On the family front, my wife is returning to her job at a school under much different circumstances with some anxiety around whether schools will be safe or…

It’s hard to believe that it is already mid August. School starts in 3 weeks and in COVID times, going back to school is going to be a much different experience than in years past. While many parents need the respite, the current plans for going back to school leave…

A Tale Of Working in the Bureaucracy It’s been a few weeks since my last blog post. Last week was vacation and the week before was a very busy week getting ready for vacation. Returning from vacation is always an interesting experience. It is busy in the sense that it takes time to get back up to…

A Tale Of Working in the Bureaucracy It’s the lazy days of summer as the heat takes over. In Ottawa, we are desperate for rain. I’m looking out at my lawn and all I see is dead grass. I can only imagine how much worse it is for farmers! So before I launch into a post about…

Risk and Reward in the Public Service It’s now the middle of summer. Ottawa has been in the midst of a heat wave for what seems like months. With the humidity, average daily temperatures are raising above 40C. I have a great gazebo in the backyard which would be a great office for the day but our…

As Parts of Ontario Re-Open, COVID-19 Burnout Takes Hold This past week has been a blur of work, toddler raising and used car shopping. That’s right, I’m in the market for a used car. My partner and I are looking into buying a used electric car. It has been a flurry of getting quotes for insurance, checking the market…

An Unofficial Personal Reflection on Rules as Code After a guest post last week, I am doing a shorter than normal post this week as I’m sure you have noticed with the post being published on a Saturday instead of Friday. After 12 (?) weeks in lockdown and with Ottawa going into phase 2 of reopening, semblances of…