Week 77 — Revisiting the Bureaucratic Navigator
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 the full posts for the long version but the short version is that a navigator is the individual who understands the bureaucracy and innovation and bridges the worlds together. Their intimate knowledge of the bureaucracy means that they are able to connect the dots so the unconventional (innovation) is able to navigate through the traditional (bureaucracy) with minimal friction.
Since then, I’ve had a good conversation with a trusted colleague who has asked not to be revealed. This colleague challenged the role of the bureaucratic navigator saying that the idea of the bureaucratic navigator doesn’t go far enough in its current form. To some degree, “navigating” the maze of paperwork, forms, governance etc. is the easy part. With enough time and patience anyone can learn the language of bureaucracy and become a navigator for others who don’t care to or don’t have the time to learn the inner workings of the bureaucracy. Rather, there is a second more important role a bureaucratic navigator takes on which is “bridge builder” or the person who understands the dynamics of the human beings of the system and can formulate strategies to get buy-in and position innovation to succeed within the constraints and imperfections it finds itself a part of.
The Connector and Navigator
As I reflected on the feedback provided by this colleague, my thinking of the bureaucratic navigator expanded. Earlier descriptions focused heavily on processes, governance and systems and spent less time focusing on people. Any place in government or outside of government will be sharped by the people who are a part of it. There is a surprising amount of flexibility and creativity that is possible even within what is perceived as a constrained and inflexible system like the federal bureaucracy. Significant discretion is given to public servants everyday and many of the restrictions public servants impose upon themselves are urban myths; about as real as Bigfoot. To a certain degree, the people who make up a system define the rules of engagement and perhaps more importantly their interpretation of the rules of engagement.
In the case of the federal bureaucracy, this means that innovation succeeds when the drivers behind innovation understand the people who setup and maintain the system which appears to constrain innovation. So with this lens in mind, a revised description of a bureaucratic navigator is a person who appreciates and respects the complicated nature of decision making and the individuals making those decisions and thus positions innovation in a way that makes it win-win-win for all involved.
This new description goes above and beyond the old description. While the navigator must still appreciate the system, processes and policies of the bureaucracy, they must also appreciate the people and how to persuade people that their idea or their project is worth doing. The tricky part of playing that role is not necessarily articulating the benefits of a given innovative idea or project but rather understand how to present an idea of project in a way that appeals to others. At a more practical level, this means the navigator must be emphatic and able to speak the language of those they are pitching.
The key skill for the revisited bureaucratic navigator is empathy. The ability to appreciate and understand the point of view of others is critical. To get buy-in, the bureaucratic navigator needs to understand how to position their idea in the frame of “what’s in it for them”. This is not something that everyone can succeed at. It’s not a taught skill but rather something that can only be learned through practice.
Even accounting for empathy, the bureaucratic navigator needs another skill for buy-in. Recognition of who in the system is the right person to talk to and what is the right path to get buy-in (e.g. what is the right order to talk to people). Systems thinking becomes an important skillset. The Navigator must be able to mentally map the people who make up the system to understand the right “order of operation” in order to secure buy-in for their idea. A successful navigator is able to appreciate the entire system of people who advise decision makers and the decision makers themselves in order to map out an effective strategy to move their idea forward and get the buy-in they need to succeed.
Final Thoughts
This week’s post is focused on the idea of the revised bureaucratic navigator thanks to a challenge from the unnamed colleague. I haven’t include updates on other projects underway but there is a good reason for that. It’s been a very busy couple of weeks and as the pandemic drags on (especially in light of the news that Ottawa is moving back to Stage 2 restrictions) it’s becoming harder to maintain consistency in blogging.
In 2 weeks, I’ll be officially off for 2 weeks before starting full time French training. I have a few thoughts around the subject which I’ll share either next week or the week after. Once I start full time french training, I’ll dramatically cut back my blogging. I might write a few posts as inspiration strikes and I might try my hand at writing a post in French.
For now, I’ll wrap up this week’s post and thank each of you for reading.
Happy long weekend!
Scott
