One of the defining flaws of the outgoing government was its failure before it was even elected to think through great policy initiatives and how to implement them. It expected that, once elected, the public service would translate value statements into substance. It couldn’t. Our public sector is too cautious. Implementation is slow and uneven.

Groupthink is a greater risk than passionate advocacy. The public service will not easily move to disruptive thinking, so the solution is to change institutions.

Read Josie's solutions for public sector reform here.