This issue

– why policy narrative matters
– reframing risk in innovation
– a Real Deal post COVID-19
– are women leaders really better?
– national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth report
Plus what I'm reading.

Research brief: The importance of policy narrative  

A paper in Policy Design and Practice examines the role of policy narrative in the effectiveness of responses to COVID-19. The findings provide a compelling reason for public managers to integrate narrative development into their policymaking. Read our brief on the paper. 

Reframing risk in innovation ​

The idea of risk avoidance and aversion has become a dominant feature in the way public services are designed, managed and reviewed. A new guide from the UK’s NESTA explores how risk can be reframed to enable innovation. 

What do we mean by reframing risk? 

Reframing risk requires reflecting on how risk is conceived, managed and measured. An approach of ‘risk maturity’ can help explore service and organisational risks alongside societal risks. This creates space for ‘upside possibility’ – the potential for gains through innovation and experimentation, learning and adaptation. 

Questions of balance 

The key to understanding risk maturity is expanding interpretations and responses to risk by exploring: 

• Which risks gain attention and where we give focus to them. 
• How we seek to manage risk and when conversations about risk and opportunity take place. 
• Who is involved in those conversations. 

Rather than a binary ‘either/or’ shift that rejects the current approach to risk, a ‘both/and’ approach allows for an expansion of how we think about risk, creating more space for innovation. 

Risk maturity assessment 

The guide provides a risk maturity assessment framework that can be used within teams, organisations or across the wider system. It explores how risk is currently managed and whether it is limiting or creating the space for innovation and improvement.  

A ‘Real Deal’ post COVID-19 ​

Can Australians from all walks of life come together to map a new course for the economy in the aftermath of COVID-19? The Sydney Policy Lab’s Real Deal brought together a coalition of climate, union, community and business groups to answer this question.   

What is a Real Deal? 

The original New Deal was made during the Great Depression. It was a program of labour rights, welfare measures and public infrastructure which showed how reimagining the relationship between government and citizens can turn the course of a crisis. COVID-19 requires a set of new deals that reconfigure the economy and society to meet deepening social and environmental crises beyond the pandemic. This is the Real Deal. 

Five benchmarks for creating a Real Deal 

The final report suggests that while stimulus spending is needed to address the COVID-19 crises, it is insufficient to address the critical issues Australia is facing. It outlines five benchmarks for creating a Real Deal: 

1. Major public investment is back, but policy must be attuned to the shape of the economy. 
2. The pandemic exposed pre-existing inequalities and injustices that must be addressed. 
3. We need bold community vision for an economy that serves everyone and  a plan to make it happen. 
4. A Real Deal is generated by the active participation of people in decisions that affect them. 
5. Collaboration is the foundation for a Real Deal that can deliver long-lasting solutions. 

Case studies 

The report outlines a range of case studies that provide a platform for a Real Deal. These include expanding renewable energy, reimagining aged care, building cooperative enterprise, providing community housing and collaborating across difference. 

The Global Institute for Women’s Leadership has released a collection of essays on the gendered impacts of the COVID-19 crisis. One essay examines the role of leadership in responding to the pandemic. Globally, women hold only seven per cent of government leadership positions, yet four of the top 10 countries identified as frontrunners in their response to COVID-19 are led by a woman. 

The role of gender stereotypes 

While it appears that women leaders have navigated the crisis more successfully, this is less likely to be a consequence of innate gendered qualities. It is more likely to be the influence of gender stereotypes and expectations. 

All political leaders are expected to display masculine traits regardless of gender. This pandemic requires a new style of leadership characterised by adaptability, resilience, empathy, compassion, decisiveness and an ability to collaborate. These qualities are stereotypically regarded as feminine. Women leaders have the advantage of gender expectations that are more suited to dealing with crises such as pandemics. 

The competency bind 

The essay argues that countries with women leaders are perhaps faring better because they’re held to more rigorous standards, exemplifying what is known as the competency bind. This works on the assumption that femininity and competent leadership are mutually exclusive, that a leader can either be “tough or caring”. Male leaders are therefore presumed to be competent by virtue of their masculinity while women automatically inspire doubt. Women in politics must therefore work twice as hard as their male colleagues. 

National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth report ​

Mission Australia’s National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Youth Report analyses the survey responses of more than 1,500 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people. It provides a deep understanding of their wellbeing, strengths and challenges, as well as their concerns and aspirations for the future. 

At a glance  

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people were much more likely to highly value culture than their non-Indigenous peers (47.4% compared with 25.3%). 
• Over half (51.4%) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander respondents felt happy/very happy overall with their lives, compared with 61.4% of non-Indigenous young people. 

• Close to 29.9% Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander respondents reported that they have been bullied in the past year, compared with 20.3% of non-Indigenous respondents.  
• Around 16.8% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people identified discrimination as a personal concern, compared with 9.9% of non-Indigenous young people.  

Policy recommendations 

The report makes a series of policy recommendations including: 

• Young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people need to be at the centre of service design and development. 
• Wherever possible, mainstream agencies should seek to work in partnership with 
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.  
• Programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people must be designed to support all domains of social and emotional wellbeing. 

1. The end of bureaucracy, again? ​

Despite bureaucracy having become a synonym for red tape and inertia, the concept has shown remarkable staying power. An article from Boston Consulting Group explores this paradox by: 

• examining the nature and functions of bureaucracy why it has remained the dominant paradigm 
• whether and how emerging challenges will require leaders to reinvent their organisational models. 

2. Here’s what happens every minute on the internet in 2020  

This infographic captures what happens each minute online from the aggregate output of 4.5 billion internet users in 2020 (up from 3 billion in 2014). It is the eighth edition produced since 2012. Over time, platforms like Tumblr, Flickr and Foursquare have dropped off while Facebook, Amazon, and Google have had impressive staying power. Today’s digital hot spots include e-commerce and collaboration tools such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams. 

‘Til the next issue

Maria Katsonis