How to be popular with voters (and achieve nothing)

Taking the boot out of the public sector, volume 5

If you want to be popular with voters, you can attack the administration. It works.

People have minimal understanding of how complex public services are, the differences between the public and private sectors and why bureaucracy is important, so when you say things like:

“They’re slow!”

“They do stupid things!”

“They spend too much money!”

… people will be inclined to agree with you. It’s lazy, but it works. Elections encourage competitive behaviour and simplified solutions, so the “rock-thrower” approach makes sense as an election strategy.

Making the switch from candidate to politician

The public sector uses a collaborative operating model - except when it’s election time. Then, we often see a switch into competitive mode. That can mean undermining opponents, attacking current policies, stressing points of difference, and making promises. That can get you elected. But it won’t get anything done once you’re in office.

Governance requires collaboration

Governance is a team sport. To get anything up and over the line, you need trusting, healthy relationships with your peers. To make good decisions, you need quality information and recommendations from your officers. To understand your community’s needs and aspirations, you need to work closely with stakeholders. To access funding and support, you need to build relationships with other agencies and departments.

Change moves at the speed of trust

Undermining your fellow politicians might win you votes in an election, but it will lose you a motion in office. Calling the administration incompetent might make you look clever in an election, but it will make you look rude and ungrateful in office.

In Councils, the most critical determinant of effectiveness is the quality of the relationship within and between, first, the Councillor group, then, the Mayor and CEO, then, the Councillor group and the executive. The more integrity and competence-based trust there is in these relationships, the more productively people can disagree, the higher the quality of decisions, and the faster things can move.

This extends to the community. In an information environment filled with algorithms sowing discontent and spreading misinformation, and with levels of trust in government at record lows, your community already doubts you. Your job is to turn that around, because if you need to make tricky decisions, get support for a legacy project, or increase rates, you need your community to believe in you.

If you're always undermining your own organisation by suggesting it's untrustworthy, why would they do that? Progress needs trust.

People don’t help jerks

To close: the most effective way to get what you want is to make others look good. The least effective way is to be a smug jerk. 

To build on the Council example:

• Officers won't do extra research, investigate a personal project, or offer to attend an extra community meeting for Councillors who throw them or their colleagues under the bus in public
• The media won't print good news stories when they know Councillors are willing to provide a juicy, controversial sound-bite

• Ministers won’t associate their names to dysfunctional Councils because they're a risk.

• Agencies won’t fund difficult Councils because they want to work with people who make them look good.

If you're a professional rock-thrower, it might be time to consider building trust instead.

Til next week,

AM

Watch the video on LinkedIn here

Read the rest of the 'Taking the Boot out of the Public Sector' series:

• Public services are complex
• You'd never run a business like this!
• In defence of the bureaucrat
• The public opinion trap