Knowledge Based Governance: Learning Governance and Leadership
-
Upload
erwin-schwella -
Category
Government & Nonprofit
-
view
181 -
download
4
description
Transcript of Knowledge Based Governance: Learning Governance and Leadership
Knowledge Based Governance
Turning the Kaleidoscope:From Data to Wisdom Through Learning
Leadership Prof Erwin Schwella SPL Public Leadership Forum
The Destination and Road Map
• Towards good municipal governance using action research and action learning
• From data to information to knowledge and wisdom
• From problems to purpose• Using evidence and experience towards learning
leadership for performance• Democracy as an example of a learning
organisation
The Destination and Road Map
• Policies and service delivery based upon ideas and evidence, rather than on ideology and emotion
• From partisan, parochial and populist politics, on the one hand to professional prudent policy-making and service delivery
• Ideas- and evidence-based governance benefit from knowledge, learning and innovation
The Destination and Road Map
• This then benefits democratic good governance for effective and ethical policy-making and service delivery
• Effective and ethical governance requires:– processes to enhance organisation learning (OL),– knowledge management (KM) for change and– innovation
The Road Side Attractions
• Build individual and institutional capacity to improve organisational performance.
• In this process of knowledge-based learning for good governance, – action learning and – action research approaches
• Indicated to improve local government performance
The Road Side Attractions
• Action learning and action research– Governance practices are analysed in order to
learn and to build capacity towards team and systems-based continuous quality improvement,
– Pursued consciously and continuously– Use action learning as an educational strategy
used in a group setting that seeks to:• generate learning from human interaction • arising from engagement in the solution of real-time
(not simulated) work problems
• Action learning contributes to institutional capacity-building and improved performance by being:– Change oriented, embedded in action and
intended to bring about improvement, or implement some worthwhile initiative. • In action learning, the action and the learning are
integrated and not separated . Whilst participants introduce change, they learn.
– Mindful, thoughtful and observant
• Action learning is critically reflective before, during and after the action on which the learning is based.
• Pay attention to what happens, and analyse actions and the consequences
• Mindfulness and critical reflection improves both the action and the learning.
– Cyclic, involving a spiral of cycles of planning, action (implementing the plans, observing the results of the action, systematically reflecting on the result and then re-planning, further implementation, observing and then reflecting again).
• Qualitative, using natural language for the action and learning– Within an action learning program, understanding
develops through informed and evidence-based discussion– The form of language is supportive and at the same time
questioning– Robust and reflective learning dialogue enhancing action
and learning• Participative, the deliberately intended result is real-
time change and improvement.
• Action learning therefore relies on the participation and commitment of those affected by it.
• Organisational learners are actively involved in the process, although the extent of participation may vary.
• Greater participation can certainly yield richer and more comprehensive information, and more commitment to the action.
• The four leadership-learning-for-performance questions
• Related to action and learning for continued performance improvement
• Subsequently results in learning-based systemic individual, institutional learning and systems-based capacity building, are:
• What happened? – – Answer to this question results in a systematic
descriptive qualitative and quantitative assessment of performance and performance trends based on empirical evidence
– Results in the referred to assessment of relevance for the particular situation
• Why did this happen? - the answer to this question results in a diagnostic analysis based upon provisional explanations of actions and what these actions cause in terms of results related to increasing or decreasing performance
• What can I/we learn from this? – Lessons derived from answering this question
relates to improved individual learning – Contributes to personal mastery, team learning
and systems thinking – Challenging current mental models through
deliberative empowerment and team learning
• How can the learning be used and built back into the system to improve the quality and performance of the system? – Answer to this question results in answers that
enhance prognostic institutional capacity building for continuous performance improvement.
Arriving Home after Having been There and Back