Probing the Bureaucratic Mind

Introduction
Beyond the traditional cliches
The rise of network governance
The federal bureaucracy under siege
The process
The outcome: probing a mindset
Chapter 1 – Cat’s cradling: the capacity to cope
A syncretic view of each theme discussed
Contextual issues
Diversity
Security
Ethics
Disloyalty
Organizational culture and new government tools
Corporate culture
The Gomery world
Public-private partnerships
Partitioning anew the federal public service
A personal distillation of what we learned
The decline of open critical thinking
Lack of gumption
Paradoxes, neuroses and willful blindness
Conclusion
Annex: Basic documentation for each session
Chapter 2 – Cat's eyes: the capacity to engage intelligently
A syncretic view of each theme discussed
Intelligent accountability
Intelligent regulation
Intelligent organizational design
Intelligent public service
A personal distillation of what we learned
A cautionary statement
Somebody is in charge and it is not me
Déformationprofessionnelle
Cognitive dissonance
The present of latent fear
Conclusion
Annex: Basic documentation for each session
Chapter 3 – Not in the catbird seat: the capacity to collibrate
A syncretic view of each theme discussed
Perverse incentives
Rewarding failure and deception
Punishing success
Positive discrimination
Failure to confront
Pathologies and challenges
Quantophrenia
Performance review
Speaking truth to power
What role for cities in public governance?
A personal distillation of what we learned
Moral vacancy
Crippling epistemologies
Risk aversion and fear of experimentation
Conclusion
Annex: Basic documentation for each session
Chapter 4 – The unwisdom of cats: the capacity to reframe
A syncretic view of each theme discussed
The political-bureaucratic interface
The federal public service as a nexus of moral contracts
From leadership to stewardship
Deputy Minister: then, now and in the future
A personal distillation of what we learned
Difficulty in thinking about systems
Experts can’t learn
A tiny bit of intellectual nonchalance
Conclusion
Annex: Basic documentation for each session
Conclusion
Four layers of capabilities
A syndrome... tentatively
Cosmology-less wayfinding
The way out and forward... a catwalk
Toward a new covenant through a new inquiring system
One starting point
In summary
References