I'm sharing this to my profile with the hope that more people will take in and consider Kevin's reflections on the application of strategic design in the public service.

Kevin - Thank you for sharing these! There is a lot in here and I want to share with you what you've prompted me to reflect on.

Much of what Kevin writes here is resonant from my vantage point working across many organizations. I'm exited by how far we've come in the last decade. We've been experimenting in many corners, with occasional collisions to learn from each other... and I appreciate how the design community is putting more intention around this now.

I'm also curious about a future where there is more systemic design in how we advance organizational resilience. For me this looks like groups of people who have alignment, capacity, and capabilities to deliver outcomes while also being responsive to change (from a variety of angles).

It means we need leadership in the design space, as Kevin describes, and I feel we have an opportunity to do this well when the leadership space is less fractious than it often is. (I won't go into my observations here... I'll assume that anyone interested in influencing this space will know what I mean.)

It's easy to say that alignment is important (OKR's anyone?). It is also hard won.

Service Blueprints and direct evidence of user needs or system dynamics are part of building situational awareness to get to alignment. And, when we don't plot massive boulders like "Service Plan Objectives" on the map, we get blocked.

I like that you point out the need for design leaders to learn the "dry" bureaucratic stuff. I also feel daily the the political (big and small) realities of our environment, especially as we seek to support and influence our more senior leaders.

Notably, I think these leaders (ADM, DM) need a team in their organization (and beyond) that are working well together.

Design is disruptive. Of course I use that term lovingly, yet when it disrupts a system, it does stir up org dark matter: power dynamics, inertia, and general human insecurity.

I highlighted your point regarding collaboration and relationships, where you also point to the disruption and how (through no small effort, I'm sure) you and your colleagues waded through the mess to make progress together.

This leads me to the focus of my reflection.

If the question is: how might we enhance the impact of systemic design, particularly across systems (program areas, organizations) where people need services to be connected?

Then one hypothesis might be: If leaders are actively facilitated to behave in ways that seek alignment to broader outcomes that foster collaboration, then the benefits of systemic design can be received more readily.

I state it this way, because while the evidence from design practices might be available, it might also conflict with the the current state or direction of the organization. While the evidence is necessary, what I want to emphasize is that we need to support people who lead organizations in other, complimentary ways.

*Bangs on facilitation drum*

I think I'm inclined to write about this because I have an emotional response to watching designers who fall in love with a problem and then find their work up against an implementation blocker.

I'm always curious about these blockers and how to help people discover the path through our around them. A quick list of some blockers I've seen:

- Leaders misaligned on most important things to solve for.

- Governance lacking structure, clarity of accountability, accessibility, or proper facilitation.

- Designers not being able to communicate to their audience.

- Designers not having alignment with other influencers in their org.

- Timing.

Back to Kevin's notion of public service being a team sport: I think it is so important to observe and massage the conditions in an organization that allow us to behave like a team.

As we collectively seek to elevate that contribution of design to this team sport, I'm looking forward to pitching in on creating these conditions.

Thanks Kevin. And best of luck in your new role. I'm looking forward to seeing you around the Lab in the new year and hearing about it!!