Better Decisions, Better Outcomes
I have ready many recent publications¹ about improving community and decision making and am trying to be a part of the solution.
The publications say:
We need to help communities identify and tackle the challenges they wish to solve collectively; create friendly neighborhoods so people know their neighbors and feel a sense of belonging and connection; be more responsive to people and place through a shared purpose backed by long-term investment, have trust and transparency, have coordinated and cooperative approaches, be flexible and adaptive and learn and share knowledge; develop collective, intergenerational responses; and have government be conduits for place-based solutions; have humble, reciprocal, trusting relationships with imagination, adaptability, and tolerance for risk; develop solutions drawn from local intelligence; focus on medium-to-long-term including trade-offs; have a joined-up approach across the public sector that supports coordinated decision making that results in measurable increases in benefits for New Zealanders.
For my part I provide:
My BDBO training through the Victoria University of Wellington here. This includes how I applied BDBO in my suburb, the resultant portfolio business case and what it would look like for a district or region.
Coaching to apply BDBO in organisations, district and regions through Barber Associates (here). If you’re interested to chat, please book a free appointment here.
In my view WE need a public value decision system that enables government to participate with resilient communities to achieve vision by thinking together using their different strengths, resulting in measurable benefits and eliminate systemic poverty. Government needs to consider its role in building resilient communities so those communities can in turn speak with their voices into the decision-making process, providing valuable local intelligence. That approach needs to be a holistic, systematic, and relational. WE need to courageously and transparently navigate the ambiguity of difficult conversations by intentionally leaning in to listen and learn from each other, to build trust and confidence, to set a vision and identify the best public value, affordable and achievable way to achieve that vision. Over the past 8 years I have developed my “Better Decision Better Outcomes” (BDBO) approach to develop placed based portfolio business cases in New Zealand and overseas.
¹ Publications. Alone Together The risks of loneliness in Aotearoa New Zealand following Covid -19 and how public policy can help by Helen Clarke Foundation. Putting People First-Transforming social services in partnership with people and communities by Centre for Policy Development (CPD) an independent, not-for-profit policy institute with staff in Sydney, Melbourne, and Jakarta. Make the move-Shifting how the public sector works with communities. Inspiring Communities June 2023. The Treasury’s 2023 Wellbeing Report. Secretary for the Treasury speech February 2024. Review into Cyclone Gabrielle report 2024. Treasury Quarterly Investment Report March 2024