I consider Wouter’s foray using social media to engage the public and public servants to be refreshing and forward thinking. I don’t mind giving him a bit of time to figure it out and would never consider disrespecting someone who is that open to trying something new. Continuous improvement is all about starting small, failing small, measuring what we can, and learning through trial and error. Lots of us are trying to figure out what those measures should be, but then, it depends on why you’re doing them.

@Dan Besides using the tools himself, the Clerk has publicly stated his support of public servants finding news ways of serving the public in the Public Service Renewal Action Plan (http://www.clerk.gc.ca/eng/feature.asp?pageId=165). The Information Commissioner has also challenged government to think about how to use new tools to proactively serve the public.

Between those 2 senior champions (and many more internal to the bureaucracy) I find the path quite clearly laid out before me. I blog, microblog and use an assortment of tools to figure out how to do my job better as well as share that experience with others, both inside and outside government. The rules of engagement haven’t changed – I still aim to follow the Code of Conduct that I agreed to when becoming a public servant – but some of the tools have.

P.S. I really don’t care whether the site is brown, yellow or purple, what I do care about is being able to find what I need or want in my job or community. How freaking cool is it that we can tweet at our biggest boss and have him respond to us? Now, about that…

(OT: nice redesign btw)

Thank you for a persuasive and well thought out post.

It is even more compelling, coming from you, the creator of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner blog.

However, years ago, I saw you take a dramatic step forward with the Privacy Commissioner`s blog. You did not simply try out social media. You used it to post about arcane but important issues, talking intelligently and candidly about them. And in the process, you brought these issues to the attention of a broader audience. Which then engaged with the content, exploring and discussing it.

I applaud any initiative on the part of government, especially from the most senior executive.

However, I saw you take a dramatic (courageous?) step on your own initiative. Should we not expect the same intelligent initiative from others? While I applaud every initiative, it seems to me that some of the initiatives are, at best, baby steps. When the rest of the world has progressed far beyond that.

I am a proud Canadian. And a believer in the collective good that can be brought about by government action. But I fear that, at the current pace, the bond between government and citizen is being weakened as people see government as increasingly irrelevant.

Bottom line. I congratulate Mr. Wouters. However, I wish he would spend some time with @Canuckflack. If he did, I’m sure he would accelerate the pace of change. And that would be good for government, citizens and the bond between us.

@Colin
It’s all well and good to say “Let them screw up” but its another thing to be the one who has had 20 or 30+ years of “don’t screw up” beaten into their sense of self.