Scheming Virtuously

A Handbook for Public Servants

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Table of Contents

1 Introduction ....................................................................................................3
1.1 Mandatory Disclaimer .............................................................................3
1.2 Preamble ................................................................................................3
1.3 About Us.................................................................................................3
1.4 What Is Public Service Renewal?...........................................................4
2 Scheming Virtuously ......................................................................................6
3 On Scheming .................................................................................................7
3.1 Within Your Team...................................................................................7
3.2 Outside Your Team ................................................................................7
3.3 With New Arrivals ...................................................................................8
3.4 With Not-So-New Arrivals .......................................................................9
3.5 Over Coffee (or Tea) ..............................................................................9
3.6 Electronically ........................................................................................10
3.7 With Tools.............................................................................................10
3.8 Safely....................................................................................................11
3.9 Via Existing Channels...........................................................................11
3.10 In New Channels ..................................................................................12
3.11 Opportunistically ...................................................................................12
3.12 With Your Head Up...............................................................................13
4 On Virtue......................................................................................................14
4.1 Get Motivated .......................................................................................14
4.2 Marshal Support ...................................................................................14
4.3 Identify Blockages ................................................................................15
4.4 Isolate and Influence ............................................................................15
4.5 Gather Evidence...................................................................................15
4.6 Follow the Rules (Whenever Possible).................................................16
4.7 Don’t Underestimate Small Victories ....................................................17
4.8 Relish Victories (Privately)....................................................................17
4.9 Build a Narrative ...................................................................................18
4.10 Bend The Rules (When You Want To Break Them) … ........................18
4.11 Act Now ................................................................................................19
5 Don’t Be a Dead Hero..................................................................................20
6 Acknowledgements......................................................................................21

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1 Introduction

“Virtuous people often revenge themselves for the constraints to which

they submit by the boredom which they inspire.”
- Confucius

1.1 Mandatory Disclaimer

The opinions expressed are those of the author and may not reflect the views of
the Public Service of Canada, its Departments and/or Agencies, or their
employees.

1.2 Preamble

It is hard to believe that I have been writing about public service renewal for over
two years. I started http://cpsrenewal.ca in response to what I thought was a gap
the discourse: an online, open and accessible discussion of the everyday
concerns of public servants.

In its simplest form, the handbook is a collection of practical tactics that will help
public servants foster a more collaborative and innovative public service culture
while upholding core public service values.

-Nicholas Charney

1.3 About Us

Nicholas Charney is the primary author of both Scheming Virtuously and the
blog http://cpsrenewal.ca. Nicholas holds an undergraduate degree in Political
Science from Carleton University and a Master’s Degree in Conflict Studies from
Saint Paul University. His main areas of interest are organizational
management, employee engagement, knowledge management and
collaborative/social technologies.

Mike Mangulabnan is editor-in-chief of both Scheming Virtuously and the blog

http://cpsrenewal.ca. Mike holds a Diploma in Advertising from Sheridan College
and a joint Bachelor’s Degree in Communications and Philosophy from Ottawa
University. His main areas of interest are organizational management,
communications, and environmental policy.

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1.4 What Is Public Service Renewal?

"Renewal is not about fixing something for all time but updating what we
do and how we do it in order to remain relevant and effective now and
into the future. It is about keeping the institution of the public service
dynamic, fresh and respected. And renewal is not something others do;
the impetus for renewal has to come from within, and it has to involve all
of us."

- 2008 Report of the Clerk on the Public Service of Canada

This is meant to be a practical guide so we won’t bore you with a history lesson
or hammer you over the head with what a former Clerk called the “dynamic
imperative for renewal”.

We know renewal is important. We live its importance every time someone shuts
down a good experiment because they are risk averse or because saying why
something can’t be done is easier then figuring out how it can be done.

While the vast majority of public servants may not have direct input into how the
public service addresses the challenges facing it at the macro-level, all of us
have the ability to address the challenges where they are most important, at the
micro-level.

Addressing challenges at the micro is important because many of the high-level

problems plaguing our institutions are the aggregate manifestation of working-
level problems. If we continue to absolve ourselves from the responsibility or
resign ourselves to the lowest common denominator – “‘that’s just the way it is’
syndrome” – then we have no one to blame for our frustrations but ourselves.

So where does that leave us?

First, it is important to remember that public servants are connected by a

common responsibility for the system as a whole. This is why we choose to
define public service renewal more broadly, asserting that its primary concern is
not “staffing up” or retaining employees, but about cultivating a culture of
stewardship and innovation.

Second, we must understand that stewardship consists of making us all active

agents overseeing the production of a constantly improving system. At its core,
stewardship is a combination of deliberate innovation and calculated risk. With
this in mind, in this short guide, we propose neither a linear nor a mutually
exclusive methodology you can follow to:

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 1. Engage in public service renewal on your own;
2. Integrate public service renewal into your work environment; and
3. Convince your colleagues (in all directions) to support public service
renewal.

The key to all of this is to not let your imagination and enthusiasm be dampened
by organizational politics or institutional caution. Be deliberate: look for
weaknesses in your organization’s existing practices, maximize your advantage
and create new opportunities to argue for change.

Remember that this guide is not a “what–to- Hint

do” manual, it’s a “how-to” manual. That You want to be branded as
being said, whatever you decide to embark ‘an innovative ideas generator’
on within your own organization should be and ‘cutting edge’. You do not
needs-based, and aim its impact within want to be known as ‘goalless’
certain organizational boundaries. or ‘too quick to stir the pot’.
However this doesn’t preclude you from
working with others outside your
organizational boundaries whenever it is merited. Often, embarking on
multidirectional initiatives spark domino effects across groups, directorates or
departments. If what you create is innovative and valuable it will be replicated
elsewhere.

An important caveat: In the public service your relationships and reputation are
your best assets. Be conscious that your actions impact both of these assets
considerably. Make sure you take care in managing both, and use your
judgment to make decisions that you, and others can live with.

Finally, creating a culture of stewardship within the public service is something

that can be done equally and applies across all groups and levels.

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2 Scheming Virtuously
The term “scheming virtuously” was coined by Dr. Gilles Paquet1 and is
essentially the optimal modus operandi for public servants looking to make
change in the public service.

Scheming + Virtuous
Given to making plans, Conforming to moral and
sly, crafty ethical principles; morally
excellent

Therefore:

Scheming Virtuously = Making crafty plans that

conform to moral and ethical principles

Scheming virtuously steers clears of combative positions and analogies. When

you scheme virtuously you aren’t engaging in a firefight with “hard-line”
traditionalists, nor are you a guerrilla soldier engaged in a culture war. You are a
public servant using your position, your insight, and your intelligence to identify
opportunities for your organization that have yet to be identified, or supporting
those that already have been.

Hint
Remember – what you are trying to do is find ways to scheme ethically in
order to produce a culture of stewardship. Read this document with that in
mind, because that is the spirit in which it is written.

1Dr. Gilles Paquet is a Professor Emeritus at the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa. His website is
http://www.gouvernance.ca/

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3 On Scheming
"A poor man might be all schemes but a rich man is all virtuous
schemes."

- Unknown

3.1 Within Your Team

Talk to the members of your team.
Seek direction, but don’t be afraid to Hint
ask questions and explore Trying to involve your manager also
opportunities for improvement. Be has the added benefit of allowing
open and willing to learn from others you to figure out exactly what their
on your team. level of involvement is likely to be,
and where they sit on certain issues
Try to involve your direct manager that may be important to you, e.g.,
whenever possible, he or she may work-life integration, learning, or
be interested in doing something performance management.
more efficiently, getting involved in
something larger, or delegating more
responsibility. Whatever your virtuous scheme is, try to get him or her on board.
You may be surprised by his or her interests and willingness, or you may find out
that he or she is more likely to be adversarial in the future; but remember, just
because your first idea didn’t fly, doesn’t mean that your second attempt won’t be
more successful.

3.2 Outside Your Team

There are undoubtedly a lot of people
Hint around you with whom you share
If your manager is reluctant to let experiences – positive or negative – and
you away from the desk to whose experience with certain issues
participate in other activities make may be greater or weaker than your
sure your pitch includes why this own. You need to get out there and
particular activity is beneficial to network beyond your team. Take every
your team, and offer to report back opportunity you can to safely get away
on the event. As long as your work from the office.
doesn’t suffer you should have no
problem convincing them of the If you’re a new hire, you are at a distinct
value of attending conferences, advantage of being able to tell your
seminars, armchair discussions, manager that you are working towards
etc., especially if these things are expanding your knowledge and contact
free. base. A good manager should

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 Hint
understand the inherent value in Don’t be afraid to use your team to
these types of activities. its potential. Finding the right stride
for your team gives everyone a
If you’re a not-so-new hire you may better understanding of the
be at a slight disadvantage because demands being placed on them and
your manager may expect that you the time they can devote to other
already have a solid knowledge virtuous activities.
base, and be well connected.
However, they should also have more trust in your ability to identify the good
opportunities when they arise, and forgo the less lucrative ones. Use their faith
in your judgment to your advantage. Be selective and be prepared to explain
why this particular networking opportunity is especially important.

Hint If you’re a middle manager, try to

Try to become more involved. manage both your (and your teams)
Schedule a recurring hour-long time and workflow in a proactive
discussion once every couple of manner, but don’t micro-manage it.
weeks, or a longer one every Find ways to increase the amount of
month, and invite staff to come in time you and your team members have
and share their ideas with you to step out and do some creative
directly. Or solicit more formal collaboration with others outside your
input/proposals from staff on an team. As a manager, you should
ongoing basis. Open the door understand the workload and operating
broadly, or target the discussions capacity of your team members and
and or proposals to particular areas thus be able to identify who may be
that, from where you sit, need to be willing and able to take on additional
addressed responsibility, and who can step away to
participate in other activities.

If you’re a senior manager your chief concerns may revolve around the
immediate operational needs of your organization and your days may be
completely dominated by meetings and telephone calls. That being said, you set
the tone, you lead by example; you need to help create safe time and space for
employees to scheme virtuously. If you don’t do it, who will?

3.3 With New Arrivals

Want fresh eyes? There is no better way to get a frank and honest question or
opinion than to ask a new hire. Who cares if they have no experience with the
question? New arrivals are likely to give you a gut reaction and more
importantly, one that isn’t filtered through govspeak.

New arrivals are a great source of energy, so tap into it, and nurture it. We have
spoken with many new arrivals out there that are looking for creative outlets at
work, many of which haven’t yet found any.

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Give them an outlet and harness that energy and reap the rewards.

Hint
Looking to network with other new arrivals? Find out when your
departments orientation session is and attend it. Already attended one?
Find out when the next one is and show up at the doors afterwards,
everyone coming out is potentially the person you are looking for. Find out if
your department has a young professional network and find a point of
contact. Touch base, signal your intentions and follow up.

3.4 With Not-So-New Arrivals

Limiting your scheming to the new
arrivals is a big mistake. Don’t Hint
assume that because others have You should be able to tell who
experience with the system that they these people are after only a few
have resigned themselves to it. Many interactions. They usually have
experienced public servants are open-door policies, respect and
actively working towards cultivating a promote work-life integration, are
culture of stewardship. facilitators rather than micro-
managers and comma-moving
In short, not-so-new arrivals are full of micro-editors, and their discourse
valuable insight and are likely able to focuses on how to make things
identify potential stumbling blocks happen - not how to keep things
down the road. from happening.

3.5 Over Coffee (or Tea)

Never turn down an offer to have a cup of coffee (or tea) with another public
servant. An informal discussion now could easily change where you are few
months from now.

Use exploratory opportunities to your advantage, and always be honest with

people. Public servants are incredibly mobile. Just because they can’t offer you
an opportunity immediately doesn’t mean that they won’t be able to do so in the
future. Keep an ongoing list of people you could contact in a pinch that could
provide timely advice or supporting evidence.

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 Hint
Make connections and keep connections, drop strategically timed emails to
contacts during slow work periods. Create time and space to talk shop and
put the feelers out for opportunities to get involved more actively or
collaboratively in your organization. Use social media to your advantage.
Many public servants are now using both internal and external social media
channels to connect with others who share their interests, especially across
departments.

3.6 Electronically
You may find them rigid or boring, but check your departmental newsletter and
discussion forums, or scour your intranet because there are tons of free
networking opportunities.
Hint
Use your access to almost limitless information When you do come
discriminately. Sign up for email lists, RSS feeds, across something
or Google Alerts wherever you see fit. But take useful, share it with
care to tailor the incoming information flow to your others who may be
own needs so as to not be overburdened by blunt interested and ask them
email blasts. to keep you in the loop
about similar things –
Engage yourself responsibly in social media both reciprocity is critical in
internally and externally. There are many public terms of information
servants already having open and honest sharing, especially in the
discussions there, sharing links, and opportunities absence of social media
to participate. Explore the tools and connect with and bookmarking behind
existing communities. If you don’t know where to the government firewall.
start ask someone for help.

3.7 With Tools

Complete your personal learning plan and use it to help you get the skills you
need for your next job. If you only ever train for the job you are currently doing
how do you expect to ever get where you are going? Select training that will aid
you in your quest to implement innovative solutions to the problems you have
identified.

Should the need arise to explain something or justify any of your initiatives,
having training materials in your back pocket will give you a solid foundation and
make it easier for you to back up your work.

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 Hint
Talk to other people who have already completed their learning plans and
involve your manager and your most trusted advisors. Furthermore, take a
course on how to write your learning plan (which should be free in most
departments); oh and don’t forget to hold yourself and your manager
accountable to your learning plan.

3.8 Safely
Hint Much of the talk about innovation in the public
Try having your sector revolves around the need to create safe
conversations according space.
to Chatham House
Rules: participants are Safe spaces are places where you have latitude to
free to use the speculate, and where creativity is encouraged.
information received, but Many private sector companies (e.g., Google,
neither the identity nor Disney) have really cool safe spaces designed from
the affiliation of the the bottom-up to stimulate people and the
speaker(s), nor that of exchange of ideas.
any other participant,
may be revealed. We may not have those types of physical spaces,
but there is nothing preventing us from exerting
more control over how we physically interact within
the spaces we do have.

Before scheming, explicitly identify your discussion as a safe space. Allaying the
concerns of participants before the discussion starts will ease the flow of
information. So too will sharing a personal story of your own experience with the
issue. Building trust is the key to scheming safely. Trust has to be earned, and it
tends to be earned slowly. But once trust is established you can really dig into
the issues at hand.

3.9 Via Existing Channels

Your organization has a whole
Hint
slew of committees, advisory
Start by reading the meeting minutes. It
groups and working groups. Find
will help you learn about what these
out what they are, what they do,
groups do, and whether or not they are
who chairs them, and how to get
the appropriate mechanism through
a seat at those tables.
which to bolster your involvement. This
will also help you speak intelligently to
They may already be working on
the issues at hand and circumvent the
initiatives you want to get
need to catch up, which may create
involved in. They may even be
feelings of resentment within the group
looking to expand their
by those who consider bringing you up to
speed as backtracking.
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membership or recruit some fresh eyes. Start talking to members, get more
details, signal your eagerness, and offer to help.

3.10 In New Channels

Can’t find a group that is tackling the issues Hint
you want to work on? Create one. Tap into Designate a small space in
your contacts. Is there sufficient interest to your own office as a safe
have an informal meeting to discuss the space board. Every time you
issue? If it doesn’t exist, build it yourself. have an idea, write it down on
a sticky note and stick it to
Organize an hour-long informal discussion the board. Whenever you
over coffee or lunch. Avoid headaches; it’s have some time, pick an
informal, no need for a stuffy boardroom or issue off the board and see if
formal terms of reference. You are simply you can do some creative
having a conversation and being crafty. See thinking around it. If a
what the group can accomplish without colleague ever asks you what
adopting the rigid hierarchy of the the board is for tell them that
bureaucracy as the default template. If things it is full of ideas that you have
are moving well, endeavour to build on and yet to try but are eager to
sustain the momentum of the new channel work on, you might be
you have created. surprised who takes notice.

3.11 Opportunistically
Focus on the opportunities, not the problems. Don’t let the discourse be
dominated by the people afflicted by “this will never work because” disease.
Focus on why your idea is a good one. Write down why it’s important, whom it’s
important to, and how it will positively impact your organization.

Try to think like the enterprise. What must the organization do in order to be
more innovative? Be specific – does your initiative take aim at your
organizations service delivery model, internal processes, public image, or work
culture? Qualify and quantify the benefits.

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t anticipate the potential problems. Write
down (on a separate sheet) the problems you foresee with your idea – and I don’t
mean perceived problems like, “Gerry will never approve of this because he is
…” I mean real problems, like potentially prohibitive costs, low return on
investment, previous failed attempts, accessibility issues, potential conflicts of
interest, etc.

If you can identify real issues at the forefront you can scheme around the
obstacles by drafting possible solutions to possible problems. Anticipating
problems is important because it shows that you have thought the process
through from start to finish and are able to make some adjustments if required.

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However, you should take note that anticipating problems too aggressively has
been known to cause “this will never work because” disease.

Hint
Writing things down in plain English is important because it allows you to
speak intelligently about your initiative when others are interested in it, or are
interested in being critical of it. Having something in writing helps you
articulate your plan effectively and should make it easier to support.
Moreover, should your idea gain traction you can use it to quickly write a
brief and capture the momentum of the buy-in, which may be fleeting unless
pressed. Furthermore, don’t omit important pieces of the puzzle simply
because you think it may be poorly received. Instead be prepared to speak
to it intelligently.

3.12 With Your Head Up

Make sure you keep your head up and take on Hint
new challenges. If none are coming your way, Ask your manager how
start asking for them. If you are told you don’t they got to where they
have enough experience to take them on, are. If they say “by
engage your manager in a conversation. keeping my head down
and following orders” I
Explain that there is a mutual opportunity for would start looking for a
both of you: you to learn and apply new skills, new job. If they say “by
and your manager to reap the benefits thereof. facing and learning from
Holding people back by refusing them stretch new challenges” ask
assignments isn't new, nor is it something that is them how they got those
limited to public servants. opportunities.
People of all ages, within all vocations, with
varying degrees of tenure and experiences are denied chances to face new
challenges due to this experience trap. Sometimes, disarming that trap may
mean keeping your head up and initiating some tough conversations.

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4 On Virtue

"The aggregate happiness of society, which is best promoted by the

practice of virtuous policy, is, or ought to be, the end of all
government."

- George Washington

Scheming is important, but so is virtue. Are you ready to implement something

virtuous? Here are some things to consider that should help to guide your
efforts.

4.1 Get Motivated

It doesn’t matter where you draw your Hint
inspiration from, be it serving Canadians Periodically ask yourself:
more broadly, working specifically with your "Why am I here?" and
colleagues, or simply doing work that you make sure that if someone
love to do. What matters is that you are were to ask you that
actually motivated. Nothing stops innovation question, you could answer
and stewardship like indifference. it in a heartbeat.

So if you aren’t motivated, take time to be introspective and find your motivation.
If you are motivated – if you are driven – then show it proudly, celebrate it with
others, and make it contagious.

4.2 Marshal Support

You are not alone – there are a lot of people out
Hint there looking to make their organization more
Get support for your innovative and foster a culture of stewardship.
idea from within your Whatever it is you have chosen to undertake you
organization, but also shouldn’t have to start from scratch because there
from outside of it. You are most likely other people out there already
may need to be able to scheming. Schemers are, for the most part, largely
show that other approachable. Not only are they willing to share
departments have their experiences but they seem to obsess with
moved or are moving in finding new ways to be innovative.
similar directions.
Getting other people on board is incredibly important and will increase your
chances for success. You should be actively looking for opportunities to expand
your network.

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4.3 Identify Blockages
When you hit a roadblock, keep track of the Hint
“why’s” and “by who’s”. This will allow you to Don’t create an expectation of
streamline your delivery and better anticipate deficiency by continuously
potential blockages in the future. It also repeating the same mistakes.
shows that you are learning from the process Have others in your network
and gives your work more credibility. review your documents and/or
proposals before they go up.
The first time you make a mistake, plug the Encourage them to be critical
holes. The next time you make that same and then adjust your delivery
mistake you deserve to sink because what to incorporate their input.
you should’ve done was build a better boat.

4.4 Isolate and Influence

When building support, strategy and sequence
Hint become incredibly important. When you are
Go after the key shopping for support you should approach the early
influencers in your adopters first. Isolate the roadblocks and keep
department and make them out of the equation for as long as possible.
them champions,
unofficial or otherwise. Find the people in your organization that see the
You know who these value of what you are doing. Moreover, try to get a
people are: when they few of the key influencers who can help bring
speak others listen. people down off the fence or exert pressure on
those typically saying nay.

Once you have a critical mass, approach the naysayers. Show them what you
are proposing, show them your support base, and ask for their participation. The
more pressure you can bring to bear on the naysayers, the less likely they are to
continue saying nay.

4.5 Gather Evidence

You are obviously behind your idea; there are obviously reasons why you are
behind it. State them clearly. Write them down. Support your argument.
Compile a list of all of the similar initiatives that are being implemented
elsewhere.

Use your tools: find examples by searching the corners and back alleys of your
organization and other (including private) organizations. Whenever possible, find
someone willing to give you a first-hand account.

Use your networks. If others are doing it, get their documents, meet with them,
ask them to brief you, or bring them in to brief your managers if all parties are
amenable. If you are looking to implement something that has already been

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done successfully elsewhere, try to get someone at your manager’s level to
come in and brief your manager. Exert
pressure from the ground-up and laterally to Hint
maximize the efficiency of your evidence. Do your homework. You
need to have a good handle
Ultimately you need to gather your evidence on how exactly your
and present it in a compelling way because initiative dovetails into your
you will need to reassure decision-makers and departmental priorities. Try
executives that your idea doesn’t pose an linking it into mission or
unmanageable risk. value statements, human
resource actions plans, or
You will need to feel out the situation. If faced departmental priorities. If
with reluctant or conservative decision makers, you can show how your
the best opening gambit might be: “All of these initiative supports any one
organizations (get your list out) are already of these and offer your
doing it”. Then again mentioning what other evidence you should be
departments are doing might actually make the well on your way to getting
situation more adversarial then it has to be. larger buy-in from where it
Trust your instincts and in either case, you will counts.
need to explain how your plan aligns
strategically with the organization’s mission or vision. In the end, you need to
build a case without completely dismantling your relationships – remember this is
most likely an iterative process, not a one-shot deal.

4.6 Follow the Rules (Whenever Possible)

Whenever possible feed your idea into the
Hint
system through the proper channels and in the
Understanding the system is
proper format. Make your pitch to your
paramount; respecting it
manager, the departmental champion, or the
doesn’t mean that you
committee: whoever the next logical step is in
shouldn’t look to scheme
the ideas chain.
with people in positions of
influence within the system.
But remember that ‘set it and forget it’ does not
Connect unofficially with
apply to innovation. Make sure you stay
those who can move things
tuned-in to the progress (or lack thereof) of
along the pipeline or provide
your initiatives within the pipeline. A good way
key insights. These people
to do this is to periodically touch base with
are incredibly important.
those who have insight into the pipeline. But
While you don’t necessarily
don’t be too aggressive – you want to signal
need them behind your idea,
that you are committed to the idea and want to
their willingness to share
see it implemented. You don’t want to be seen
pertinent information with
as a pest.
you is critical.
When your initiative comes back down the
chain – yes it will come back, so you’d better expect it – take a good hard look at

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the feedback. Write up your initial thoughts and then step back for a minute or
two.

When you are ready, come back to your proposal and start sharpening it by
systematically addressing the concerns of those evaluating it, or supplementing it
in a manner that answers their criticisms. Remember, everyone has an opinion.
You don’t always have to change your initiative based on someone else’s
reaction to it, if you move too quickly in response to others, you may never get to
implement the idea. Once your review is completed, send it back up the pipe
again.

In the (hopefully) rare case that your initiative comes back down without any
feedback on it, find out how far it went, why it came back, and what the reaction
to it was. Try asking the keepers of the pipeline. Then follow up with the people
who sent it back and start asking for answers, and be prepared to take whatever
criticism may come.

4.7 Don’t Underestimate Small Victories

Big victories are elusive– at least on the time frame you probably have in mind.
Small victories are incredibly important because they are likely to be your only
victories. So, score early and score often.

Hint Small victories create momentum and give your

If you are interested in name (or the name of your group) some street
scoring a big victory why credit within the organization; this in turn gives you
not queue up your small more creative space and greater creative license.
victories towards a It also makes the people important to your success
larger goal? Dream big (the decision-makers) more inclined to lend their
and then scheme all the support since you have a proven track record.
way backwards and try
to map out exactly how Leverage the sum of your small victories to
you can get there. promote your activities and get more people from
your organization behind you.

4.8 Relish Victories (Privately)

One of the biggest stumbling blocks out there
is the need for personal recognition. Often, Hint
the need to be recognized for one’s work Relish your victories
overshadows the value of what is actually privately, with your friends or
being done. your partner, over drinks or a
meal. You all know the real
Don’t let your pride or need for recognition story, and besides karma will
get in the way of the work itself, and never sort all that out, don’t worry.
pull the plug on something because your

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work gets plagiarized by someone else who sells it as their own. In the end, you
and those around you know exactly what happened.

4.9 Build a Narrative

While you celebrate your success remember
Hint
that you are building narratives. You are
For a while there may be a
building your own personal story, but you are
disconnection between the
also building stories about your department,
new stories and the old
your directorate, and your division.
ones. That disconnect is
likely to create tension. Try
Work culture is simply the aggregate of the
to harness that tension in
stories being told within the workplace. So if
way that supports the new
you change the stories, you can change the
stories while historicizing
culture. If you want to start changing the
the old ones.
culture by building new narratives, you need to
start to do dramatic things worthy of being spread within the organization
organically and by word of mouth. Stories told in official emails and statements
aren’t nearly as compelling as those told by peers.

Moreover, keep an eye out for others who do story-worthy things that represent
the culture you want to create. Listen to their stories and tell others their stories.

4.10 Bend The Rules (When You Want To Break Them) …

Even if you trust your intelligence, are able to
Hint
differentiate the sense from nonsense, and can
You’d better produce
scheme in a virtuous manner, there may
results if you plan on
inevitably come a time when you are faced with
bending the rules. Even
a tough decision. The organizational culture is
then, it is no guarantee that
hierarchical, and largely rules-based.
even the most positive
Sometimes the only way to change something is
results will overshadow the
to bend the rules a little.
rule bending. At the end of
the day, make sure you
This may seem like a cop out, but it isn’t. We
respect yourself and your
can’t tell you what to do, or exactly how to do it,
decisions.
but we can tell you that you’d better be willing to
live out the consequences.

At the end of the day, you need to be able to look yourself in the mirror and feel
proud of what you have accomplished and what is yet to come, and if that means
bending the rules to achieve the results you believe in, then so be it as long as
you are willing to own it, for better or for worse.

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4.11 Act Now
Hint
Engaging in real conversations about the issues If you are willing to raise
within our culture has historically been something your hand to complain,
we as an organization haven’t been very good at. you’d better be willing to
More often than not we are quick to rationalize why get off your ass and do
we can't have the conversation, even if we know it is something about it.
one that should be had or one that could bear fruit.

Move beyond the history of the organization, act now. Choose engagement over
avoidance. Accept consequences and take risks. Our so-called risk-averse
culture is perplexing given how hard it is to terminate an employee, especially
when they are conducting themselves in accordance with the principles laid out
in this handbook.

End learned helplessness, don’t wait to act, don’t count on a change coming
down the pipe without you. Have the courage, the judgment and humility to get
involved, to take risks, to stand on points of principle, call nonsense by its name,
and temper all of that with good judgment.

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5 Don’t Be a Dead Hero
This should go without saying, but whatever you do – don’t be an idiot.

You are no good to your organization as a dead hero. Sure you raised a stink
about whatever, people cheered (in their heads), but in the end you have
accomplished nothing because no one in their right mind is willing to collaborate
or champion something that was just over-advocated by someone who stirred the
pot with reckless disregard.

Remember that your relationships and reputation are your best assets, and that
your actions impact both of these assets considerably. They also impact those
around you so take care in managing them.

At its core, scheming virtuously is about using your judgment to make decisions
that you can live with while creating a culture of innovation and stewardship
within the public service.

Hint

1. Admit you are not powerless.

2. Believe that working in the Public Service, as something greater than
yourself, could help you achieve a meaningful living.
3. Decide to turn your attention and skills over to the Public Service and to
the care of your fellow Public Servants.
4. Take stock of your character.
5. Admit to your group, to yourself and to your manager the exact nature
of your needs.
6. Be entirely ready to demonstrate your commitment to the Public
Service by ameliorating yourself.
7. Humbly ask for help from others whenever required.
8. Distinguish sense from nonsense whenever possible.
9. Keep a list of everything you determine to be nonsense.
10. Work to make sense of the nonsensical, but learn from others and pick
your battles.
11. Through hard work and experience, seek to improve your awareness
the Public Service and build your knowledge of right and wrong and the
strength to follow that knowledge.
12. Renew yourself prior to making demands on others or on the
organization to do it for you. Carry this message to Public Servants
and practice these principles in all your work endeavours.

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6 Acknowledgements
We would like to quickly thank the following people:

Anatole Papadopoulos who took the time to rigorously (maybe even too
rigorously) review the original document prior to its release.

Etienne Laliberté who has given us the courage to express ourselves and
supported us every step of the way.

Dr. Gilles Paquet for coining the term, scheming virtuously, encouraging us to
endeavour to do it, and for mentioning us and this handbook in his recent
publication, Scheming Virtuously: the road to collaborative governance.

Everyone who has visited the blog, left a comment, or dropped me an email.
Since the initial publication of this whitepaper.

Thank you all so much for your ongoing support.

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