What next for Policy Hack?

As a resident at Blue Chilli in Sydney and someone with a professional interest in Government communications, I was so disappointed not to be able to attend Wyatt Roy’s inaugural Policy Hack this weekend. Judging from my twitter timeline throughout Saturday, the various video feeds and more stories emerging today it sounds like a resounding success and well done to all involved.

Inevitably this morning, the “what happens next” question hangs over Policy Hack. However valuable the outcomes, making a connection with the policy makers in Canberra and each of the State Governments is essential if the work is going to change policy thinking.

The biggest challenge with influencing policy teams in Government in Australia is that there is no one policy centre and no one standard approach. For example, both Canberra and the States have separate policy teams working in areas like Health and Education. And individual State departments often have their own policy people working independently of the people in Premier and Cabinet.

This is not a criticism, (I don’t believe in one size fits all solutions) but in advising suppliers to government, my first advice is always to ensure that they understand that across Australian Government, there are many decision makers, many different approaches and many different speeds of progress.
Taking a blanket approach to “Government” and expecting all departments to react in the same way is simply a mistake. And quite a common one.

The Policy Hack people however are already one step ahead. One of the successes of the event would have been the useful input from the policy experts and bureaucrats that were there, not to mention the Minister’s presence and personal involvement. I heard a report that one of the key policy makers had commented that they wished they could have a policy hack every day. Brilliant.

But to make the most of this opportunity now, I’d recommend it’s time to separate the ten ideas and ensure that for each, the proposed beneficial individual outcomes are loud and clear. In getting the ear of the key policy people, these should no longer be seen as a group of “policy hacks”, but instead as ten great individual ideas for doing things better.

I’d recommend that for each, a tactical marketing strategy be devised to make sure that the key policy decision maker is the target of communication from here. And that the rightful enthusiasm of the hack event makes way for a real focus on specific details about how much better things will be if they are implemented.

Government or private sector, my experience has been that once you show people how things can be better, obstacles to progress can soon disappear. Now’s the time to move on from talking “hack” and start celebrating better.

Happy to help if I can.