A Common Sense Revolution
Three Simple Public Sector Principles That Should Guide Everything We Do
Hello, Transformation Friends! It's been a while!
Lately, I've been thinking a lot about the core purpose of the public sector—and why its implications should be obvious, like common sense.
Today, we start with a brief look at our fundamental goal as a public service and how we can make achieving this goal natural and intuitive by applying three common sense principles. Finally, we look at these principles in action and why embracing them is essential for meaningful transformation.
But here's the challenge: common sense isn't always… common. Misaligned intuition, inertia, and outdated ways of thinking get in the way of what should be obvious.
That's why I'm calling for a revolution—not one of upheaval, but of clarity, purpose, and action. A shift where common sense takes precedence—where the right things simply make sense.
Let’s dive in.
Our Purpose as a Public Sector
As a public service, we aim to create meaningful public value for Canada. But what does "value" really mean? To me, it comes down to these simple parts:
It matters – We must identify what truly matters and recognize what creates tangible benefits for Canadians.
It's net positive – At the highest level, we need to ensure that the benefits of our work outweigh the costs and resources invested.
This means that value extends beyond activities like delivering projects, services, and policies. These things are only meaningful when they lead to lasting outcomes that improve society. The actual public value lies in ensuring our work contributes to broader societal well-being and that we can see and measure that impact—not just completing tasks.
The Case for Common Sense
Common sense is key.
The right approach should be natural, intuitive, and obvious. The flip side is that things that are not common sense—unnatural, unintuitive, and impractical—should be just as easy to recognize and avoid.
There's an old Sufi that I've modified a little: "There's no sign in the desert that says 'Don't Eat the Sand.'" Some things are just obvious. The challenge is ensuring that common sense is... common.
Too often, I see that our intuition of common sense is misaligned with our core purpose as a public service. Here are just a few examples:
This happens when we continue investing in things without understanding their value—or worse when we put in more than we get out.
It happens when we measure success by effort rather than impact—when the focus is on how much work was done instead of whether it led to meaningful results.
It happens when we focus solely on threats (negative risks) while ignoring opportunities (positive risks).
It happens when we stop caring—going through the motions without thinking critically, questioning our actions, or seeking to understand their impact.
It happens when we prioritize processes over outcomes or fail to question why we do things in the first place.
Patterns like these directly oppose our goals as a public service. When they become common sense, we have a serious problem.
Three Core Common Sense Principles
So, how do we ensure that our common sense aligns with our core goals? We need clear and self-evident principles that make us say, "Of course!"—natural, intuitive, and apparent principles. I believe these are:
Be Obsessed with Value – Everything we do must create real, measurable value for Canada. That means recognizing what truly matters, making value the foundation for decisions, measuring impact, communicating it clearly, and eliminating work that does not contribute to meaningful outcomes.
Care Deeply – The best public servants take pride in their work, act with integrity, and care about delivering excellence. This means being thoughtful, responsible, and always striving to do what is right, not just what is easy.
Get Things Done – The public sector must be action-oriented, focused on results, and committed to continuous progress. We must drive action, deliver ongoing value, learn from failure, support informed decision-making, and take accountability for seeing work through.
By making these principles common sense, we will naturally focus on what matters and create a lasting impact for Canada.
The Three Core Principles in Action
The following sections break down each principle into actions that make them palpable and actionable in our daily work.
Be Obsessed with Value
Recognize value—identify what matters, why it is essential, and how it creates real benefits for Canada and Canadians.
Make value the foundation—ensure that every action, decision, and investment is grounded in creating meaningful benefits for Canada.
Measure value—focus on creating outcomes and benefits that provide real value to Canada and regularly assess progress.
Communicate value plainly—ensure that the value of work can be clearly explained to your neighbours.
Eliminate valueless work—identify and stop work that does not generate meaningful value or cannot clearly define its value.
Care Deeply
Care about the work—approach it with deliberate care and intention.
Care about impact—take pride in how your work makes a difference for Canada.
Care about excellence—commit to delivering meaningful, high-quality work rather than just meeting minimum requirements.
Care about responsibility—own the impact of your work and ensure it aligns with the greater good for Canada.
Care about doing the right thing—challenge whether the best choices are being made, not just whether things are being done correctly.
Get Things Done
Drive action—turn good ideas into concrete, effective actions.
Drive results—focus on steady, incremental progress to sustain continuous value rather than delivering it all at once at the end.
Drive growth—embrace trying and failing, but always learn from it and use it to move forward faster and smarter.
Drive momentum—support people in making informed decisions and taking decisive action.
Drive accountability—own the work, be proud of it, and follow through.
Why A Revolution?
A revolution is a fundamental shift—a break from the status quo that creates significant and lasting change. We don't ask for permission or wait for perfect conditions. We act with purpose. We act at every level—top, bottom, and middle. We act until common sense becomes the norm.
It's simple: we start doing it. We embed these principles in our daily work, make better decisions, and deliver meaningful outcomes. When enough just act, real transformation happens.
Doing the right thing should feel natural—aligning with our core goal of creating meaningful public value for Canada. It should be common sense. Being obsessed with value, caring deeply, and driving action are not just ideals; they are practical ways to make better decisions and deliver real impact. The more we embed these principles in our daily work, the more natural and self-evident they will become.