Thread by @AmandaBernardo

At our recent #OneTeamGov lunch, I asked the question: “If we keep turning to culture as a root cause for many of the problems we face in the #GC, what steps can we take today to start improving that in our departments and agencies.” I went on to explain that we almost avoid 1/

dealing with “culture” because we acknowledge it as a major system change that not one single person or department can resolve. So, instead the issues stemming around culture continue to build and while modified solutions are introduced, the root cause continues. 2/

For me, the @FreeAgentLibre, #GC Entrepreneurs, #GCworkplace and #FlexGC are all great examples of initiatives working on shifting culture - how we work within the GC. I see these all as successful because the onus for change is placed on the individual, as much as it is on 3/

the team or manager. What I mean by that is that we have to make a choice of how we want to work and be verbal about it. We have to draw the line on what we will accept or not accept in how we want to work. When that happens, suddenly we’re creating environments that work 4/

for us. When these environments multiple, suddenly we have a culture shift that begins to align with how we want to define culture. I was reading an article this morning that touched on this idea of individual leadership, so to speak, with the example of work-life balance. 5/

The article challenged its readers to define work-life balance for themselves, to set boundaries, and speak up with three easy steps: 1) define; 2) communicate; and 3) respectfully ask for what you want.

If we applied this model to culture changes 6/
link.medium.com/rQOpwMkOjY

across the #GC, we could begin to make changes rooted by the people for the people. But more importantly, these small actions would serve the bigger problem. When I think about culture, I often think of the individual actions of many people which evolved into real collective 7/

change. I guess the point of this thread is to remind us all that the answer to my earlier question relies on each of us. We can’t wait for culture change to happen but have to start defining it for ourselves, communicate/collaborate w each other & respectfully ask for change. 8/