Monday, January 26, 2009

The challenge is on!

In case you missed it, the government blogosphere is welcoming a new member.

Yes Doug, I have noticed the blurb, and I will happily take it as an open challenge to improve my own performance! ;-) It will actually give me some extra motivation. After all, isn’t that what fellow bloggers are for?

Speaking of which, Mike Kujawski had a post this morning about Kaplan University’s latest ad. Coincidentally, I wanted to use another Kaplan U ad for my panel on talent management last week in Montreal.

When I pitched the idea of what I wanted to do with the ad to some of my friends, they advised me not to do it, because they doubted the crowd of senior executives would get it. However, they thought the readership of this blog would probably "get it".

So here’s the idea. Watch the ad, and then imagine a slightly different context: the DM comes to talk about talent management to a group of employees, and makes the following speech (adapted from the ad):

“We stand before you today to apologize. The system has failed you. We have failed you.

We have failed to help you share your talent with the PS and the PS needs your talent more than ever.

Yet it is being wasted everyday by management practices steeped in tradition and old ideas. It's time for a new tradition.

It's time to realize talent isn't just about the “best and brightest”. It's about everyone.

It’s time we learn from you and refrain from telling you what you ought to think and do, because we don’t always know what’s best.

It's time to rewrite the rules of talent management, to unleash your talent rather than contain it.


It's time to adapt the way we manage talent to your needs rather than forcing you to adapt to how we manage talent.

It's time for a different kind of talent management.

It's your time.”

Inspiring or cheesy? You decide! ;-)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love the idea. Someone should post a link to the ad up on GCpedia to stimulate some senior discussion internally. Baby steps...

Anonymous said...

You're on.

I can't say I can be as hard-hitting as you, but as Mike wrote, 'baby steps'.

I've been thinking for a while of a video that can be made.

(Person on phone with notepad and paper)
"I work in the public service because I want challenging work that motivates me and applies my talents. Oh sorry, -

Hello? Yeah, hey babe. Yeah, got to work okay, but they still won't have my computer hooked up for another week. Boy, some use of my time..."
(Pan out.)

I think there's a whole series of these kind of videos that can be made.