Around the world, the push to digital government has shifted from aspiration to necessity, and governments are well on their way toward achieving aspects of it.
Although the drivers and building blocks for digital government transformation have become increasingly clear and widely-discussed, the path to get there is often murky. Time and again, we see progress stall as government organizations grapple with changing circumstances or moments of pause—causing them to lose sight of their vision, face difficulty aligning their stakeholders, and struggle to properly chart their path for how to get where they need to go.
None of this is due to a lack of desire, effort or skill. What’s often missing is the necessary translation of conceptual strategy and future-state design into tactical execution and the mechanics for driving ongoing and iterative change toward targeted outcomes.
For transformation to be successfully implemented, the gears of transformation need to be connected and turning together in sync. This starts with macro-level strategy—the big gears—and runs through to micro-level execution—the little gears. This requires governments to be more targeted and focused in charting their transformation pathway and building the necessary transformation resilience that enables them to make continual progress in the face of change. And it starts—and ends—with creating a Resilient Transformation Model (RTM).
In Canada and across our global network, the RTM framework was developed to place users at the heart of the transformation.
Build common language: Defining, linking and managing progress, from strategy to execution to outcomes
Act more horizontal: Embedding a human-centred design approach in all aspects of the transformation in order to transcend traditional barriers and silos in service of the future state
Drive shared value: Connecting value and impact across all key actors—including customers, employees and the organization—in the change
Seek solution synergy: Moving toward integrated solutions that enable flexibility and scalability for the future
Make it sticky: Establishing the behaviours and environment required to stick to long-term change
At its core, the RTM is the wrapper that holds together the big gears and the little gears of transformation. Putting the user at the heart of the change and moving the organization in sync toward the desired end state helps make sure that these gears continue to move together in a cohesive system, building transformation resilience along the way.