Civic Punks

Tokyo was already special. Getting to spend time with Chika Masuda made it even better. Chika is Head of Intelligence Research at Japan’s Digital Agency, and one of those rare public servants who seems to connect people, ideas, and institutions with real care. In this conversation, we talk about her journey into government, what she has learned from working inside the system, and why relationships matter so much in this field. We also get into the influence of Christian Bason — someone who has shaped both of our thinking in different ways — and what it means to build a life around public service, curiosity, and making government a little more human.

Leg two of the Civic Punks World Tour is here. I’m heading to Europe — with stops in Kyiv, London, Berlin, Tallinn, Helsinki, Copenhagen, and Tbilisi — to look for the people, places, and ideas shaping the future of government. The heart of the trip is Kyiv. Ukraine feels like one of the most important places in the world to understand democracy, resilience, digital government, trust, and public service under pressure. I’m also heading to the Creative Bureaucracy Festival in Berlin and the UN Public Service Forum in Tbilisi. And this episode includes a very lovely Civic Punks first: the project’s first sponsor, Olivia Dorey and The Grace Project, which is exploring how agentic AI can support carers, government, and better public services. Who should I meet while I’m on the road? And what should I be paying attention to?

Civic Punks is starting to come into focus. In this short solo update, I’m back at Queen’s Park — where I filmed the original launch video — to share where the project is going next. Over the last few months, I’ve been travelling across East Asia and the Pacific, meeting people, recording conversations, going to events, and trying to understand what the future of government looks like from the ground. Somewhere along the way, the shape of Civic Punks started to get clearer. The core is still the same: exploring the future of government through the people trying to make it better. But the strategy is getting sharper. The podcast will go deeper with people and their stories. YouTube will focus on ideas, tensions, and field observations. Instagram will become more of a notebook from the road. The newsletter will connect the dots. And LinkedIn will become more of a conversation space. The goal is simple: more signal, less noise — and more content that feels human, useful, and actually worth spending time with. I’ve linked the draft content strategy in the show notes. It is still very much a working draft, and I’d love your thoughts. What would you actually listen to?Who should Civic Punks be paying attention to?Where does this community need more signal?Draft strategy: https://www.notion.so/Content-Strategy-v-3-35295f99cead8016a37ae0e41f53e5a3 Weekly Synthesis: https://civicpunks.substack.com/ Behind the Scenes: https://www.instagram.com/civicpunks/ Big Ideas: https://www.youtube.com/@CivicPunks Website: https://civicpunks.com/

Thea Snow is one of those people I love talking to because I always leave our conversation feeling a little more grounded and wise. At the time of this recording, Thea was Director at the Centre for Public Impact for Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. She has since stepped back from that role and is taking time to enjoy life, reflect, and explore what comes next. In this conversation, we cover a lot of ground: local empowerment, the changing role of public servants, how expertise is shifting, what AI might mean for government and citizen interaction, and how we prepare public institutions for what is coming. But the question that stayed with me most was one Thea posed: what would it look like if government loved you? It's a provocative question. We don't ever think of government this way, but what if we did?This is part of a series I am doing where I sit down with some of the people who inspire me the most in the field of public sector innovation to get their thoughts on the future of government.

Public sector innovation was supposed to help government change. But what happens when innovation becomes part of the system it was meant to challenge? In this conversation, I sit down with Nicholas Gruen, a longtime voice in public sector innovation, to talk about why the field may have lost some of its edge. We get into perpetual pilots, reform work that never quite lands, and the strange way innovation can become another layer of process rather than a force for real change. We also talk about one of Nicholas’s bigger ideas: the gap between the systems world and the life-world. Systems help us see patterns, scale, and structure. But when they drift too far from real human experience, things start to go sideways. This one is a thoughtful, slightly uncomfortable conversation about change, institutions, and what it takes to keep reform connected to real life.

There’s a lot of pressure right now to be more efficient, more effective, and somehow keep up with a steady stream of new tools—especially AI. In this conversation, I sit down with Michael Baskin, Chief Innovation Officer for Montgomery County, to talk about how he actually approaches that challenge in his work and life. This isn’t just a conversation about tools. It’s about process, judgment, and the underlying philosophy Michael uses to get the best out of himself without losing what makes his work human. He moves fast, and there’s a lot of wisdom packed in here for anyone trying to work smarter, stay grounded, and figure out what real effectiveness looks like right now.

This is part of a series I’m calling Rent Free. The idea is simple. I ask people about a concept that’s living rent-free in their head. Something that’s shaping how they see the world and how they show up in their work. This time, I sat down with my good friend, and someone who consistently inspires me, Almero Oosthuizen. For Almero, what is living rent-free is the quote: “I participate, therefore I am.” Originally from Mugendi Kanampiu M’RITHAA, it’s a reframe on the African philosophy of ubuntu. We like to think we are our values. Our beliefs. The things we say we care about. But if you look at it honestly…you are what you participate in. Where you spend your time. What you contribute to. How you show up. So the real question becomes: Am I actually participating in the things I say matter? Or just talking about them?

There’s a tension at the heart of government that we don’t talk about enough. On the front lines, everything feels urgent. You’re dealing with real people, real problems, right now. You see what’s broken. You feel the pressure to act. Then there’s the center. The place where resources sit. Where decisions get made. Where the stakes are bigger, the scale is wider… but the urgency isn’t always there in the same way. And when these two worlds collide? That’s where things start to break down. My friend Almero Oosthuizen who is living both worlds, as an Emergency Doctor and as an Innovation Specialist for the Department of Health in the Western Cape of South Africa. Together, we explore that friction: why the frontline often feels ignored, why the center moves more slowly than it should, and why both sides are actually right (and wrong). If we’re serious about making government work better, we need to understand this tension, not just complain about it. Curious how others are experiencing this where you are. Drop a comment and let me know.

Last week I was in Melbourne for the Public Sector Network Government Innovation Week. I’ve got a full series linked below from the trip, so check those out if you want the full picture. But there’s one idea in particular that’s been stuck in my head ever since. After the conference, I broke out of the usual crowd and spent an evening with a small, eclectic group of civic punks. Less stage, more conversation. Less polished, more real. We dug into what a more local, grassroots approach to government could actually look like. Then I hopped over to Wellington for a packed couple of days. But here’s the thing I can’t shake: It feels like we’ve lost a step since the pandemic. The people who carried the civic punk movement for the last decade are tired. Some are burning out. And the next generation isn’t quite plugging in the way you’d expect. So we’re in this strange in-between moment. An interregnum. The old energy that powered the movement has faded… but the new energy hasn’t fully formed yet. Which raises a bigger question: What comes next for civic punks—and for the future of government?Government Innovation Week Series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGbB6ETwppLppBLlMQNSedbBEy9sMqHVk

I recently had the chance to spend a couple of days with one of my favourite Civic Punks, the author and public servant Amber Guette in Wellington, New Zealand. We talked about what public service means to her and what inspired her to write her well-known book: Dear Minister - Letters From a Public Servant. She also gave a sneak peek into her next book that she is currently writing.You can learn more about the book here: https://www.dearminister.net/

For this week's Rent Free, I sat down with Brenton Caffin, the founder of States of Change, to learn more about the book that has most shaped his thinking. He chose "Reimagining Organizations" by Frederic Laloux and shared how he has worked to apply its principles in both States of Change and Government.

Right now, it feels like we are in a moment focused on austerity. Governments everywhere are cutting their workforce, but is there a danger with this? Nick Scott thinks so. In his recent article, "Why Budget Cuts Without Resource Reallocation Rarely Transforms Systems" he argues that when cuts are rushed or made across the board we end up not with more efficient government but with crappy government. But he also has a solution, invest in reforming the pipes of government. Read the full article here: https://www.shiftflow.ca/ideas/budget-cuts-rarely-transform-systems

Victoria is at a turning point. Before Government Innovation Week begins, here’s what actually matters: the forces shaping the agenda and what to watch for. Featuring Ross Ashman (PSN Co-Founder) on why this moment matters.