Governing the City State - Chief Minister and Treasury Directorate ...

In this context, the clarity and simplicity of the Scottish National Performance Frameworkhas great attraction (see Appendix 1) with its:• single purpose;• five strategic objectives;• 15 national outcomes; and• 45 national indicators and targets.There are already similarities between that system and the ACT’s framework. The ACT hasalready established the Measuring Our Progress website 248 which reports against just 28indicators. The ACT Government and ACTPS might aspire to the clarity and meaningfulsimplicity of the National Performance Framework and Measuring our Progress.Delivering on this goal will not be easy. There are risks in the sort of public clarity ofpurpose and intent that it entails, but there are also enormous incentives for achievement andopportunities to align coherent effort behind a common purpose.At a practical level, the work entailed – some of which is already underway– includes:• improving asset management across the ACTPS while integrating it with detailed serviceplanning and aligning this planning and the annual capital works program; and• clearly articulating service levels with Ministers and the community.The systems and processes of the machinery of government need to be adapted to revolvearound a recalibrated strategic planning framework. There will need to be clear and enforcedprocess gates and an understanding that underdone proposals which inhabit the hazy middleground will not be permitted. The existing process gates set out in the Cabinet Handbookand Budget Process Rules will need to be enforced more vigorously.Above all, the alignment of effort, coordination of approach, and collaboration across thedifferent perspectives of the ACTPS’s constituent Directorates that are central to theReview’s preferred model will need to be brought to bear in providing strategic and directionsetting advice to the government, and in delivering services to the people of Canberra.The simple message is that there needs to be a clear line of sight from a statement of purpose,through aspirational strategic vision, to decisions on program design and delivery, tooperational and tactical level planning, and back up again.What is Strategic Policy Advice Anyway?Much of what is written and understood about strategy and strategic thinking has overtlymilitary overtones. The Macquarie Dictionary, for example, defines strategy as “generalship;the science or art of combining and employing the means of war in planning and directinglarge military movements and operations”, as “skilful management in getting the better of an248 See http://www.measuringourprogress.act.gov.au/Strategy, Resource Allocation and the Vacant Middle Ground: 207