Life in the Middle: Frozen or Creative? Helping Mid-level Public Servants Break Out

Abe Greenspoon, Margie Caust

2021 Collaboration & Communication English Organisational Culture & Governance

Most people in government work in the middle or at the front line of organisations. Sometimes they are described as the ‘frozen middle’, suggesting them to be people who resist change. Yet very often the most creative people in government work at the middle, exhibiting extraordinary imagination and grit to push their ideas through difficult bureaucratic structures. In this ‘fireside chat’ between the co-author of the Creative Bureaucracy and the developer of Free Agent Canada, we bust the myths about middle-level public servants and explore what they can do to break out in uncreative cultures.

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