This is about change-making in government. It is a curated selection of reflections on the change-making work led and lived by Dr. Wafa Snaineh and Dr. Hassan Khudair over the past three decades.
Written both in real time and in retrospect; between reforms, decisions, consequences, and impact. These journals now form the early manuscripts of Minister for Change. The journals are certainly technical, backed by academic research that began in 2004 and reinforced by around three decades of observing the implementation of dozens of change programs and hundreds of initiatives. They draw on both factual insights from empirical research and rich lessons from stories, interviews, and discussions.
Yet, more importantly, this is about the human side of bureaucracy, the psychology of people, the conflicting interests, the social dynamics, the hearts as much as the minds. This was written with the aim to help see government as the living, breathing machine that it truly is.
In the most scientific way possible, the journals can be categorized across three main parts, taking the reader from the why of change to the how that makes it happen.
Part One: How It All Started
Those journals bring in the personal story of both authors, their backgrounds, the experiences that shaped them, and the path that led them to write this.
Part Two: The Case for Change
Those jounrals attempts to lay out the why. Why change in government is so hard. Why it matters more than ever. Why we need bold, relentless entrepreneurs inside the government machine. Yes, to fix what is broken, but also to imagine what is possible.
Part Three: The Seven Themes
With those journals we shift gears, from belief to the principles that make change happen. This is the playbook of the practical, repeatable framework we think every Minister for Change needs.
- Leading with Purpose
Purpose is our fire. It keeps us up at night and gets us out of bed in the morning. Here, we share how we discovered that those who have a bug for serving people, the ones who genuinely care, are far more likely to build successful change legacies than those who treat it as a purely technical exercise.
- Knowing Our Universe
Knowing our offerings, people, technologies, and processes is key to change making. Whether we’re rebuilding a call centre, designing a complex service with fifteen partners, or reengineering HR, our universe is your context, and context is king.
Here, we share real-life examples that show how taking the time to understand the entire universe may take effort, but it will most likely dramatically improve our ability to make informed and confident decisions.
- Surrounding Ourselves with Good People
Governments hold more gold than they realize: data, technology, partners, and resources, all waiting to be activated. More importantly, governments are home to deeply genuine and driven people. Over time, we discovered that the people we surround ourselves with not only became our greatest asset, but also our most reliable fuel.
Here, we share true stories that taught us how scouting certain traits in people and cultivating them, can make all the pain that comes with this type of work worth it.
- Having a Good Design
Not just pretty design, good design. Design that makes sense and is not afraid to pivot when needed. Design that works under pressure, is sustainable, and is built for humans. These journals unpack what “good” really means, and why it’s the subtle difference between programs that resonate with decision makers and those that feel bland.
We will share how one of the world’s most renowned government transformation programs was born from a pivot. We’ll surface the hidden biases baked into government decision-making, how they quietly shape solution choices, and how to ask the uncomfortable questions that force better designs to emerge.
- Becoming a Salesperson
In government, selling is almost a dirty word and governments don’t sell enough, but good change-makers do. They know how to pitch, persuade, and rally others to launch and sustain change. Here, we share stories of failures we committed ourselves —or witnessed— when selling was missing. Through these anecdotes, along with practical tools, we aim to bring selling in government out of the shadows and into the realm of essential duties.
- Mastering the Discipline of Following Through
Progress has enemies: complacency, resistance, perfectionism, and, of course, the next shiny object. Progress doesn’t happen without follow-through. We learned that it demands stamina, the discipline to stay and follow through when the applause quiets and the lights dim. These journals explore how “tedious” follow-through can become a discipline worth mastering.
- Practicing Patience
The final theme is about the practice of patience. Change-making is taxing, to say the least, and rarely arrives like a lightning bolt. It is a slow, gritty exercise. To endure it, patience, grounded in faith and strengthened by kindness -to self and others- must become a practice that adorns us as we embody it.
So What Comes Next?
The structure is here. The rest is up to you.
We intend through this site to share with you answers we found to some of the questions that kept us up at night.
- How do you inspire thousands to change what has always been done this way?
- How do you win over skeptics, resisters, and cynics?
- And how do you keep your fire alive in a system designed to extinguish it?
Enjoy the read.
Wafa and Hassan