{"id":5897,"date":"2025-07-21T23:29:40","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T02:29:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ponddeshpande.ca\/?page_id=5897"},"modified":"2025-07-22T17:39:49","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T20:39:49","slug":"how-it-got-fixed","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ponddeshpande.ca\/fr\/blog\/how-it-got-fixed\/","title":{"rendered":"How It Got Fixed"},"content":{"rendered":"

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How It Got Fixed<\/h3>\n

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Report Out from a GovMaker Workshop<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

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Guest blog by Nick Scott, <\/span><\/span>CEO & Principal Consultant of Shiftflow<\/span><\/p>\n

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This post was originally published by Nick on his Medium blog page<\/a><\/span> on January\u202f11, 2025.<\/i><\/p>\n

So, you\u2019ve got more than a hundred cross-sector changemakers in a room\u2014what do you do? <\/span>In November 2024, I had the opportunity to design and facilitate a one-hour workshop at the GovMaker Conference<\/span>. This session followed an inspiring keynote by Kelly Lamrock<\/span>, New Brunswick\u2019s Child, Youth, and Seniors Advocate and the author of the <\/span>How It All Broke<\/span><\/em><\/a> report. Lamrock\u2019s report didn\u2019t just highlight the cracks in our systems; it laid out bold recommendations for a Reinventing Government Initiative (ReGo)<\/span>. After publishing <\/span>this thought piece<\/a> in October 2024, I was thrilled to bring some of those ideas to life, even in a small way.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Challenge<\/h3>\n

Our guiding question for the workshop was simple but huge:
\nHow might we implement or support the ReGo recommendations from the How It All Broke report?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

With just an hour, I wanted a format that would maximize creativity, participation, and tangible outcomes. I opted for a combination of liberating structures and one of my favourite ideation exercises. Liberating Structures<\/a> can be designed to allow large groups to get a lot done in a short period, providing the perfect framework. You can download the slides and instructions here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Activity<\/h3>\n

For this session, I combined Brainwriting<\/span><\/em> with <\/span>1\u20132\u20134-All<\/span><\/em>.<\/span> Here\u2019s how it worked:<\/p>\n

Step 1: Brainwriting<\/h3>\n

Participants began with a sheet divided into three rows, each representing a key question:<\/p>\n

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  1. What bold step could we take to transform services for people?<\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. What barriers might we face, and how might we overcome them?<\/strong><\/li>\n
  3. What outcome metrics could measure success?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Each person wrote one idea per row, then passed their sheet to their neighbour. The next participant reviewed the ideas and either built on them or added a new idea. This process repeated until the sheets returned to their original owners.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

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    Step 2: Reflection and Synthesis<\/h3>\n

    After reflecting on their sheets, participants formed small groups (diads or triads) to synthesize their ideas into strategies using a structured mad-lib template:<\/p>\n<\/div>

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    \u201cOur bold step is to [insert bold step], which aims to [insert intended impact or outcome].<\/em><\/p>\n

    We recognize that a key barrier to success is [insert barrier]. However, we propose overcoming this by [insert solution], leveraging [insert resources, partnerships, or strategies]. <\/em><\/p>\n

    To measure our progress, we\u2019ll use [insert key metric], which will help us track [insert what the metric evaluates or ensures].\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

    Step 3: Plenary Sharing<\/span><\/h2>\n

    Each table then presented their synthesized strategies to the larger group, sharing their creative approaches and solutions.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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    The Results<\/h3>\n

    In just one hour, our group of ~150 participants generated<\/span>:<\/p>\n