Quickening our Bureaucratic Imagination - An Invitation to Play

Imagine a bureaucracy where the seemingly impossible becomes possible, plausible and playful.

“Imagination matters because it’s the source of everything we make and do. But if we neglect imagination, we risk locking ourselves into inadequate responses to the future.” - Geoff Mulgan

Now, more than ever, we need the capacity to imagine bureaucracies that are fit to meet the challenges of our times. How might we keep our governments and public sector functioning in service to the greater good? Alone, this can feel like an impossible task. 

For those working in government, the broader public sector as well as partners, collaborators and allies - we all need to unlock ways to quicken our bureaucratic imagination.

Together, in a playful, collective and joyous space it might just be possible to imagine and begin to build together. 

Over three hours, the team from Centre for Public Impact will guide you through a series of small group activities, interspersed with opportunities to connect with others and share your experiences across the group. Together, we will encourage and provoke new ideas about bureaucracies and the role of public servants through the following activities:  

• Felt Bureaucracy: Drawing on your own experience, and the experiences of others, we’ll collaboratively tell the story of someone’s transformation from a traditional bureaucrat to a creative bureaucrat. What enabled the transformation and what became possible?
• Making New Models: Using different materials, we’ll model how things in government are operating now, and what a more creative and collaborative system of government could look like. What new connections can we see when we make systems visible and tangible?  
• 100 Ways Anything Could be Different in the Future: Too often, it can seem like the future is inevitable or defined by a confined set of choices. How can we simulate new realities for what it means to work in, with and around government, and how does that reveal different futures? 

• Metaphors We Live By: Language shapes our world and what we believe is possible, but often we forget to ask ourselves why we’re choosing certain words, and not others. What becomes possible when we play with different metaphors to describe government policy? 

  
  

We’ll then head downstairs to BrickLane Brewery to continue the conversations and create more connections. Even if you can’t make the workshop, we’d love you to join us afterwards! 

We want this to be an inclusive and accessible event, so if cost (or anything else) is a barrier to attend, please let us know so we can find a way for you to join us.