After 25 Years in Public Service, I’ve Learned a Few Things

After 25 years in public service, I’ve learned a few things. I claim no pride of ownership, authorship or exclusive use of these lessons and my only hope is that they will help you be a better public servant. I tried to channel these lessons for the greater good, where I could. Sometimes I’ve failed and sometimes, I’ve succeeded. Regardless, I hope you all do better than I did.

1. All public service is a great honor but if you think it’s not for you, then get out and give someone else a shot.
2. All public administration is the deliberate, thoughtful and dispassionate pursuit of the public’s business, not yours.
3. All public policy making comes down to how to modulate the Four P’s of Public Service: People. Process. Projects. Priorities.
4. At any one time, any one of the Four P’s will dominate your day, your conversation or your mission. As long as you don’t ignore the other three, you’ll be fine.
5. While many passionately proclaim the absolute perfection of their ideas, public service is more simply the constant pursuit of progress across many ideas, however, imperfect at the time. 
6. Embrace change. Shun stagnation. Promote experimentation. And always, don’t breathe without collaboration.
7. Listen and observe more and talk and orate less so you can shape a few great ideas instead of prolonging many smaller bad ideas. 
8. What you don’t say impacts people’s lives and work just as much as what you do say.
9. Don’t let your people follow your direction over a cliff.
10. The public is not an interruption but the reason we are in business.
11. If you can’t finish a proposed action with “…to help the public”, then don’t do it.
12. If you fail, own it. If you win, share it. But never presume you are here for glory or fame. That’s the other guy’s job.
13. Don’t be afraid to make a mistake or let your up & comers to make their own.
14. Communicate horizontally, over-communicate and say it again, until they can repeat it back to you.
15. Help one customer at a time and promote the public interest, all the time.
16. Fight the bureaucrat within you so your public doesn’t have to. 
17. Defend the marginalized, disenfranchised & underrepresented just as vigorously as the ones standing in front of you, shouting.
18. Make a career of your job but don’t make a life of your career. You are more than that. 
19. Distinguish and learn to value both your stakeholders and your stockholders.
20. If you hired good people, trust them, empower them and unleash them.
21. You’re never as good as you think but things are never as bad as they seem.
22. You can never accomplish anything good alone, without someone behind you cleaning up, someone next to you complementing you or someone in front you, clearing your path forward. 
23. Be kind with your colleagues and stand up for them when they are not around to see it. 
24. Be generous with your time and listen to people’s grievances, feedback and ideas.  
25. Be persistent with your mission and do not be discouraged after every failure, nor remiss after every success.  
26. Own the process, not the decision. 
27. Don’t be afraid to push back on your leaders because your silence in the face of a poor decision will cost everyone.
28. Care more, invest more and do more to ensure the success of everyone around you, before yourself.
29. Have the courage of your convictions and the wisdom to let them go, in favor or a better idea or plan.
30. Never drive your ego to work. There isn’t enough room in the building for your car or your ego.    
31. No one owes you a great career path, daily happiness, live-work balance, a frustration-free environment or success without failure.  Otherwise, it wouldn’t be called ‘work’.
32. You are 100% responsible for everything you experience so don’t complain about some wrong that’s been done to you or worst, take it out on the public, when you’re the only one that can fix it.   
33. Negativity, distrust, cynicism and just a bad attitude in public service, are all infectious. You have a right to your feelings but don’t bring the whole place down with you, or if you must, refer to Rule #1.   

 I wish you all great success, wisdom and compassion, in serving the public.

Shahriar Afshar