Agile Development as Model for Government Policy Making

Agile Policy Making?

We were so excited to see Joi Ito’s post about agile development as a (potential) model for policy-making, we hardly know where to start. Maybe a thank you for Reid Hoffman’s perspective on early releasing – well timed as we are still wincing at the bugs in a recent launch of our own project (WeToo).

Three More Reasons

Here are three more reasons we think the agile approach holds promise for government:

  1. It encourages collaboration among policy makers, giving everyone a stake because no single idea is advanced and then “rolled out.” Iterative policy is collaboratively owned by people who want to see it work (and improve).
  2. It encourages collaboration between policymakers and the citizens, businesses, and communities policy is meant to benefit—because policy makers understand that they are working toward the intended impact and not simply “to implement” a particular approach.
  3. It provides a potential vehicle for not just responding to the needs of citizens, businesses, and communities, but for cultivating the information, knowledge, and networks that help them meet their own needs. Agile models encourage  “platform building” and collaborative action over the development of expert-led management systems.

That’s Wicked.

The agile approach is particularly well suited to wicked problems—and what public policy issue worth its salt isn’t wicked?

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