Hiring new Whitehall geniuses is like pouring water into a leaky jug | Nitika Agarwal

To transform the civil service, look to Canada or Portugal for ways to unlock the treasure trove of talentThe floodgates are open: Dominic Cummings is well on his way, apparently, to recruiting “true cognitive diversity” into government. Forget those fusty old civil service interviews, wooden as a GCSE French oral exam. His call – made via apersonal blog– for “weirdos” and those with data and quantitative skills hasreportedly garnered thousands of applications.This is just the start of his plan to “make rapid progress on long-term problems”. But a few new people in No 10, however maverick, will make little difference. The whole machine needs to change if Cummings is to achieve the vision of a responsive, citizen-centred, 21st-century government.Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Public sector careers Society Civil service Science Society Professionals Public services policy Source Type: news