A letter to potential readers
Hi.
I don’t know you, but tell me how I do…
You’re a public servant. I like you already :)
You didn’t enter the service to enrich yourself. You’re here to make an impact. But nothing (and no one) prepared you for how hard that would be. You've started to wonder, how can it be this difficult to do good?
Thankfully, you have your family and friends to lighten your load with their zingers about your cruisy, no-pressure, job for life…
If only working in government were the bludge everyone on the outside thought it was huh?
Public service doesn’t have to be this hard
If I’m right about where you are, the good news is, I’ve been there, too. That’s how I know it doesn’t have to be that way.
Starting right now, you can begin to bridge the gap between what you thought you needed to achieve success in public service, and what it really takes.
Your roadmap to making an impact in public service
Enter The Formula For Impact - a book I wrote for you (and the other 2 million public servants in Australia).
My book is your personal roadmap to achieving everything you want in your public sector career. It’s packed cover-to-cover with hard-won, plain-spoken advice from an insider.
That insider is me, Georgie Smith, with some help from my husband, Travis Bates. Yes, we’re a public service love story :) However, more importantly for your purposes, we’re career public servants who still have an intact belief in government’s enormous potential to do good.
The Formula For Impact combines an incisive defence of the public sector with a battle cry for young public servants — all wrapped around a no-bullshit guide to making a positive difference.
Don’t quit - we need you
I wrote The Formula For Impact because, over my nearly two decades in government, I noticed a disturbing pattern. Too many talented people enter public service full of purpose, only to leave in high dudgeon, ground down by the machine.
That’s a national disaster, because you are essential. Whether you’ve chosen local, state or federal government, we need you. This is the make-or-break century, and whether the world realises it or not, it’s counting on its public servants.
You CAN make a difference
You and I both know, the public service is vital, to communities, to our country and hell, I’ll say it – to the world. And it’s because public service is vital that I know you can make a difference.
The public service does things the private sector could never do. That’s why comparing government to the private sector is like comparing apples to deckchairs. Yet, so much training tries to “bring the private sector into the public service”.
Because government would be so much better if it were run like a consulting firm, or a start-up, or a Bitcoin mine...
When you’re playing chess, footy lessons aren’t going to help.
Let me help you
What will help is insight and advice from someone who believes in the public service, someone who has thrived in the public service, and someone who continues to support excellence in the public service every day.
I've stood in front of the same obstacles you have; I've felt the same frustrations you have, and yes, I've ground my teeth down to nubs the same as you have. Through all of that, I found a way to leave a legacy I'm proud of.
Let me show you how to do the same.
More strength to your arm,
Georgie
…PS Here’s what you’ll discover in The Formula For Impact:
Part 1: The stuff they don’t teach you at work
Most new recruits get taught all about the records management system, how to apply for leave and all the other minutia of life in a big machine.
But for some reason, most government agencies don't do the best job of grounding new talent in the information they truly need — the kind of foundational knowledge that sets you up to make a dent in the universe.
So the first part of The Formula For Impact will fill you in on the nitty-gritty — the torch-in-the-dark stuff that will make you say, “Ah, so that’s why…”.
Bonus: incredibly useful for responding to whatever charming comment comes back at you next time someone at a BBQ asks you what you do…
Part 2: Getting to know you
If you’ve been in government for a minute, you’ve met the person you don’t want to become in 10 years. There’s a word for those people: toxic.
This part shows you how to program your career GPS so you arrive at a different destination: happy and fulfilled.
Bonus: regardless of where your career takes you, working out your own motivations is a no-regrets option.
Part 3: Gathering superheroes
To make an impact, you'll need a coalition — not the political kind, the Justice League kind.
This part shows you how to bring together a collection of superheroes you can work with to get shit done.
Bonus: being ace at working with, through and around other people is pretty much the shortest route to getting promoted.
Part 4: Outsmarting problems
One thing government is never short of is problems. Problems, problems, so many problems to solve. However, not all of them can be solved, and some of the problems that can be solved don’t matter all that much. So how do you choose what to tackle?
This part shows you how to find solvable problems, worth solving.
Bonus: the most easily fixable driver of overwhelm is a shortage in problem-poking skills. Solve for this, and your whole life gets easier.
Part 5: R-E-S-P-E-C-T
The best change — the kind that sticks — is change that people respect. So not only do you need to solve problems worth solving, you need to do it in a way that makes people nod and say “yep, fair enough”.
This part shows you how to discover, design and deliver to a process that makes people glad you showed up and rolled up your sleeves.
Bonus: this is the part where all the rest of what we’ve talked about actually comes together to make the change that you want, happen.
About the authors
Georgie Smith
Georgie Smith has government in her veins. As well as serving in local and state government in Victoria, NSW and Queensland, she also grew up in a family of public servants. She’s been surrounded by service since before she knew what it meant.
Georgie’s official public sector career started in a truly depressing outer suburban Housing Department office, then upgraded to the insanity of a Minister’s office, followed by the relative calm of the Queensland Ambulance Service, Marrickville Council, and then eventually her personal nirvana, the Victorian Environment Protection Authority.
Over a 20-year career in public service, Georgie saw great teams waste time and money on lousy training. More often than not, the training was lousy because it failed to understand, let alone have respect for, what makes the public sector unique. (And why it’s a GREAT thing that the public sector doesn’t work the same way as the private sector.)
So Georgie co-founded (with Travis) her own business, Upsides Training, to provide the government-specific training that public servants deserve. All delivered in Georgie’s no-bullshit style.
Georgie knows the struggle to keep your head up under the daily drip of criticism from people who don’t understand your realities. It’s why she’s committed herself to transforming how public servants see themselves and their role in society.
Her long term goals include thumping the table on The Project (at least Waleed should understand why gov matters, right?) and inspiring a generation to consider a career in government to be A Very Good Thing.
In her spare time Georgie enjoys starting gardening projects (that Trav finishes) and learning how not to suck at watercolour painting.
Travis Bates
Travis Bates started in public service in the mines and ports of WA, before he came home to inspect the abattoirs and landfills of Victoria as an Environment Protection Officer. After questioning the finer details (and odours) of his life choices, Travis moved from the field into operational policy. The shift enabled Travis to do what he really loves - working out how to do stuff smarter, safer, fairer, better.
That’s also where Travis’ love for training took hold — guiding new staff to transform abstract concepts into real-world wins.
After a sojourn as a member director on some of Australia’s largest superannuation funds, Travis decided that arguing with suits over basics wasn’t for him, and he joined Georgie in helping the public sector thrive through Upsides.
In his spare time, Travis is lead parent, head chef and a better-than-average DIY guy. He dreams one day of building a canoe.
