And Why the Blog?

I am one of the employees of the Ontario Public Service (OPS). Yes, a "government worker", and proud to say it. Specifically, I work for ServiceOntario (link on the right), and without sounding too much like a commercial, we're the "retail face of government" - we are here to make things easier for Ontarians to get products and services from the Provincial government. In order to do that, we need to simplify and modernize a lot of our business processes, and that's where I come in.

I am a self-professed "process geek". There's nothing I like more than getting to the bottom of a broken or messy process and figuring out how to fix it. Whether it's in a restaurant, a bank, a hospital, or an airport, I'm constantly on point - looking at what's going on and thinking about what I would do if I were asked to help.

Usually, of course, I'm not asked. (Not outside work, anyway.)

But last summer I was privileged to do a presentation to a delegation from the Ugandan Public Service (UPS). I enjoyed presenting my usual "process improvement in the public sector" material, and thought nothing more of it. But apparently the delegation was very excited, and so this year, I was invited to join a small team from the OPS and go over to Uganda to lead a workshop on process improvement.

I should say that this trip is made possible through the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) (both links on the right). Basically, these organizations have paired various provinces with various developing nations. The provinces work to share best practices and help the developing nation grow and prosper. Ontario has been part of this program since 2001, and the partnership with Uganda has been successful not only for the people of Uganda, but also has been a wonderful learning experience for those OPS employees who have been fortunate enough to become involved.

I am very very excited and am not quite sure what will happen and what to expect! I have trained many people in Canada and have given presentations in the US, but never have I taught in, let alone traveled to, the continent of Africa. The trip will be short - I'll be in Uganda for a week and then fly home through London to visit with some ex-pat friends there. But a lot can happen in a week!

I hope you enjoy following along with me...