‘Criticism will deter innovation in States’

Wednesday 13th January 2010, 2:56PM GMT.

Comptroller and Auditor General Chris Swinson

CRITICISM of civil servants might discourage them from efforts to reform and fix things that go wrong, according to the States efficiency watchdog.

In a speech to the Institute of Directors yesterday afternoon, Chris Swinson said that Islanders found it easy to ‘think the worst’ of the States and did not give politicians or officers enough credit when things were going well.

‘I am not going to shrink from saying that things are going wrong but we need to give people the space to get them right once those words have been said,’ said Mr Swinson, the Comptroller and Auditor General.

‘If we do not, we end up with a States culture which is defensive and withdraws from innovation. We need a States culture where people feel free to take risks – properly managed and assessed – to make things better. I am worried about that because wherever I go in the States I find officers who find it easy to be defensive because they are worried about public reaction.’

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1
truthseeker

January 14, 2010 at 2:27 pm

Well what a start to 2010…what a crass statement….absolutely the most pitiful excusemaking insult to the public intellect…talk about sucked into the non profit making culture…..yet another so called expert who has gone “native” and is now no use to me whatever though I will still have to pay the wages……a fine example of exactly what has gone systemically wrong with the island…Ooh don’t criticize us delicate wallflowers with our massive salaries and expenses and Faux’s pas’s that would fill a book.we are never to blame and we want that now to be official…it really is scandalous and shows they have still learned nothing about P.R. as they have provided even further proof ,as if it were needed that Only total reform remains a credible option.How they can expect to be taken seriously serves only to confirm how out of kilter with reality they really are…disgusted.

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2
the future

January 14, 2010 at 5:16 pm

Ah yes,

If we tell them they are doing a fantastic job that is far more likely to get them to change their ways. I gasp in shock at this.

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