Digital Government Excellence. Siim Sikkut

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Название Digital Government Excellence
Автор произведения Siim Sikkut
Жанр Зарубежная деловая литература
Серия
Издательство Зарубежная деловая литература
Год выпуска 0
isbn 9781119858881



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in our organization, in SDO, they had less ego and were very down-to-earth when it came to the services that they provided. That they would be very open-minded to listen and hear others to be ready to revisit our services and processes.

      Speed was our pressure. I needed the team who could run with me. They needed to believe in me under the pressure. They needed to see that I was there 24/7, so I did reply to their requests, emails, calls immediately as soon as I could.

      We had a policy in the meetings that anyone could attend any meeting. Register at least half an hour before, and we would make sure you have a seat. If it is with external members, listen in during the meeting—if you have anything to ask, ask at the end. This opened more doors for the people to understand what happened around them. Imagine you are in this organization and working very hard, then suddenly there is a new project or success, and you hear about in the newspaper or radio only. This will kill the enthusiasm in your heart that made you every early morning come to work and join this organization. So I made sure that everyone in the organization believed and felt that they were an important part of the of the organization.

      We also needed to be happy employees to make the lives of people happier. That is why we took leisure trips together or went to events, also outside the country. Or we would go biking or sailing. Some of these things were going on every weekend, also with families. Happy employees could present this vision to the others, and they would believe it more if they saw it in us.

      We went for the tribe approach to have a very fast way to deliver even small deliverables all the time. It was also a way to make sure that management needed to interfere only if necessary. No need to interfere if things were going right anyway. This was also a way to allow for experimentation, to have teams go and have a space to implement and test what works.

      Building a livable digitalization and our Smart City blueprint.

      I am proud of having had and built this strong team in Smart Dubai that was a team like never seen before in Dubai. They came from different nationalities, from different entities, but believed in the same goal. They were like fire, every day and night, just to make sure they implemented things. They were really building things for themselves. Like one of the teams that worked on registering the buying and selling of cars in the city. They tested it with their own cars: one sold his car to the other guy through the system. I saw how powerful and happy these tiny teams of enthusiasts were when they achieved a change, even if small.

      We surely also achieved for Dubai making a mark on the global digital transformation agenda. It was a huge achievement to become one of the cities that has managed to transform its own systems and experiences in this way.

      My third accomplishment is a very personal one—understanding and believing in myself that I can change my own skin to grow this organization and at such a speed.

      I learned from Smart Dubai that I need to be open-minded and transparent also with myself to see where are the nodes that I need to expand in my own way of thinking and my own body. I started on a personal growth journey—with meditation, lots of yoga, learning new things about my own self. Started a new hobby of tennis; I had never held a racket before! I am still a member in many areas of the city management, but my main time is for me now.

      New management groups surely come and have their own agendas; they will change the work at the end of the day. But I made sure that the teams themselves were mature enough to deal with such change so that the systems could adapt.

      There still is delivery to be done to meet the initially set deadlines.

      Also, I tried to push in the last five years that IT is not just IT. Normally IT is seen as a support function, right? In Smart Dubai, IT is a digital platform that can change the whole perspective of the business—it can push you up or kill you. Either satisfy your client or lose your client.

      In my role, I was not just paying attention to the deliverables per se, but the philosophy and way of life across government about how to see IT people. That they are not there to provide you cables and Wi-Fi and troubleshoot—they are the masters of reshaping the business. This idea of IT still needs cultivating to last.

      I learned to be more open-minded and not to judge things upfront, especially when new technologies or ideas or systems are being presented to me. Before, I used to shut down often in these cases. In Smart Dubai, I learned to listen, to allow others to elaborate more, to showcase and to convince others. If they are convinced, then the issue is with me and not with the technology or idea itself.

      So, I pushed myself more into practicing this new way of thinking or seeing things in a more open-minded and in less judgmental way. I also see it more in my own life now, as my daughter has grown up from being a teenager to an adult and starting her own business now. I have learned to let her go by supporting her and trusting her.

      To be passionate, first of all. Passionate about the sector or area that you want to grow in.

      Be open-minded.

      Have the project or program close