The start of a new year for Dear Scrutineer
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I hope you had a good summer. I've certainly had a good summer break and now I'm looking forward to a new season for these ‘Dear Scrutineer’ reflections. So, welcome back to my existing subscribers and hello to those who have joined recently - I hope you all find these emails useful. And I thought I’d start with a mini annual report. Between September, when I started, and July, I shared 40 reflections via this email and on LinkedIn. It's interesting to see what resonated, so here are the five most engaged with posts on LinkedIn:
I’m pleased that I’ve managed to share about one a week although I’m also thinking that one reflection every two weeks might be abetter pace. I’ve found it a helpful process for my own reflection and thinking and I’ve also learnt a lot from the comments and feedback. It's also been fun mixing up the formats. As well as thoughts and short stories I've also shared poems and even a prayer. In terms of improvement, I’d like the topics to resonate more perhaps. The ‘bugbears’ and dilemmas seem to get more engagement than the ‘bigger picture’ reflections. So maybe more of that? So, dear scrutineeer, how might these reflections be more useful for you? Are there any dilemmas or topics you would find it helpful for me to cover? Perhaps there is something you are thinking about now? Let me know by reply 🙏 P.S. If you want to add/see comments on the LinkedIn version of this email you can find it here. |
Dear scrutineer,
Get reflections like this straight to your inbox. I also share them on LinkedIn.
Dear scrutineer, here’s a question for you. Can you describe the difference between assurance and reassurance? Imagine that one day you are being interviewed by an inspector and they ask ‘how do you seek assurance? Or ’what gives you confidence that things are running as they should be?’ What might you reply? And my view? Well I’d start with this: Reassurance means that someone told me something and I trusted they were right. It’s a feeling. Assurance, on the other hand, means I’ve got good...
Is scrutiny a game? It’s an interesting one to ponder. Certainly, some seem to act as if it is. They play to win, whether for party political reasons or purely for control. Equivocation and even manipulation have been employed to achieve ‘victory’ for the executive or for the non-executive. But not every game is competitive. As you may know, dear scrutineer, there are also cooperative games and maybe scrutiny can be thought of in this way. I recently played my first cooperative board game....
Dear scrutineer, here is a little scrutiny geek’s quiz for you and your team. You can find this quiz and the answers on my website here. Enjoy! 1. In 1998, who said: “…making scrutiny the prime backbench function will cut the inordinate number of hours spent deliberating on committees” 2. Who, as Minster of State for Local Government, introduced what became the Local Government Act 2000 into the Commons and hence brought local government scrutiny into being? 3. Who gave their name to the UK...