MICHAEL SCHILLING: Given the current problems in the Education Department there is no doubt that the Allen report will be a very useful base upon which to reshape and redirect the organisation.

Allen’s assessment of the situation focuses on what is there now, which one assumes was largely put in place by the previous chief executive, Mr Bartley, with Jay Weatherill as minister. It would have been interesting for Mr Allen to look back further for us to understand if the problems he identified were also in existence under the previous minister, Jane Lomax-Smith.

There is no question that the Education Department presents a challenging management task – it always has and it always will. But constant change just to accommodate the particular preferences of a CE can be counterproductive and is ultimately costly. The emphasis must be on clarity of purpose, measurable objectives, accountability and manageable organisational units. In the wake of the current shake-up, care must also be taken not to stifle initiative and creativity for the sake of obedient compliance. To achieve that, senior management must speak with one voice; it must encourage teamwork and support staff, and avoid any internal ‘divide and conquer’ situations.

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PENNY GALE: I couldn”t agree more with Joanna Cys’ article on the state of creativity and innovation in South Australia. A great example is the woeful lack of support for the South Australian Young Entrepreneur Scheme (SAYES) program which has been been unsuccessful in attracting support even though the success of a number of young SA entrepreneurs and ideas people speaks for itself. Once there was a particular focus on creative industries in the department of trade in one of its various forms, but that is long gone.

Thinker-in-Residence Charles Landry said if one per cent of the population were leaders that would mean we would have over 100,000 leaders in our state. We may well already have that many but we can’t see them because we have a narrow view of what creativity and innovation looks like.

One issue is the lack of an environment where debate in the public arena is encouraged. What is needed is an openness to all ideas but recognising that decisions need to be made which may not satisfy everyone. Surely that is a what leadership is all about.

Landry is spot on when he says in his report its about opportunity management (not risk management) and leadership.

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