{"id":34196,"date":"2022-05-19T11:00:28","date_gmt":"2022-05-19T15:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/?p=34196"},"modified":"2024-01-08T11:34:17","modified_gmt":"2024-01-08T16:34:17","slug":"what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/","title":{"rendered":"What I learned about our government on my trip to Singapore"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last month, I had the opportunity to travel to Singapore with my colleague Loren Dejonge Schulman as part of a business immersion trip that examined public administration and whole-of-government work from an international perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this long journey across the globe, I met new people at all levels of Singaporean society, both private citizens and high-ranking government officials. I also ate great food and was able to admire a beautiful and extraordinarily well-run country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are my three biggest observations from my time in Singapore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have a lot to learn from others<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Travelling expands the mind, enabling you to not only see something different, but to also see oneself and home in a unique way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a high school student, I had the opportunity to study and live abroad for a year. As I prepared to leave for my trip, friends and family kept telling me how much of a culture shock it was going to be. I soon found out that traveling to a new place was less shocking than my return to the U.S.\u2014the trip completely changed my perspective on how I viewed my former world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I\u2019ve grown older, I find it harder to make the time to embrace and experience novel and uncomfortable opportunities. It has been a long time since I have immersed myself in a completely new and different place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it was a phenomenal experience. I have always wanted to do more work studying and learning about democracy and public service on the international stage. The problems I saw are largely the same ones we confront and it was impressive to see how well they are addressing them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Singapore\u2019s secret sauce<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It would be easy to ignore the Singapore government\u2019s success and lessons for the U.S. by noting the ways it is different from our country \u2013 it is small (5 million people); simpler (there is one, integrated government) and relatively new (the country didn\u2019t even get started until 1965).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think that would be a mistake since there is so much that they are doing that speaks directly to what we can do here. Their secret sauce starts with a profound respect for people \u2013 they understand that their success depends upon recruiting great talent and developing them as whole-of-government actors focused on a common vision for national success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One element that stands out is their commitment to moving civil servants around the different parts of government in order to grow their best people and connect the different parts of government. One example that sticks out is the meeting we had with their central technology unit and learning that one of their deputies had previously served as a senior diplomat to Great Britain!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Partnership is on the right track<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the most important lessons from our trip to Singapore is that the Partnership is on the right track, even while we have still a long distance to travel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our upcoming launch of our Public Service Leadership Institute is a great example. The Singapore government invests substantially in the leadership capabilities of its people, largely through a civil service college that is a strong model for what we are trying to build.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A second important example is the more recent work we are doing on understanding and building trust in our government and recognizing how fundamental that is to our democracy. Once again, Singapore is marching in this same direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Singapore is dedicated to improving government just as we are at the Partnership. We not only help build<\/a> a better government and a stronger democracy, but we also demonstrate in clear terms for the American public why that mission is so important to all of us. As such, our work helps keep our nation focused on strengthening and supporting our most vital public institution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I left Singapore energized by this cause and confident<\/a> in the Partnership\u2019s ability to make a difference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last month, I had the opportunity to travel to Singapore with my colleague Loren Dejonge Schulman as part of a business immersion trip that examined public administration and whole-of-government work from an international perspective. During this long journey across the globe, I met new people at all levels of Singaporean society, both private citizens and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":34199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sort-date":"","content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9038],"tags":[9226,4546,9048],"class_list":["post-34196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-partnership-insights","tag-civil-service","tag-government-effectiveness","tag-leadership"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat I learned about our government on my trip to Singapore<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Partnership President and CEO Max Stier recently traveled to Singapore for a business immersion trip that examined public administration and whole-of-government work from an international perspective. He shares three observations about democracy and public service.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What I learned about our government on my trip to Singapore\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Partnership President and CEO Max Stier visited Singapore to examine whole-of-government work from an international perspective.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Partnership for Public Service\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/partnershipforpublicservice\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-05-19T15:00:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-08T16:34:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/shutterstock_1497865160-e1652972082964.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"375\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mpruce\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@RPublicService\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@RPublicService\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"mpruce\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b90e0b62e3b78ebf9a65a1551be04c01\"},\"headline\":\"What I learned about our government on my trip to Singapore\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-19T15:00:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-08T16:34:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/\"},\"wordCount\":666,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/shutterstock_1497865160-e1652972082964.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"civil service\",\"Government Effectiveness\",\"Leadership\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Partnership Insights\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/\",\"name\":\"What I learned about our government on my trip to Singapore\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/shutterstock_1497865160-e1652972082964.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-19T15:00:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-08T16:34:17+00:00\",\"description\":\"Partnership President and CEO Max Stier visited Singapore to examine whole-of-government work from an international perspective.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/shutterstock_1497865160-e1652972082964.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/shutterstock_1497865160-e1652972082964.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":375,\"caption\":\"Singapore government building\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What I learned about our government on my trip to Singapore\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/\",\"name\":\"Partnership for Public Service\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Partnership for Public Service\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/PPS-logo-with-tag.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/PPS-logo-with-tag.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":58,\"caption\":\"Partnership for Public Service\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/partnershipforpublicservice\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/RPublicService\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/rpublicservice\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/partnership-for-public-service\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b90e0b62e3b78ebf9a65a1551be04c01\",\"name\":\"mpruce\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2c1e7b558246b6834edcde27aabd7bc3d29de063484cbb5d11a5bd90a1aeb006?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2c1e7b558246b6834edcde27aabd7bc3d29de063484cbb5d11a5bd90a1aeb006?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"mpruce\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/author\/mpruce\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What I learned about our government on my trip to Singapore","description":"Partnership President and CEO Max Stier recently traveled to Singapore for a business immersion trip that examined public administration and whole-of-government work from an international perspective. He shares three observations about democracy and public service.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What I learned about our government on my trip to Singapore","og_description":"Partnership President and CEO Max Stier visited Singapore to examine whole-of-government work from an international perspective.","og_url":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/","og_site_name":"Partnership for Public Service","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/partnershipforpublicservice\/","article_published_time":"2022-05-19T15:00:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-01-08T16:34:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":375,"url":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/shutterstock_1497865160-e1652972082964.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"mpruce","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@RPublicService","twitter_site":"@RPublicService","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/"},"author":{"name":"mpruce","@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b90e0b62e3b78ebf9a65a1551be04c01"},"headline":"What I learned about our government on my trip to Singapore","datePublished":"2022-05-19T15:00:28+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-08T16:34:17+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/"},"wordCount":666,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/shutterstock_1497865160-e1652972082964.jpg","keywords":["civil service","Government Effectiveness","Leadership"],"articleSection":["Partnership Insights"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/","url":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/","name":"What I learned about our government on my trip to Singapore","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/shutterstock_1497865160-e1652972082964.jpg","datePublished":"2022-05-19T15:00:28+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-08T16:34:17+00:00","description":"Partnership President and CEO Max Stier visited Singapore to examine whole-of-government work from an international perspective.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/shutterstock_1497865160-e1652972082964.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/shutterstock_1497865160-e1652972082964.jpg","width":1000,"height":375,"caption":"Singapore government building"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-i-learned-about-our-government-on-my-trip-to-singapore\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What I learned about our government on my trip to Singapore"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/","name":"Partnership for Public Service","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#organization","name":"Partnership for Public Service","url":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/PPS-logo-with-tag.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/PPS-logo-with-tag.png","width":300,"height":58,"caption":"Partnership for Public Service"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/partnershipforpublicservice\/","https:\/\/x.com\/RPublicService","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/rpublicservice\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/partnership-for-public-service"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b90e0b62e3b78ebf9a65a1551be04c01","name":"mpruce","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2c1e7b558246b6834edcde27aabd7bc3d29de063484cbb5d11a5bd90a1aeb006?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2c1e7b558246b6834edcde27aabd7bc3d29de063484cbb5d11a5bd90a1aeb006?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"mpruce"},"url":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/author\/mpruce\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}