<![CDATA[The Public Practice]]>The Public Practice podcast is about the craft of public innovation: the skills, the strategies, and the conditions that let real change happen. We dig into it through conversations, case studies, and stories from the field, all centred on the actual work it takes to make public systems run better.

Co-hosts Nick Scott and Jason Pearman have done versions of this work themselves, in Canada and abroad, and that shows up in every conversation. Nick and Jason interview as peers - it feels less like a reporter running a Q&A and more like two senior staff comparing notes with a third. We assume our guests know things worth learning, and we ask like it.

Each episode follows one guest’s path. How they got into the work, what nearly stopped them, and what they’d tell someone standing where they once stood. We treat public service as a craft, change as real labour, and reform as something built slowly by people who keep showing up.

Public sector reform moves slowly, and a lot of what makes it work lives only in people’s heads. When a seasoned practitioner retires or moves on, that knowledge usually walks out the door with them. This show is our way of catching it, making sense of it, and handing it forward.

*New episodes are published monthly during active seasons, with breaks for production and research. The Public Practice is part of the research initiative, Public Works.

]]>www.public-works.caRiverside.fm (https://riverside.com)Sat, 18 Jul 2026 00:58:18 GMTThu, 04 Jun 2026 14:35:32 GMT60Public Works<p>The Public Practice podcast is about the craft of public innovation: the skills, the strategies, and the conditions that let real change happen. We dig into it through conversations, case studies, and stories from the field, all centred on the actual work it takes to make public systems run better. <br /><br />Co-hosts Nick Scott and Jason Pearman have done versions of this work themselves, in Canada and abroad, and that shows up in every conversation. Nick and Jason interview as peers - it feels less like a reporter running a Q&amp;A and more like two senior staff comparing notes with a third. We assume our guests know things worth learning, and we ask like it.</p><p></p><p>Each episode follows one guest’s path. How they got into the work, what nearly stopped them, and what they’d tell someone standing where they once stood. We treat public service as a craft, change as real labour, and reform as something built slowly by people who keep showing up.<br /></p><p>Public sector reform moves slowly, and a lot of what makes it work lives only in people’s heads. When a seasoned practitioner retires or moves on, that knowledge usually walks out the door with them. This show is our way of catching it, making sense of it, and handing it forward. <br /><br />*New episodes are published monthly during active seasons, with breaks for production and research. The Public Practice is part of the research initiative, <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://thepublicworks.substack.com/p/welcome-to-public-works" target="_blank">Public Works</a>.</p>episodicPublic Worksatelier.projectx@gmail.comno<![CDATA[Seeing Is Believing: Why User Feedback Changes Government | Dorothy Eng]]>In this second interview of Season 3, Dorothy Eng, CEO of Code for Canada, shares her journey from materials engineering to the really tough user feedback at a dinner party that pushed her into civic tech.

The conversation covers the importance of user-centred design, why you should expose executives and teams to user feedback early and often, the challenges of organizational transformation, and the role of leadership in building digital capacity within government. There’s also the obligatory nod to procurement and NASA.

]]>66bdc785-ae1d-45d1-bfc7-97a068cef16eSat, 11 Jul 2026 18:34:59 GMT<p>In this second interview of Season 3, Dorothy Eng, CEO of Code for Canada, shares her journey from materials engineering to the really tough user feedback at a dinner party that pushed her into civic tech.</p><p></p><p>The conversation covers the importance of user-centred design, why you should expose executives and teams to user feedback early and often, the challenges of organizational transformation, and the role of leadership in building digital capacity within government. There’s also the obligatory nod to procurement and NASA.</p>no01:26:1032Seeing Is Believing: Why User Feedback Changes Government | Dorothy Engfull<![CDATA[Ingredients for Mission-Oriented Government | Sarah Doyle]]>The first interview of Season 3. Sarah Doyle reflects on her journey into the public sector and the insights gained across government, IIPP, and MaRS. The conversation explores what mission-oriented government looks like beyond the theory: how public institutions build the capacity to work across silos, collaborate with actors outside government, and operate in fast-moving, interconnected environments. Topics include concrete examples of mission-oriented approaches that have taken root, what helps them succeed, what continues to get in the way, and the role of storytelling as a core public sector capability that shapes what governments see as possible.

]]>230cb3a8-b3d6-42f2-94d0-6f5758cd9249Wed, 10 Jun 2026 21:44:27 GMT<p>The first interview of Season 3. Sarah Doyle reflects on her journey into the public sector and the insights gained across government, IIPP, and MaRS. The conversation explores what mission-oriented government looks like beyond the theory: how public institutions build the capacity to work across silos, collaborate with actors outside government, and operate in fast-moving, interconnected environments. Topics include concrete examples of mission-oriented approaches that have taken root, what helps them succeed, what continues to get in the way, and the role of storytelling as a core public sector capability that shapes what governments see as possible.</p>no01:02:40Ingredients for Mission-Oriented Government | Sarah Doylefull