Enter the Bureaucrat-Poet: A Book Launch That Celebrates 30 Years of Public Sector Leadership
Welcome to a book launch with poetry readings, panel discussions and an informal mingle. Please note that the event will be held in Swedish.
It is time to discard the myth of the beige-gray bureaucrat! The democratic core missions of public administration – the strive to provide as much as possible for as many as possible, both here and now and in the long term – simply require bureaucrats of an entirely different caliber: empathetic public servants who have the courage, judgment and ability to work magic and navigate wisely among all rules, systems and conflicting interests.
In line with SSE’s educational philosophy FREE and the SSE Arts Initiative, we suggest that a grand route to developing the pragmatically-minded and responsible bureaucrats of the future is to be found in what we call bureaucrat-poetic practices.
Welcome to discuss this topic with us at the launch of the unique Swedish poetry collection Byråkratpoesi (Bureaucrat Poetry), which contains poems written over the past decade by senior executives in public agencies, regions and municipalities, in a Poetry slam assignment as part of the Offentliga sektorns managementprogram (Public Sector Management Program) at the Stockholm School of Economics' Executive Education.
In connection with the program’s 30th anniversary, we invite you to the newly renovated auditorium at the Stockholm School of Economics on Tuesday September 2nd, 5-7 PM, for poetry readings and panel discussions followed by informal mingle.
The bureaucrat poets’ poems serve as reflective artifacts: they show how higher executives in the public sector think about themselves, their mission, and society. This poetic material thus acts as a mirror of contemporary bureaucracy and its ideals, where the role of the manager is in constant tension between ideals and realities. Through a sociological lens, the poems can be read as affective documents, testimonies of complex organizational logics, and expressions of a deep quest for meaning.
In the poems, anguish and pride go side by side, and humor and self-irony become a much-needed release to ease the pressure and dare to speak the truth. Despite the challenging conditions, the texts resonate with a heartfelt desire. A desire to be sufficient, despite one’s own vulnerability, confusion, scarce resources, and uncertainty. A desire to help carrying society forward on one’s shoulders.
We catch you – it will work out.
We sweep up the remnants, sort the future,
Recycle hope.
Vi fångar dig – det löser sig.
Vi sopar upp spillror, sorterar framtiden,
Återbrukar hopp.
As the reader will discover, this is not a matter of bleak navel-gazing or pitiful lamenting. Rather, a gold vein of persistent, hopeful striving is laid bare in relation to trusting citizens and fellow human beings who dare to hope not only to be heard and understood – but also helped.
Humanity, it is not weakness.
It is strength in its purest form.
It is to see the person behind the statistics.
To hear the voice behind the noise.
To understand that a single outstretched hand can carry the weight
of a thousand shattered dreams.
Medmänsklighet, det är inte svaghet.
Det är styrka i sin renaste form.
Det är att se människan bakom statistiken.
Att höra rösten bakom bruset.
Att förstå att en enda utsträckt hand kan bära tyngden
av tusen krossade drömmar.
The poetry collection can be understood not only in an aesthetic sense, but as a way to formulate a lived practice of public leadership. Through the poems, we get to see and feel the personal testimonies of the public managers, especially regarding their own responsibility for the most vulnerable.
What do these poems tell us about today’s society, the contemporary conditions of bureaucrats, and leadership? What can we learn from the poetry practice of the last decade in in the SSE Executive Management program? What insights and perspectives can we gain through poetry that do not surface with other methods, and is it a good idea to promote bureaucrat-poetic practices in other contexts of development?
Participating in the event are SSE's president Lars Strannegård, bureaucrat poets from Offentliga sektorns managementprogram (the Public Sector Management program) who will perform their own poems, and a panel consisting of Emma Stenström, art- and management researcher and lecturer at SSE, Göran Sundström, professor of political science and head of Department of Political Science at Stockholm University, and Pernilla Glaser, culture profile engaged in innovation and organizational development. The moderators are the poetry collection editors, leadership researchers and program directors Susanna Alexius and Pernilla Petrelius Karlberg.
Please note that this event will be held in Swedish!
Welcome and feel free to spread the word!
Time and date: September 2nd, 17.00 - 19.00
Location: Stockholm School of Economics, entrance via Bertil Ohlins gatan 4