I know this will come as a complete shock to those reading my blog, but I’m a public servant. (Just kidding, everyone who reads this knows that fact, it is usually pretty clear). What also becomes clear when you talk to me about HR or my job is that I’m a public admin geek. One of my favourite textbooks of undergrad, law school, or grad school was one that wasn’t on any of my course lists, but I bought as part of my research for an essay … the book is “Public Administration in Canada” by Kenneth Kernaghan and David Siegel.

I bought my copy back in 1990, the link takes you to a 3rd edition in 1995, and it is long out-of-print. Public admin textbooks are passé, it’s all digital now, plus more about a series of articles, short monographs, chapters on policy, etc. But it was my first real public admin text and I thought it was brilliant. Unlike anything I had studied, and exactly in my wheelhouse. I still own it actually. From time to time, I think, “Maybe I’ll write my own version someday”, create a PolyWogg’s guide to public admin. Then I think of how much work it would be and decide I’m just crazy.… Read the rest