Scott Berkun messaged me a few months ago because he saw my post on Slack that talked about how I was teaching myself design after I completed my master’s degree. He wanted me to check out his new book How Design Makes The World because he thought it would help introduce me to the field. He offered to send me a signed copy for a review. So, here’s my review.

The Book’s Mission

The book’s mission is to “teach everyone why good and bad design affect everything and what we can do about it.” And if everyone were to read it, Berkun’s mission…

A more informal, results-driven culture could create a better democratic experience for citizens and practitioners alike. Let’s build it — together.

I recently started exploring the design community. But you don’t have to be an expert in the field to notice the obvious: there are so many design groups. I’ve joined one Facebook group, many Meetup groups, four Slack channels, and four Discord channels.

In 2016, I went through a similar exploration phase in local government. I devoured material because I wanted to understand what that field was about. Like I’m doing with design now, I would read books, listen…

21st-century democracy will be:

• Human-centered,
• Data-driven,
• Strategic-focused, and
• Design-oriented.

Right now the best public organizations are doing this. But it’s not enough. There are so many people and organizations that are getting left behind. They simply don’t have the resources to bring their operations (and their communities) to where they need to be for optimal performance.

So how do we change it?

On June 22, 2015, I didn’t know how to keep going. I wrote a lengthy email to the head of the management department at Northern Illinois University’s College of Business. I recently completed an internship with a local chamber of commerce — and I was freaking out. I wrote, “Now that I’ve tasted a bit of the true corporate structure I have a couple concerns.”

Here’s why I was upset, in my own words from then (excuse my poor grammar and word choice. I’ve since learned. Who says ergo?):

1. I Realized the Humanities Don’t Pay the Bills

“I started college thinking I wanted to be a therapist, ergo…

I graduate in about four days with a master’s degree in public administration. I was originally going to pursue a city management fellowship position, which is like a formal internship. But now I’m not. Coronavirus stopped that. So then I decided I was going to apply for regular jobs and prepare for admissions exams to enter a doctoral program in 2021 or 2022. I was intending on becoming an academic, a researcher and scholar. I’m not doing that now either. I’m taking my own advice and living my most authentic life by teaching myself design. …

Last Friday the Greater Chicago Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) hosted a panel discussion about how to restore trust in the public sector. This event was unique because the panel consisted of the next generation of leaders, millennials: an intern, an analyst, and a community developer. The discussants provided an inspiring, much needed, and fresh perspective of the future of public sector administration. Five of their most important insights are as follows:

1. It’s not necessarily that citizens don’t care; they’re busy, and how you’re choosing to engage them just might not be enough: Many public servants…