Where the Rubber Hits the Road & A Flying High Five

It's count down time folks. We're holding our first official dialogue session on Friday. And it seems like just yesterday we were brainstorming and dreaming of skits and what ifs, and what's important.

Now I know there is a lot of focus on implementing. On getting people to frame their work within this common approach. And I know we all want to see success.

But I need to bring something up. We have come a long way as a department. Somebody said that recently. And it's true. We're already transforming the way we work. Yes, there's still a long way to go. And yes, we have to aim for the gold. But, wow! The changes we've seen so far have been fantastic. The wiki, and podcasts, and blogs, and knowledge cafes, and brain jams, and informal discussions, and content management, and collaborative tools, and one department planning, and a renewed vision, and learning organization tools and practitioners, and renewal.

And where do we work? Government. We're being proactive, innovative, and communicating like never before. At the recent Government Communications Conference I heard "I was proud to say I work at NRCan". This is because of all the wonderful work we're doing and the wonderful ways we're improving HOW we work.

Challenging each other through a conversation is a great thing. But it's not easy. It takes time, patience and understanding. And for the every1 team that has spent hours arguing, debating, planning, talking and learning, a big thank you. Thank you for juggling files, expectations and emotions. Thank you for taking yourselves out of your comfort zone and learning from your colleagues. Thank you for putting so much effort into all of this.

I'm sure this thank you will grow as every1 grows. In many ways I know this is still a beginning (even though I just said we've come so far). But there IS still a long way to go. But as I mentioned to a colleague today: I work at NR CAN not NR Can't. And I know we can get there, to a place where we've come even further in transforming the way we work. This is something very exciting for an employee - for me!

So let's keep it up. And a flying high five to all of you.