New Dog, Old Tricks

04 Mar New Dog, Old Tricks

One fascinating aspect of human behaviour, and also of public policy development, is that some ideas are just ahead of their time. People just aren’t ready to hear, or act on, the ideas – YET!

Let me give you an example, to help make sense of what I am talking about.

Approximately a year before Covid, I was offered a job in Sydney. Due to some recent deaths in the family, I felt that I needed to be in Newcastle. So, I very confidently proposed to work half the time in Sydney and half the time in Newcastle. Flexible work arrangements, knowing I can deliver on the outcomes – good idea right? The response I received was a puzzled “what?” accompanied by a look that made me feel that I had sneezed and needed to race off for a Covid test.

These days, when I tell the story, people look just as puzzled that someone could have refused my request. Despite the rhetoric of “flexible workplaces”, working from home/different locations was just not accepted – YET.

How does this relate to public policy and government decision-making? Well, I just happen to have another story up my sleeve to share about this.

In 1993, the Liberal Party, led by John Hewson, went to the Federal election on a platform called Fightback!, which included introducing a Goods and Services Tax (GST). He lost. There are many detailed articles that analyse how he lost an “unlosable” election, but essentially his ideas were ahead of their time.

Since then, many of the elements of the Fightback package have become part of Australian public policy, including the GST, introduced by the Howard government in 1999.

So, if you have a good idea, the message is “don’t give up!” Some ideas are just ahead of their time. Keep the “old trick” in your filing cabinet, ready to pull out when the world has moved on and a “new dog” is ready for good ideas.

This article comes from my column entitled “Here to Help” in Hunter Local, February 2021. If you have an everyday problem just begging for a simple, real world solution, send it to “Here to Help” and let’s see what we can achieve.

Elaine Abery has a closet full of great ideas and empowering solutions. She’s also the Director of Unravelling Red Tape, a company dedicated to helping everyday people, not-for-profits and companies change the world through improved decision-making and legislation.

Photo credit: Aman Sidhu