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Sherlock Holmes or Robert Langdon?
I purchased Dan Brown’s latest book, Inferno, for an airplane flight and got around to reading it a few weeks later. The Wall Street Journal’s reviewer, featured on the back cover, called Brown “the master of the intellectual cliffhanger.” Excuse me, I always thought that accolade was reserved for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of…
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Alan Hockin’s Grace under Adversity
Alan Hockin had a distinguished career as a senior public servant in the Department of Finance and then as executive vice-president at Toronto-Dominion Bank. His third career as Dean of the Faculty of Administrative Studies (now Schulich School of Business) at York University was likely his most challenging. When Alan became Dean in 1985, the…
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The Investing Wisdom of George Luste
As we mourn George Luste, former University of Toronto physics professor and transformational president of the University of Toronto Faculty Association, who passed away on March 21, I want to discuss his wisdom and legacy as an investor. I came to understand George’s investment philosophy on the basis of several discussions, some in the company…
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Julian Fantino: A Liability in Veterans Affairs but an Asset in Vaughan?
When Julian Fantino had his first major confrontation with his department’s constituency, I predicted in my post of Feb. 13, 2014 that it wouldn’t end well for him: “Perhaps in a few months Harper will have a done-like discussion with Fantino, telling him not to expect to remain in cabinet if the Conservatives are re-elected.…
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Meistersigner’s Hans Sachs as Leader
I watched the Met’s wonderful production of Meistersinger yesterday. In addition to the program I was aided by my Berkeley colleague Michael O’Hare’s teaching note on the opera’s lessons about leadership and innovation. I look forward to Michael posting his thoughtful and original ideas about Meistersinger on his blog. The character who most impressed me…
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Practitioner Perspectives on Encouraging Public Sector Innovation
Last Friday I spoke at a public sector innovation conference in Minneapolis sponsored by the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. The conference attracted a large and enthusiastic crowd of 200 participants from state, county, and local governments. I will report on an executive seminar that I led for a group…
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More Student Stories: Seneca’s “Because it Matters” Campaign
While recently riding the subway, I saw Seneca College’s ads. Like York University’s, which I wrote about a month ago, these too are based on students’ stories. The first line of the ad I saw was “Drove,” the second “Bus to Survive” and the third “Herself to Succeed.” In those seven words was a very…
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Recognizing the Independence of Independent Review Committees: A Budget Proposal to the Minister of Finance
Following from by recent blog post making the case that independent corporate overseers are not employers, members of two independent review committees have written to Finance Minister Oliver urging him to include in the forthcoming federal budget a regulatory change that would ensure that members of independent review committees are recognized by the Canada Revenue…
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Deconstructing York University’s “My Time” Campaign
Given my interest in narrative, I’m always on the lookout for effective or ineffective instances in the media. I look particularly at advertising because of its explicit mission of persuasion. York University’s “this is my time” campaign – which I’ve now seen in print, on television, and on public transit – has definitely caught my…
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When I Crossed Thorong La
I’ve been reading accounts of the freak blizzard and avalanche at the Thorong La (Pass) on the Annapurna Circuit a few days ago and feeling deep sadness for those who perished sotragically. It also reminded me of my own crossing of Thorong La on October 17, 1984, exactly thirty years ago. Looking at my photo…
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Independent Corporate Overseers Are Not Employees
There are thousands of Canadians engaged in the important work of corporate oversight. The best known group are corporate directors. A second, less well known, corporate oversight role in Canada is independent review committees (IRCs) for financial institutions. IRCs for mutual fund families have the role of reviewing transactions involving potential conflicts of interest, such…
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I’ve Friended McNabs Island
I’m back from two weeks’ holiday in Nova Scotia, spent in Halifax and on the south shore. I gained a deeper understanding of Halifax’s strategy significance as Canada’s major Atlantic port during both world wars – a result of its unique setting, with a deep sheltered harbor connected to a basin where a fleet could…
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Radio Interview about “The Persistence of Innovation in Government”
I was recently interviewed by Michael Keegan, of the IBM Center for the Business of Government, about my book The Persistence of Innovation in Government and my monograph The Persistence of Innovation in Government: A Guide for Innovative Public Servants. The interview was on Federal News Radio in 1500 AM Washington, D.C. Here is a…
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David Zussman’s Off and Running
I’ve just read Off and Running, David Zussman’s new book about electoral transitions in the Government of Canada, published by University of Toronto Press as part of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada’s series on public management and governance. By electoral transitions, I mean the changes that result from a general election, whether the…
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Passionately Resisting Censorship
The Metropolitan Opera describes the audience for its Live in HD broadcasts as a passionate global community. Though this use of the term passionate seems to be yet another instance of its devaluation, this week’s announcement of the cancelling of next fall’s Live in HD broadcast of The Death of Klinghoffer may indeed arouse the…
- I am Professor of Public Management Emeritus at the University of Toronto, having retired in July 2020 after a 45-year academic career.
- My latest book, Public Representations: Screen Stories, Narrative, and the Public Sphere, co-authored with Beth Herst, was published in April 2026 by University of Toronto Press (open access).
- On this website I post blogs about politics, narrative, and my life experiences.
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