‘Bring in the crazy-seeking ones’: Three city leaders on injecting innovation into government bureaucracy

Governments, by design, are usually not seen as powerhouses of innovation, but administrations to get things done or secure places to work.  

As the Heidelberg (a city in Germany)’s mayor, Eckart Würzner, says: “[public administrators] only want to organise an orchestra in a very polite way,” innovating and disrupting

the system just aren’t in the civil servant’s brief. 

He was speaking in the Small Giants: The Cities Rewriting the Rules panel at the WRLDCTY Connections Stage, as part of the World Cities Summit (WCS), in Singapore on June 15 alongside city mayors from Australia and Indonesia. 

Over the past two decades, the panel argued that governments today are no longer expected to just regulate and manage, but lead and become “the biggest developer in [their] cities.” 

This shift demands a different kind of civil servant altogether. “You have to bring in the crazy-seeking, innovative people who are normally not working for an administration,” said Würzner. 

Change who’s in the building 

Looking at the structure of most governments, one would tend to find a mayor’s office, shared functions, and the IT department - but no innovation function, said Würzner. 

Building an administration that innovates means deliberately seeking those who normally wouldn’t walk through a government door, as well as fostering a culture that enables experimentation and failure. 

Australian city of Ipswich’s deputy mayor, Nicole Jonnic, said that from within public service, civil servants possess a significant pool of knowledge and experience that often goes untapped. 

“Failure is where the growth happens, and we need to make sure that people are comfortable and know that the risk appetite isn’t zero,” she explained, highlighting that this must start from the top.

Faced with a bureaucracy too slow to move at the pace he needed, Indonesian city of Surakarta’s mayor, Respati Ardianto, built around it instead.  

He shared that his administration built a special task force with diverse members from religious groups, military police, and other community groups. 

“They operate outside the formal structure but are aligned with the same vision and goals from the outside. But they are agile, community-based, and resource-driven,” he added.  

The slow-moving bureaucracy, he says, was then “forced to catch up with their speed.” 

Be it hiring differently, partnering more widely or carving out space for experimentation, the city leaders underlined a common intent and deliberate effort by government leaders to change who shapes bureaucracy. 

Treat citizens as a mechanism, not an audience 

Most governments consult citizens then communicate the policies to them once settled, but few design systems that give citizens the power to shape outcomes.  

About twelve years ago, Heidelberg’s mayor Würzner rolled out the “Get the Mayor” mobile app to bridge the gap between a citizen’s idea and the policymaker’s desk. 

The app allows citizens to propose ideas, put them to a community vote, and surface the most popular ideas to the mayor for immediate political attention and fast-tracked implementation. 

A skatepark, for example, championed by youths in the city ended up getting built in a year instead of ten years. 

But Würzner cautioned that sometimes, governments must move ahead of public consensus and hold the line even if “not everybody believe in these innovations at the beginning.” 

He shared Heidelberg’s journey in becoming Europe’s largest 100 per cent carbon-neutral city, and its model has since been replicated by bigger international cities like Beijing. 

Surakarta’s mayor Ardianto shared how his administration pivoted its approach after the failed implementation of a waste management powerplant project in his city. 

His administration shifted waste policy upstream to the village level and restructured altogether who does the work of governance. 

Community groups were brought in to set the tipping fees, sort out the waste at the source, and generate income through a circular economy, he explained.  

When communities don't just participate but have a stake in the outcome, compliance follows naturally, he noted. 

Dynamic bureaucracy and long-term visions 

For Ardianto, less than two years in his term as Surakarta’s mayor, described how social media has been shaking up bureaucracy in Indonesia.  

Previously, bureaucracy operated on deference where “okay, you’re happy, boss.” 

The “new era [of] dynamic bureaucracy”, according to him, is now built on open communication, direct accountability, and having youth and community groups brought into policy conversations that previously would have happened behind closed doors. 

Ardianto envisioned Surakarta as a city that proves “that the ultimate luxury of the 21st century is clean air, a pure environment, and preserved culture,” emphasising that rich cultural heritage and a zero-waste society can reinforce one another. 

He explained that the city leveraged its strong cultural heritage alongside dynamic bureaucracy and a youthful demographic advantage. 

“The era of good policymaking is not just about high technology, but involving the spiritual,” he noted. 

According to the three mayors, innovating in the government is less a technical problem than a human one.  

This involves a clear mandate to experiment, bringing onboard the right and impacted stakeholders in the room, and a clear enough vision that sustains the efforts long after the easy wins are gone.