Skills for knowledge in decision-making: The complexity puzzle Presentation by Eeva Hellström. Evidence-informed Workshop (OECD, 9-10 April 2018)

1. Skills for knowledge in decision-making:
The complexity puzzle
Eeva Hellström
9.4.2018

2. If you were to describe the interaction between
knowlede and decision-making with one word,
what would it be?
Knowledge in decision-making in Finland -survey, Sitra 12.9.2017
Civil servents had a more
positive view than others

3. Do the problems stem from poor
practices in the knowledge-policy
interface
– or because the information
environment and decision-making
environment have changed?
Humanity’s grand challenges
Complex phenomena and wicked
problems in an uncertain world
Advancement of digitisation
Crisis of democracy and the post-
truth era
Knowledge in decision-making in Finland -survey, Sitra 12.9.2017
For every complex problem there is an answer that is
clear, simple, and wrong (H.L. Mencken)

4. ”People in this
country have had
enough of experts”
MichaelGove
COMPLEXITY CALLS FOR
1. KNOWLEDGE:
Need for more pluralistic understanding of
what is considered as knowledge or
evidence, and who is considered as an
expert

5. 1. KNOWLEDGE:
Need for more pluralistic understanding of
what is considered as knowledge or
evidence, and who is considered as an
expert
2. SENSE-MAKING:
Need to make sense of different types
and even contrasting knowledge and
expertise
COMPLEXITY CALLS FOR

6. 1. KNOWLEDGE:
Need for more pluralistic understanding of
what is considered as knowledge or
evidence, and who is considered as an
expert
2. SENSE-MAKING:
Need to make sense of different types
and even contrasting knowledge and
expertise
COMPLEXITY CALLS FOR
3. SKILLS:
Need to develop new dialogic and digital
skills for collective intelligence
” Individual cognition
and analytic skills are
not enough”

7. The most important skills in
making sense of complex
phenomena:
1. Interaction between and learning from
the different analytic, dialogic and digital
approaches to sense-making
2. Contextual
understanding:
What approach to
the knowledge-
policy interface
works where, when,
how and why?

8. Injection approach - Hot pot approach
Skills needed for both !
Evidence to INFORM
decision-making
Decision-making INFUSED
by collective intelligence

9. 3. The injection and hot pot approaches

10. Injection approach - Hot pot approach
Skills needed for both !
Evidence to INFORM
decision-making
Decision-making INFUSED
by collective intelligence

11. How to use evidence effectively to INFORM
decision-making ?
Identifi-
cation of a
societal
challenge
Generating,
collecting
and
evaluating
evidence
Synthesis
Policy
recommen-
dations
Effective
communi-
cation
Informed
decision-
making
Informed
implemen-
tation
Apply /
Integrate
Understand /
Interrogate /
Consider
Obtain /
Engage
Understand
Detect Commu-
nicate
Evaluate
=> Developing skills related to individual cognition

12. What if - instead of evidence-informed policy-making –
we need policy-making INFUSED by collective
intelligence?
Evolving and
shared
situational
understanding
Dialogue
process
Dialogue
process
Dialogue
process
Different types of
expertise
(academic, foresight,
experience, insight, etc.)
Decision-makers
and those preparing
decision-making
Policy
implications
Policy
implications
Policy
implications
=> What skill sets do we need when adopting proactive
and dialogic approaches based on collective
intelligence?

13. 3. Examples of approaches
for developing skills for rhe
knowledge-policy interface

14. Yet, only ¼ of actors in this field feel that
interaction within the knowledge-policy
interface is being developed vigorously
enough, WHY?
1) Resources, resources, resources …
2) Lack of skills and exchange of
experiences
3) Knowledge management is governed in silos
3) There is a strong sense of shared responsibility
of knowledge producers, administrators and
policy-makers – But does this mean that this is no
one’s responsibility ?
Knowledge in decision-making in Finland -survey, Sitra 12.9.2017
THE FINNISH GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN
ACTIVE IN BROADENING THE SCOPE OF
KNOWLDEGE AND EXPERTISE, e.g.
Foresight
- National Foresight network
- Coordination of future reviews of the ministries
Societal trials
- Experimental Finland
Research
- Strategic Research Council
- Government’s research, assessment and evaluation activities
Impact assessment
- Council or regulatory impact analyse
Academic and other advisory panels

15. Examples of Sitra’s activities in developing
skills for in the knowledge-policy interface
EXPANDING THE
KNOWLEDGE BASE
TimeOut concept
Concept, tool pack, training program
and mentoring for public officials and
other actors to initiate and engage in
constructive societal dialogue, with the
aim at making sense of experience-
based knowledge
From info services to
bubble-breaking
Developing skills of our experts by
transforming our traditional
information services from a demand-
based service to a proactive “bubble-
breaking” activity
COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE
- LEARNING BY DOING
Hack for Society
Engaging politicians and academia in co-
creative teams, simultaneously
strengthening understanding learning
about each other’s roles, and learning to use
service design, co-creation and societal
trials.
Leadership training for
sustainable economic policy
Training on economic policy is organized in
the form of group process, where the
participants make use of a pluralistic
knowledge base, and engage in generating
collective intelligence and shared sense-
making to created policy option and
suggestions on governance reform
LEADERSHIP
AND GOVERNACE
Developer network
Regular meetings for actors who are active in
developing the knowledge-policy interface,
based on a dialogic approach to sharing and
learning.
Public sector leadership
training
Strengthening the leadership skills, ability to
reform and the future-oriented knowledge
skills of public administration through an
extensive training program, involving 11
contact days for more than 160 senior civil
servants in the first two years

16. Analyses
and new
perspective
Deve-
loper
network
Expe-
riments
and pilots
Societal
dialogue
Knowledge in decision-making project (2017-19)
Focus of interest
Public decision-making related to complex
societal phenomena
Activities
1. Pluralistic perception of knowledge and
expertise
2. Approaches to joint sense-making of
different types of knowledge
3. Competences and governance supporting
joint sense-making and collective
intelligence
Focus themes
For more info, contact
eeva.hellstrom@sitra.fi