INVI Releases Report on Mission-Driven Governance
The think tank INVI has analyzed international experiences with mission-driven governance and identified six specific lessons for the incoming government in a Danish context.
Right now, the coalition talks may feel like a political limbo, where the pace slows down and the ability to make decisions fades away. But there is great potential in this respite from the daily grind of politics.
If we dare to look beyond individual cases, individual services, and individual symptoms, we can articulate what we want as a society for the years to come. And we can set out clear and ambitious societal missions in the government platform.
Over the past 25 years, however, government platforms have often been little more than lists of declarations of intent and compromises, lacking any overarching narrative to tie them together.
So where can we find hope? Today, the INVI think tank is releasing a new report that addresses this issue. In the report, we have examined what a number of other OECD countries are doing to ensure that policies actually solve problems for citizens and businesses.
Mission-driven governance is, in fact, an approach that is increasingly being tested internationally. The idea is that the government sets ambitious and measurable societal missions and brings together a coalition of willing and competent actors from foundations, the business community, civil society, and labor and management to address them.
Six key takeaways based on international experience
INVI’s analysis is based on 11 interviews, 30 case-specific reports, and 27 academic articles from a review of OECD countries. Against this backdrop, the analysis identifies six key takeaways regarding what is required to implement mission-driven governance in Denmark:
Missions must be both measurable and aspirational —with clear goals and a political roadmap that voters can follow on an ongoing basis.
Missions require clear political ownership —it must be clear who is responsible for the objectives, timeline, and follow-up. Mission letters from the government leadership to the relevant ministers are a concrete tool.
Missions require cross-functional governance —there must be structures and chains of command for coordination across departments.
Missions require continuous, data-driven learning —including one key outcome metric per mission, against which the government can be held publicly accountable.
Missions require active portfolio management —with clear responsibility within the central administration for launching, scaling, and closing initiatives.
These missions require new skills and capabilities —traditional civil service roles are being challenged, and there is a need for external expertise and a new culture.
The report can be downloaded here
If you'd like to learn more about INVI's mission work—both nationally and locally— you can read more here.