Category: Our Thinking

Kia Kaha

Posted by Our team at Cube Group were saddened to hear of the horrific act of terrorism against our New Zealand neighbours at the Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Mosque in Christchurch on Friday. We know that the impact of this event is being felt widely and deeply in both New Zealand and Australia and we offer our deepest sympathy and solidarity. We acknowledge, respect and value the long and rich history and contribution of Muslim Australians to the tapestry of multicultural Australia. We acknowledge that Islam is a religion of peace. We acknowledge the tireless work of our Muslim

Walking together: A commitment to do better

Attending cultural awareness training is common practice across Government and the private sector, but what can we take away from it? At Cube, we asked ourselves this question after a powerful session on Aboriginal culture and Australian history, led by Leon Egan (Bundyi Giilang Training). Leon emphasised that we should strive to walk together with Aboriginal community: side by side, with a shared understanding of the past, present and future. An important step in achieving this is acknowledging some truths. The first truth is the gap in our understanding of Aboriginal culture and the history of our country. As a

An open letter in support of marriage equality

Cube Group is committed to delivering public value in the Australian community. At the heart of our work are the public value outcomes of equality and fairness; connectedness and inclusion; health, wellbeing and fulfillment; and, safety and protection. Consistent with our mission and values, Cube believes that marriage equality will bring us together as equal Australians. The following is an open letter submitted to Marriage Equality Australia which expresses our support for marriage equality. We, Cube Group write to express our support for Marriage Equality. We support diversity in the workforce and recognise the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and

Public value in the disrupted city

Posted by The emergence of disruptive technologies and business models is exciting for consumers, but it doesn’t diminish the responsibility of public value organisations to articulate and work for the public interest: in fact it makes it more urgent. Platforms like Uber, AirBnB and AirTasker were unheard of a few short years ago and are now household names. New technologies are disrupting established business models in a range of industries around the world, offering the potential for better goods and services, but also impacting livelihoods and representing a pace of change that exceeds the ability of governments to regulate. A

Where did all the knowledge go?

Two key generational factors are acting on today’s workforce that heighten the importance of developing and transferring in-house expertise and knowledge: Baby-boomers, who often hold key senior positions, have a lifetime of working experience and are exiting the workforce at increasing rates as retirement calls, and Gen Y’s, and soon Gen Z’s (or post-millenials), who may move between many careers and organisations over a lifetime. Cube Group has had the privilege of supporting several public sector organisations to develop frameworks and tools for retaining organisational knowledge, also known as, institutional or in-house memory. One client stating that: “developing and transferring

Will the diverse values of a modern public sector please stand up?

Posted by A light bulb moment. Something interesting happened to me recently. I was sitting in the Board room of a Victorian public entity, facilitating a strategic planning session. The CEO and executive team were all in attendance, caffeinated and energised. The ideas were flowing, and they were good. I’d even say the emerging strategy had the hint of a ‘swagger’. The session then turned to the culture of the organisation, and something interesting happened. The body language of the room changed. Energy dropped. Eyes wandered. Pensive faces appeared. What the heck was going on here, I thought to myself?

The public value of personal health and wellbeing

Exercise more! Eat well! Be happy! There are a million and one articles on the internet that push people to improve their individual health and wellbeing and we now recognise that achieving a state of health and wellbeing is about so much more than merely the absence of disease or injury. The World Health Organisation (WHO) suggests health is a continuum incorporating a complex combination of physical, mental and social factors. Not only is a state of wellbeing individually beneficial but healthy and happy people have significant flow on benefits for society as a whole. But what goes into achieving

Why connectedness and inclusion matter

Cube’s Public Value Compass describes key individual and community dimensions of public value outcomes. This blog is the fifth in a series that looks at each of these dimensions in detail. This month, we look at ‘connectedness and inclusion’. We (humans!) are inherently social. From cradle to the grave, each of us relies on a dense network of connection in order to develop, flourish and participate – whether in social, economic, cultural or political arenas. The impact of exclusion and disconnection Exclusion and disconnection – experienced as social isolation – are deadly.  Yes this sounds dramatic, but large-scale studies suggest that social

The value of community engagement

We sometimes forget it is communities, not just organisations, that define public value. As such, the extent to which public value is delivered will be judged by the community. For all public sector agencies, the community is either directly or indirectly the main customer and stakeholder, making community engagement vitally important. However, there are some common issues organisations may run into when trying to engage communities. Below are the 4 key challenges we’ve come across, along with some suggestions for making your engagement activities a success. Challenge 1: Letting fear, not opportunity, shape engagement A number of organisations understand the