Assessment of Application of Participatory Methods for Complex Adaptive Systems  in the Public Sector

Abstract: The provision of services by the public sector is the result of a complex adaptive system at work, and involves a large number of stakeholders from different institutions and organisations. In the era of rapid change in requirements and expectations from the public sector, the management of change processes asks for the involvement of many stakeholders from different layers and positions.Participatory methods provide the ability to involve a wide range of stakeholders, but despite their case-wise documented successes, and well described application in involving citizens in governmental decision-making, very little evidence exists of their role when engaging professionals.This study assesses the application of participatory methods as an approach to support change processes in the public sector from a complex adaptive system perspective. The purpose of this two-phase exploratory sequential mixed method study with descriptive parts is to first qualitatively explore which needs for change in the public sector could benefit from participatory methods, and then to apply participatory methods for six experiments to assess how effective such methods are to support change processes of complex adaptive systems in the public sector.Four methods have been included: participatory simulation, gamification, Q methodology and participatory model building. Each of the cases has been scored on a set of frameworks. The cases have been obtained from the fields of road networks, transit and healthcare.Analysis across the experiment found several trends. Firstly, experiments at the field-level, where expertise and knowledge outside one organisation are required, showed stronger democratisation and focus on mapping out diversity compared to other levels. Similarly, experiments at the sub-system level are more likely to be focused on reaching consensus and using participants for advising. Secondly, a pattern has been found between higher participatory level of a method, a higher degree of power-sharing between the participants, and better results of an assessment.  A correlation was observed between overall assessment and other parameters of applications: communication efficiency, knowledge between causes and effects, and direction from leadership.The recognition that the public sector is a complex adaptive system proved to be more present in the service-oriented fields than in the infrastructure fields. Larger-scale issues at the organisation-level or even field-level proved to be more complex than issues at the subsystem level.Participatory methods proved to be effective for providing a grip on issues of a complex nature. Particular strengths were the ability to provide for open structures for thinking outside the box, and the use for identification of bottlenecks and constraints in systems. The ability to identify differences in stakeholder perspectives proves valuable, and can be gathered from a wide range of sources in and around a participatory setting.However, successful participatory methods need high communication efficiency, use retroactive evaluation and need to be done based on high stakeholder collaboration. These costs can outweigh all benefits if the problem is not complex or preparation has not been appropriately performed. Access to the right people, support from the organisation and motivated participants, as well as the right choice for the level of participation proved crucial for its success.