Tamara Finkelstein

@debra_author @Gen2GenUK @HHSHaringey You did an exceptional presentation at @DefraGovUK for which many thanks. In the room and online totalled around 700 people.

I’m looking forward to telling my mother’s story to Yr 9 of @HHSHaringey for #HolocaustMemorialDay tomorrow. #NeverForget #NeverAgain @Gen2GenUK

As the year draws to a close, we’re taking a moment to reflect on our achievements for nature recovery. Thank you to our staff, volunteers and partners who have worked incredibly hard to protect and restore our natural world, for people and planet. Watch our #2024Highlights.

Tremendous news. The men who saved my mother’s life.

.@DefraGovUK is looking for a new Chief Scientific Adviser to lead on science advice for the Department. More information about this exciting role here: gov.uk/government/new…

“I got so much from my Policy Fellowship… it really helped me solve a particular knotty policy challenge”. Our #PolicyFellowships offer a fresh perspective, using engineering and systems thinking to tackle complex problems and design resilient solutions. Find out more and apply now: raeng.org.uk/policyfellowsh…

We've had a busy second day at the Westmorland County Show. Earlier this afternoon, NFU Deputy President @DavidatWestons and members met with @DefraGovUK's Farming and Countryside Director @JanetHughes and Permanent Secretary Tamara Finkelstein and the @Ruralpay to discuss SFI.

REMINDER -- #G2GPresents: The Story Of Mirjam Finkelstein. 📅 Monday 21 October, 2024 📍 Online ⏰ 7:30 PM 🎟️ Free. To reserve your spot: generation2generation.org.uk/?p=10828

🚨 Exciting opportunity! 🚨 The Defra Board are looking for at least two new Non-Executive Directors. If you have strategic thinking, public sector insight, and the ability to analyse complex issues, apply by 7 October. Help Defra shape the future! …for-public-appointment.service.gov.uk/roles/8370 #Defra

BREAKING: The new Government is cracking down on polluting water bosses. gov.uk/government/new…

@jo3hill @SchwitzerEd Interesting. How have you learned your skills? Have you had good line managers who take time to help you watch and learn or give great and regular feedback. I think we need some structure and expectation around that.

@SchwitzerEd @TamFinkelstein I’m less fussed about the fast stream model, though think it’s sub-optimal. There’s plenty of room for being a generalist, I definitely still am. But I don’t think you can “teach” generalist skills, and you do need to teach “specialism”- the point of having a profession!

Great piece by @TamFinkelstein. As a recovering civil service generalist, the concept should be consigned to history. 🧵

@SchwitzerEd @jo3hill My objection is that we leave people in a generalist no man’s land, without supporting ongoing learning through experience, practice and formal learning.

@jo3hill @TamFinkelstein What I object to is it restricting you going forward. I had to leave the CS to be allowed to do media work, which is just stupid. Ditto analysts who aren’t allowed to do proper policy work. The civil service should be delighted if people have hybrid skills, not restrict them

@SchwitzerEd @jo3hill I also don’t think you should be constrained. If you become a policy professional you will have access to a range of other skills including finance and analysis. You would have the opportunity to move to those professions and become for example of qualified finance professional

@jo3hill @TamFinkelstein I think part of the confusion is that the policy profession is conflated with being a generalist. I think you can absolutely be a policy professional, but also acknowledge that it’s helpful for policy folks to understand finance, project delivery, digital, etc.

@MorganSagartia That includes the ability to bring other professionals together in multi-disciplinary teams. My argument is that generalists need a profession - the policy profession offers that - which gives a framework for building the skills we describe as generalist

Really interested in views on my assertion that we are not well served any more by the idea of the civil service generalist, that it gets in the way of raising our professional capability and commitment to continuous professional development - so we deliver better for citizens

@MorganSagartia I value the skills that are associated with civil service generalists but we have got to a point where we are not identifying what those skills are, and ensuring these are learned, practiced and improved.

@BrenMcgowan I agree. I value the generalist skills but feel these are best learned and explored within a profession so there is a framework of learning and a required for continuous professional development. The policy profession offers this in part and will do in future as we improve

@TamFinkelstein Does it have it be either / or? Playing with words, but being a generalist can be a bit of a specialism. It definitely a skill, and often undervalued. The key - in my experience - has been understanding the relationship between the two and how they work together. 1/2

@MichaelHalpenny I agree. The skills we associate with generalists are essential but we have failed to teach them and learn them. I want everyone to be part of a profession so they can learn and keep updated in the skills they need to do the job

@TamFinkelstein Is there a risk of creating a Musk problem? Specialists are far more likely than generalists to succumb to overconfidence including outside of their own area of expertise. Technical disciplinary expertise is invaluable but perhaps generalism should be its own specialty?

@HelenEva8 I agree. That approach to working in multidisciplinary teams and look at the whole problem is at the heart of the skills we need to build. But generalism has not driven that in the civil service. In the policy profession we are looking to build those skills and require them

@TamFinkelstein Specialisation is a wonderful thing but in academia interdisciplinarity is often the way forward and I wouldn't want the civil service to lose that ability to look across all disciplines (and not privilege one's own).

Thank you to the 200 representatives from the environment, animal welfare, water, food and rural sectors who joined us yesterday as @SteveReedMP set out our plans. Together we can nurture our countryside, restore nature, and build our rural economies.

A lot can happen in a week.