In Service: Notes from the Field
Tactical insights and thoughtful dispatches from inside the work.
Lived experience is expertise
Lived experience isn’t anecdotal, it’s essential. Learn how civic teams can honor it as a form of expertise and design more accountable public systems.
Administrative burden
Administrative burden is the hidden cost of interacting with public systems—paperwork, delays, confusion. This post explores how design can help reduce that burden and restore trust.
Participatory governance works
Participatory governance means people shaping the decisions that shape their lives. This post explores the roots and real-world impact of shared public power.
Public servants in government
Public servants do the quiet, essential work that keeps government moving. This post explores their roles, challenges, and why supporting them is key to public trust.
Honoring public-first workers
Public Servants is proud to sponsor the 2025 Service to the Citizen Awards, honoring those delivering essential services that restore trust and strengthen public systems.
What is a public servant?
Public servants are more than job titles, they're the people who keep public systems working with care and commitment. In this post, we define the term and reclaim its meaning for today.
Policy implementation gap
When policies don’t match people’s lived realities, the implementation gap is often to blame. This post explores what causes it, and how we can bridge it.
What is service design, really?
Service design helps teams make sense of complexity—connecting the dots between people, policies, and processes to deliver thoughtful, effective public services. In this post, we unpack what service design is, why it matters, and how it supports real-world change.
How we decide who to work with
We built the Fit Snapshot to help us make thoughtful, values-aligned decisions about who we work with. This post offers a transparent look at how we assess potential partners—not to judge, but to make sure we can show up with care, clarity, and integrity.
What we mean by “public service”
Not all public service should be celebrated. In this post, we share what we mean by public service—acknowledging past harms while standing with those who show up to build care-centered, community-rooted systems for the future.
Public service problems
Public systems aren’t just outdated—they were never built for the future we need. Here’s what we’re doing to reimagine public work from the inside out.
Boundary spanning
Discover why boundary spanning—connecting people, ideas, and systems—is essential for solving complex public service challenges and leading across silos.
Behind the name Public Servants
Public Servants isn’t just the name of our consultancy—it’s a statement of purpose. A call-in. A commitment.
“In Service: Notes from the Field”
At Public Servants, we believe in building trust by working in the open—sharing not just what we’re delivering, but how we’re thinking, learning, and evolving along the way.
That’s why we’re launching In Service: Notes from the Field.