Abstract
In an era of organizational uncertainty, this paper explores a cultural transformation within public service: a shift from compliance-driven bureaucracy to a values-led ethos of public service action. Drawing on the Creative Bureaucracy movement and metaphors like kintsugi and guerrilla gardening, it introduces the concept of the “permissionless public servant”, individuals who act without formal authority, yet cultivate legitimacy through ethical conviction and tangible outcomes. The central provocation asks: What if we stopped waiting for permission and started designing for legitimacy from below? Through case studies of public servants who initiated change by sowing seeds of reform, growing informal networks, and rewriting bureaucratic blueprints, the paper illustrates how cultural change is driven by intangible forces - autonomy, purpose, and care - not just structural reform. This study examines how organizations can evolve when individuals are empowered to act from values rather than rules. It argues that legitimacy and innovation emerge from practice, not fiat, and that knowledge is created through responsive, ethical engagement with communities. The permissionless approach challenges traditional hierarchies and offers a model for guiding change grounded in ethics, equality, and care. This is a call to fill the cracks in rigid systems, not with gold, but with seeds, allowing new growth to reshape the culture of public service bottom up and from within, and to meet the demands of the public for change in uncertain organizational worlds.
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
2026 Special Focus—Organization in Uncertain Worlds
KEYWORDS
PERMISSIONLESS PUBLIC SERVANT, PUBLIC SERVICE, ORGANIZATIONAL UNCERTAINTY, CULTURAL TRANSFORMATION, VALUES-LED ETHOS, LEGITIMACY, ETHICAL CONVICTION, CREATIVE BUREAUCRACY, COMPLIANCE-DRIVEN BUREAUCRACY, ACTION WITHOUT AUTHORITY
