Editorial

ETHOS Digital Issue 10, Mar 2023

This issue of ETHOS Digital Edition features a spread of articles exploring different ways to help our people manage change and volatility, in an environment where long-held assumptions and ways of doing things are being challenged daily.

Two researchers from CSC’s Institute of Leadership and Organsiation Development (ILOD) discuss issues organisations can face when our work environment, programmes and processes have to be adjusted to match new realities and priorities. Aurora de Souza Watters reflects on the deeply felt connections we can feel towards our projects, which speak to our passion and engagement at work, but which can also hold us back from refocusing on new opportunities. Khoo Ee Wan offers practical approaches to help both internal and external stakeholders make the transition when the programmes they are involved in are reviewed or retired—both to promote buy-in and maintain trust, and to ensure that important needs continue to be met.

In times of rapid change, where old mindsets and familiar pathways may no longer meet our emerging needs, the ability to learn and adapt becomes all the more vital. Patrick Tay, Assistant Secretary-General of the NTUC, surveys strategies that Singapore and other developed countries have adopted to nurture a culture and structures of lifelong learning in their societies. Increasingly such ideas are becoming a matter not only of economic competitiveness, but also of societal cohesion.

Issues of mutual trust and societal polarisation also inform a review by Vernie Oliveiro, of psychologist Keith Stanovich’s 2021 book—in which he explains why people can be presented with the same facts but still make very different conclusions: and what could help mitigate the blind spots and divides this can lead to.

In the face of sobering constraints and formidable challenges, and despite our differences in capability and conviction, there are still ways in which we can ensure that we leave no one behind, and continue to support one another as we make our way in an uncertain and volatile future.

I wish you an insightful read.

Alvin Pang

Editor
ETHOS
ethos@cscollege.gov.sg