The British satirical sitcom of the 1980s "Yes Minister" described most graphically the attitudes of the mandarins of the civil service in Britain, and probably in most other countries. But ordinary people have to deal with an even more un-businesslike attitude when they have to deal with public officials of lower rank who implement the minute details of government policy, rules and regulations.

The work-to-rule culture is ingrained in those paid through pubic funds and who never have to fear for their jobs that are immune to the effects of any recession. You find them in schools, hospitals, tax departments, and any other government office where the public expects to get service.

They apply the rules to the letter, even if these rules are rarely written. These rules are in fact the collective "wisdom" inherited from their bosses and jealously guarded from one generation of civil servants to another. They are mainly based on tradition and, like the immortal Topol, many civil servants believe that "without tradition our lives would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof".

There are some islands of excellence in our education system that provide our students with the very best training. But there are other areas where our public education is lagging behind.

For instance, we should be teaching our children to be flexible in their approach to solving complex problems because this is a useful skill in real life. Instead, we keep assessing students through a number of brief tasks that require the recall of facts and the application of principles to solve simple, one-part problems. Accuracy is emphasised while creativity is stifled.

We are stuck in the "knowledge acquisition" stage of education while some of the countries we compete with are already in the "knowledge creation" stage where students are trained and encouraged to be investigative, argumentative and creative in their quest for knowledge.

The administrators of our medical system are inundated with demand for medical services and although Customer Service units abound, the reality that ordinary people face is waiting in long queues to get medical services, simply because we cannot even manage an appointment diary system effectively.

Of course, it is not fair to generalise. There are thousands of public officials who genuinely do their best to serve the public, be they students, patients or other citizens needing a public service. They yearn to be led by leaders that are promoters of change and believe in the importance of investing in emotional capital to promote empathy with the public.

Unfortunately, some civil servants' main objective in their professional life is survival. The price of survival is having to put up with colleagues' grumpiness, back stabbing, skiving, mutual lack of respect and despondency. Some middle ranking public officials alternate from being boot lickers of their bosses, to bullying their peers and subordinates. They get away with all this because no one in authority dares challenge their presumed right to a job for life.

So, many civil servants adopt a work-to-rule attitude. This does not refer to a type of industrial action that bears the same name. It is simply an unflinching determination to be inflexible, apply the rules to the letter, aiming to be thoroughly efficient in applying the rules, but not caring at all about being effective in serving the public. It is the antithesis of a "yes-we-can" culture.

This attitude is as old as humanity. Even Christ had a problem in his time when the Pharisees were the sticklers of his time. If Christ had a problem accepting this attitude 2,000 years ago, so should we.

If we are to improve the quality of life of our people, everything matters. We accept too readily that things cannot change. We shy away from confronting those who, because of their traditional job security, feel that the public has no right to challenge their performance.

A root and branch reform is therefore needed. A change management programme is vital to promote the necessary reforms aimed at eliminating the work-to-rule culture. Those public officials who genuinely want to be part of the solution should be welcomed on board, encouraged and trained to lead. Those who prefer to remain part of the problem should be eased into retirement.

Effective project management is the Achilles heel of most important performance enhancing initiatives in Malta. There is a great difference between knowing what needs to be done and knowing how to do it. But it is worth having a go at challenging the old work-to-rule culture that is debilitating our society.

johncassarwhite@yahoo.com