Discretion of the Future: Conceptualizing Everyday Acts of Collective Creativity at the Street‐Level

• Published date: 01 July 2021
• Author: E. Lianne Visser,Peter M. Kruyen
• Date: 01 July 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13389

Research Article

676This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited,

the use is non-commercial and no modif‌ications or adaptations are made.

Abstract: Although scholars and practitioners promote creative uses of discretion in the delivery of public services,

there is limited empirical research that explains through which activities street-level practitioners develop creative

solutions. Based on over 300hours of ethnographic observations of child and family practitioners, we demonstrate the

pattern of collective and deliberate experimenting that encompasses creative discretion. The development of this subtype

of discretion helps to better analyze and perform it, while simultaneously nuancing the potential positive outcomes

of creative uses of discretion for public service provision. Additionally, we explain the collective nature of creative

discretion, which has important implications for both research and practice of creativity at the street-level. Finally, we

show that street-level practitioners become architects of the political and organizational system in which they work by

changing the rules and provision, the organization of work, and the development of policy through their performance

of creative discretion.

Evidence for Practice

• Discretion can be the site of creative experimentation where public service provision can be improved, we

label this creative discretion.

• Creative discretion consists of a collective pattern of actions: to define the problem, explore alternative

solutions, decide and enact, and evaluate and adapt the solution.

• Creative discretion is achieved in deliberation and therewith forms a collective responsibility.

• Granting latitude does not guarantee the development of creative solutions, nor the uncontested acceptance

of those solutions.

• Creative discretion can lead to structural change and learning, but does not necessarily do so.

In 2010, in Public Administration Review, Feldman

discussed the emergence of the organization of

the future. According to her, this emergence was

spurred by the recognition that public organizations

deal with dynamic, complex, and interdependent

issues. The challenge ahead was to a create leeway

for experimentation to tailor practices to specific

circumstances, and to use that process as a way

to learn and do better next time (Feldman2010).

Many scholars have recognized the potential of

street-level discretion to tailor the provision of

public services to citizens’ needs (Brodkin2008;

Evans and Harris2004; Lipsky2010). Street-

level discretion refers to the behavior of a street-

level worker interpreting and balancing action

prescriptions to reach judgment and take action

(Evans and Hupe2020; Rutz et al.2017). Yet, only

few scholars have highlighted the experimental and

creative character and potential of discretion at the

street-level (Maynard-Moody and Musheno2003;

Wagenaar2004). Even fewer scholars have discussed

discretion as an opportunity to learn and structurally

change policy and street-level work (Noonan, Sabel,

and Simon2009).

More recently, a growing body of literature considers

discretion by street-level practitioners as the locus of

creativity and an opportunity to learn and improve

policy (Evans2020a, 2020b; Hupe and Evans2020;

Luntley2020; Rutz et al.2017; Silbey2011). This

emerging literature can be divided into three strands.

The first focuses on the origin of creative solutions,

which is either considered as individual cognitive

capacity (Luntley2020), or the result of an exceptional

actor who knows how to work together with peers

(Silbey2011). The second focuses on the outcome

of creative uses of discretion, which arguably consists

of both responsiveness and consistency (Rutz et al.

2017). Finally, studies call for more attention to the

creative potential of discretion (Evans2020a, 2020b;

Sabel and Zeitlin2012). Yet, these studies have not

shown how this “creative discretion” is actually done

by street-level practitioners, that is, what activities do

they engage in to develop creative solutions.

E. Lianne Visser

Peter M. Kruyen

Radboud University

Discretion of the Future: Conceptualizing Everyday Acts of

Collective Creativity at the Street-Level

Peter M. Kruyen is an assistant professor

in public administration. His research

program focuses on public servants’

behavior, psychological characteristics,

and competencies, and on how their work

is affected by managerial techniques,

human resource management (HRM), and

organizational structures. In particular, he is

interested in public servants’ work-related

creativity and creativity in bureaucratic

organizations.

Email: p.m.kruyen@fm.ru.nl

E. Lianne Visser is a doctoral candidate

in public administration at the Institute

for Management Research at Radboud

University in The Netherlands. Her research

explores how practitioners, managers,

and policy makers experiment, reflect,

and adapt to continuously improve policy,

regulation, and organizational routines. She

uses ethnographic methods and focuses on

actor’s everyday practices.

Email: lianne.visser@fm.ru.nl

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 81, Iss. 4, pp. 676–690. © 2021

TheAuthors. Public Administration Review

published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on

behalf of American Society for Public

Administration.

DOI:10.1111/puar.13389.