March 3, 2003

Political writer Colin James described State Services Commissioner Michael Wintringham as the “the archetypal discreet bureaucrat”. When things go wrong in the public service he is the focus of the media spotlight. Remember the $1.2 million grievance case unsuccessfully taken against him by former Work and Income chief executive Christine Rankin? Less publicly, and much more importantly, Wintringham is changing the public service. How? Through the chief executives he’s now choosing to run it.

Tying top executives’ pay to organisational performance isn’t bad thing, linking it to the share price is. Why? Because the share price of company is not an indicator of “real