The Art of Discretion

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

“…Our conceptualization of creative discretion as a collective practice proposes an alternative to the narrow characterization of creativity as the result of the lone genius , as Evans (2020a, 2020b) problematized. By theorizing creativity as individual or cognitive capacity, scholars and practitioners tend to identify some individual street‐level practitioners as creative and others as lacking this capacity.…”

“…Finally, drawing on ideas of creativity found in arts practices, Evans (2020a, 2020b) argues that central aspects of creative uses of discretion are problem‐solving, imagination, and understanding and engaging with other people's perspectives. He warns against the ideological characterization of creativity as individual and exceptional, the romantic “lone genius.” The key issue Evans identifies is how individual creativity can be collectivized; through collective action and through collective professional reflection.…”

“…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 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.…”

Off the record: The invisibility work of doctors in a patient‐accessible electronic health record information service

“…Professionals can find this problematic and attempt to circumvent policy goals. Evans (2020) asserts that this may not represent outspoken subversion to policy but involves improvisation to solve the task before them. Invisibility work should in this sense be understood as an expansion of doctors' discretionary repertoire to manage situations where policy offers no clear‐cut answers to doctors' perceived predicaments.…”