Policymaker Mindsets: The Pragmatist
The Pragmatist archetype is grounded in practicality, focusing on delivering efficient, actionable solutions to real-world problems.
Pragmatists prioritise what works, ensuring policies are feasible and results-oriented.
But what defines a Pragmatist, and how do their traits shape their approach to policymaking?
The five traits
Policymaking is shaped by five core traits, each with its own strengths and challenges:
Vision is about creativity and ambition, while its inverse reflects rigidity and resistance to change.
Pragmatism focuses on actionable, results-driven solutions, in contrast to idealism or impracticality.
Collaboration values inclusivity and diverse perspectives, whereas its inverse leans towards isolation or a lack of stakeholder engagement.
Risk tolerance indicates openness to calculated risks, while risk aversion often leads to overly cautious decision-making.
Altruism centres on fairness, equity, and societal benefit, with its inverse prioritising self-interest or short-termism.
Every policymaker embodies a unique combination of these traits, which can shift depending on context and pressure. While individuals are rarely defined by a single trait profile, the five archetypes are typical examples of the most common overall mindsets we see.
The Pragmatist archetype
Pragmatists are defined by their high pragmatism, moderate collaboration, and moderate risk tolerance, shaping their efficient and grounded approach to policymaking.
Key traits
Results-oriented: Pragmatists focus on delivering measurable, tangible outcomes, ensuring that policies are grounded in feasibility.
Efficient decision-makers: They excel at cutting through complexity to identify practical next steps.
Adaptable problem-solvers: While not highly visionary, Pragmatists are willing to make calculated adjustments to achieve workable solutions.
Challenges
Limited ambition: Pragmatists may struggle to think beyond immediate, short-term results, avoiding transformative change.
Over-practicality: Their focus on efficiency can lead to dismissing innovative or idealistic ideas prematurely.
Cautious collaboration: While open to teamwork, Pragmatists engage in collaboration primarily when it serves their practical goals.
Context in action
All archetypes adapt their behaviours depending on the context, and understanding these shifts is crucial to effective collaboration. Changes in context—such as political scrutiny, shifting priorities, or resource constraints—can significantly shape a Pragmatist’s approach.
In stable environments: Pragmatists thrive when there’s clarity of objectives, ensuring policies are delivered efficiently and effectively.
Under pressure: In high-stakes or uncertain contexts, Pragmatists may focus even more on immediate, practical outcomes, potentially at the expense of long-term goals or stakeholder engagement.
For example, during the implementation of a large-scale policy initiative, a Pragmatist might prioritise meeting deadlines over exploring user-centred design processes, focusing on what can be delivered within constraints.
In our Connecting with Policymakers capability building, we explore how these contextual shifts affect traits, identifying secondary dominant traits that may emerge. We provide tools to support Pragmatists in balancing their efficiency with inclusivity and adaptability, ensuring their strengths are complemented by a broader, long-term perspective.
Biases and heuristics
Everyone relies on mental shortcuts to make decisions—archetypes and individuals alike. Which biases come into play often depends on inherent traits, shaping how decisions are made and how challenges are approached. For Pragmatists, their high pragmatism and moderate collaboration mean they are particularly influenced by:
Action bias: A tendency to favour immediate, visible results, sometimes at the expense of reflection or long-term strategy.
Status quo bias: A preference for familiar approaches that are proven to work, resisting unnecessary experimentation.
Certainty bias: Prioritising clear, achievable outcomes over speculative or uncertain ideas.
Anchoring bias: Becoming fixated on the most practical or obvious solution, potentially overlooking more innovative alternatives.
Conservatism bias: Hesitating to adopt transformative changes without strong evidence of feasibility or effectiveness.
These biases reflect the Pragmatist’s results-driven mindset but can also limit their willingness to explore unconventional approaches in dynamic or ambiguous contexts.
Conclusion
The Pragmatist archetype plays a vital role in policymaking, ensuring policies are grounded in practicality and delivered with efficiency. While their preference for short-term results can sometimes limit ambition, their adaptability and focus on outcomes make them essential for driving progress in constrained environments.
In our Connecting with Policymakers training, you’ll not only gain insights into these archetypes but also receive your own tailored trait map, helping you understand the synergies and potential gaps in your approach to working with policymakers.
Sharing your trait map with colleagues can provide a valuable overview of your team’s make-up and balance, enabling better collaboration and a clearer understanding of how to approach policy challenges together.
Get in touch to find out how the training can help you and your team make a lasting impact.