Quality Government

Sizing up government

2008-01-15T18:49:38Z

The magazine Federal Computer Week regularly provides insightful stories and information about the work of managing, leading, and improving processes for better results. The January 7th 2008 issue of FCW features an editorial on government management and the presidential hopefuls. Without citing the FCW editorial opinions of the quoted views, we can still use them as a basis for our own analysis. The editorial repeats the often-quoted comment of Mr. Giuliani, that he would reduce the size of government by simply not rehiring "federal workers who retire during the coming decade." The editorial also quotes the proposal by Mrs. Clinton, to "cut 500,000 government contractors."

What can we say about the optimal size of government? There are current candidates as of this posting, who have quite different views on this issue. What products and services are best delivered by government? What values will influence our thinking and actions, as we seek the elusive "government that works better, and costs less?"

For those of us who are schooled in the methods and values of quality and organizational improvement (e.g., Deming, Kaizen, SPC, Lean Six Sigma, etc.), what would the process of assessing government agency missions look like? Are there any best practice examples around the world that our Government Division and other readers know about? What can the Government Division do in the days and weeks ahead, to think about the work of the next Administration, and offer the benefit of our knowledge and experience?

Your thoughts?

Federal Management Agenda - Is "discontinuity" one word or two?

2008-01-15T18:03:57Z

The January 7th 2008 issue of Federal Computer Week features the work of the Bush Administration's Management Agenda. The basic principles of the President's Management Agenda are: 1-strategic management of the workforce; 2-competitive sourcing; 3-improved financial performance; 4-expanded e-government; 5-budget and performance integration. Regardless of one's personal views, there are some key achievements and issues in this work, with significant implications for the next administration. Many of these relate to the work that quality improvement practitioners do both in and out of government.

Here are a few of the issues that were discussed in a panel interview with the senior team at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget:

Competitive Sourcing- While it was noted that government employees' winning "83% of those competions" is "not good enough," there is no discussion of the process for establishing competitive sourcing criteria. But it is important to note that the current administration has worked to implement processes that can validate the savings of outsourcing actions. While the results are not yet in, there seem to be diligent efforts to make indepependent assessments of results.

Human Capital Management - there has been much talk about the "coming crisis in human capital" in government. The demographic patterns of hiring and aging are resulting in significant public sector retirements. Data shows that young people do not view public service as highly as they once did for a career choice. OMB has worked to implement an intern program, and other expedited processes for a scalable response to this dynamic need.

Performance Improvement- The folks at OMB note that they have worked to "clarify definitions of success for more than 1,000 programs." Their data shows that they have made very significant gains in the numbers of agencies able to measure their results. OMB notes that programs have "clear, aggressive, annual and long-term goals with aggressive targets and aggressive plans to improve their performance every year." What we do not see in this article is a discussion of how plans are made, or measures of performance defined. Who are the key stakeholders? Are front-line employees and middle managers involved in the planning and measure definition processes? What processes are in place to review the measures and planning perocess, and improve them over time? No matter what agenda an administration wants, they keys to success may lie in applying the kinds of analysis and improvement methods that quality improvement practitioners have long advocated.

for more frm Federal Computer Week, check their web site at www.fcw.com It is a very good source for articles on general management and improvement issues.

Web-based collaboration and the implications for government

2008-01-08T19:03:41Z

From Blogology to Mobocracy

Web-based collaboration and the implications for government

Recently I received an email with an attached PowerPoint file. A near-daily occurrence. My friend and colleague shared a presentation about the use of "web 2.0" technologies for online citizen engagement in Canada. The slides describe wikis, podcasts, blogs, and other on-line tools. I am an "early adopter" of these collaborative technologies. I have been using chat, groupware, ListServs, and other collaborative tools for around 20 years. The wiki and blog technologies are just the latest software tools to help groups of people make better decisions together. Microsoft Sharepoint technology is a simple form of a collaborative computing environment. You may know that Microsoft acquired the groupware system called Groove. Groove was created by Ray Ozzie - the guy who created Lotus Notes. Groove is now a centerpiece of Microsoft's expanded Sharepoint and collaborative platform. The XO laptop - the so called "hundred dollar laptop" - uses a unique mesh network technology. The computer automatically connects with others of its kind within range. Users can surf the web together, adding notes and comments in real-time, that can be seen by everyone in the group. Networked XO users can also collaborate in shared journals, containing text, images, media files, and so on. Start-up firms are developing this kind of mobile social network for cell phones.

Systems like the citizen web sites in Canada and elsewhere point to some of the key features - and challenges - of newer web systems. For example:

- do you want to control who can post to your blog, or wiki?
- if so, how will you assure the identity of new users?
- do you want to control what people say? We usually want to review submissions in advance of posting, to assure legality, and appropriateness.
- how will we decide what is appropriate? Who will define the standards, and who will apply them?

.. "information wants to be free" is a famous quote from the internet era. The rise of music and other file sharing has re-defined notions of intellectual capital

.. implicit in government sites is the issue of "governance." Collaborative technologies are by their nature and design, typically self-organizing. The objectives of the initiative in part drive the degree of oversight and control that should be implemented.

.. the complex self-organizing dynamics of wikis and blogs also reveal patterns of self-regulation. In many cases "control" emerges spontaneously, as participants express approval or disapproval of posted content. Ideas that may be controversial, often just fade out from the lack of ongoing interest and response. We see that we may be able to influence the direction of a group, even if we can not control it. The exact outcome may be probable, but uncertain.

.. one of the major concerns in the use of the internet for mass collaboration is what we may call "mobocracy." We know that the majority may always prevail, but they may not always be right. Likewise, they may not always know about the Next Big Idea which will trigger innovation. Those of us committed to quality and continuous improvement understand that there needs to be a perceived gap between where we are and where we want to be. Stability might be good in a manufacturing process, but it equates to complacency, stagnation, and eventual extinction in communities and organizations. The dynamics of the internet may be having the effect of moving mass thinking and opinion towards a central tendency of status quo, and thus denying the creative tension needed for growth.

The implications of this technology for those in government have to be significant. We have the opportunity to engage a much larger portion of our citizens in meaningful dialogue than ever before. Are we up to the challenges of adapting our systems of governance to meet the new expectations of our customers ?

Article in Journal for Quality and Participation

2008-01-08T18:53:55Z

Several of our members and member-leaders have authored articles in various quality and government publications. One you might enjoy is entitled "What's the Point of Planning?" In this article. Author Bruce Waltuck describes the strategic planning problems at a major Federal agency. The root cause of the problem in this case is a performance measure that is not clearly defined. The article goes on to describe some common pitfalls in data collection, defining performance measures, and using data and analysis to drive ongoing improvement.

Leadership Dialogue Event Coming to Houston May 2008

2008-01-08T18:45:37Z

The Government Division of the American Society for Quality has announced its 2008 Leadership Dialogue event. This annual day-long event brings together expert practitioners and government leaders for a unique and engaging learning experience. Unlike typical presentations, and their "talking head with slides; please hold all questions til the end," the Leadership Dialogues encourage and welcome audience participation in discussion with our panel of distinguished guests. The result is a stimulating dialogue that enhances shared knowledge and innovative thought.