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John M. Bernard

Contributor

John M. Bernard, a senior fellow of the Governing Institute, is the president of John M. Bernard LLC and was the founder of Portland, Ore.-based Mass Ingenuity. He is the author of Government That Works: the Results Revolution in the States and Business at the Speed of Now. With a focus on teaching public-sector leaders to apply business best practices to the work of government, he has worked with leadership in Arizona, Michigan, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington state.

Bernard has an extensive business background, having worked globally as an executive in everything from a high-tech startup to multibillion-dollar financial-services companies and manufacturing firms. He has a degree in mass communications and journalism from the University of Portland.

Identifying them and their needs is the first step to serving them better and reducing wasted effort.
Spending a little on early intervention can save a lot of money over the long term and help people function in society. Systems thinking provides a framework for preventing failure.
To improve processes, it's crucial for everyone to be able to see how they're doing in real time.
As the private sector has shown, it's a way to produce effective management and efficiency across a complex enterprise.
Governments are using the "Lean" model to bring efficiency to their operations. But it could be doing a lot more.
Comprehensive performance management is the key for the long term. But for the short term, there's nothing wrong with a Band-Aid.
A team at the Washington state lottery found a way to better adapt to retailers' needs. The result was a big boost in sales.
An Oregon agency found ways to cut the time it takes to do background checks by more than half. With inefficient processes and duplicative services rife in government, that's just the beginning of the journey.