Robert D. Behn

Recent Articles

• What to Measure?
• Apr 2, 2008
• Usually, what we really want is an outcome, but all we can actually measure is an output, writes Robert D. Behn.

• The Five Big Errors of PerformanceStat
• Dec 12, 2007
• Struck by how many "stat" programs fail to appreciate some of the core principles of the strategy, Robert D. Behn identifies the five big errors he routinely encounters in such programs.

• Beyond the GASB-GFOA Brawl
• Aug 22, 2007
• The case for standards in financial reporting is clear, writes Robert D. Behn. We need to know that government is using our tax dollars properly.

• The Tyranny of the Template
• May 16, 2007
• Electronic databases make some things easier. At the same time, writes Robert Behn, they have made some things impossible.

• Public Purpose and Public Leadership
• Feb 21, 2007
• Unlike business executives, who need only think about how to achieve their organization's goals, public leaders have the added responsibility of discerning the "right" goals.

• Forced Ranking and Its Many Consequences
• Nov 8, 2006
• The all-too-human tendency is to be nice to people. For good or bad, ranking restrains this behavior.

• Katrina Management
• Sep 6, 2006
• You don't have to be an emergency management specialist to manage FEMA. After all, you will quickly face a variety of emergencies.

• Teams, Individuals and Rewards
• Jun 28, 2006
• Organizations hope for teamwork, but reward individual behavior. They hope for cooperation, but reward competition. What folly!

• Replication (continued): It Takes a Nut
• Apr 19, 2006
• The challenge of replication is "going to scale." Sure, you can do it in the small. But can you do it in the large?

• The Replication Challenge
• Feb 8, 2006
• Unless someone can somehow determine how exactly an innovation is producing the benefit, this innovation is impossible to replicate.

• A Threat to the Team
• Dec 1, 2002
• "Are the rumors true?" Kay Rodd demands. "Has HR really changed the rules?" As the district attorney of Spalding County, you've been dreading this question. And you know the honest answer is "yes." Still, you search for an equally honest answer that can delay the crisis for a little while.

• Changing the Cops
• Aug 1, 2002
• Like just about every police chief, you are attempting to launch your own version of Compstat, the much lauded crime-fighting program created by William Bratton when he was police commissioner in New York City.

• Leading WIthout Authority
• Jun 1, 2002
• When the brother of Mirabel Douglas, the speaker of the West Dakota House of Representatives, died of the hepatitis C virus, members of the legislature discovered this stealthy disease.

• Can This Airport Be Saved?
• Apr 1, 2002
• Even before September 11, the Zenith City Airport Authority was in trouble. Everyone knew it--sort of. The mayor and city council knew it. So did the governor and the legislature.

• The Flex-Time Conundrum
• Aug 1, 2001
• Once again, Lee Honsan isn't in the office. Once again, his staff needs some guidance. Once again, they call you. Once again, you have to drop your own work to do Honsan's.