Voices of the GOVERNING Institute
Why Government Needs to Get to Know Its Customers
Identifying them and their needs is the first step to serving them better and reducing wasted effort.
Authors
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.
Government’s Vital Role in Helping People Thrive
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.
Voices of the GOVERNING Institute
The Scoreboards That Government’s Front-Line Workers Need
To improve processes, it's crucial for everyone to be able to see how they're doing in real time.
The Chief Operating Officer That Every State Needs
As the private sector has shown, it's a way to produce effective management and efficiency across a complex enterprise.
Voices of the GOVERNING Institute
Can a Japanese Business Process Help Solve Our Complex Social Problems?
Governments are using the "Lean" model to bring efficiency to their operations. But it could be doing a lot more.
Voices of the GOVERNING Institute
Failure-Proofing Government
Comprehensive performance management is the key for the long term. But for the short term, there's nothing wrong with a Band-Aid.
How Going 'Lean' Fattened a Lottery's Payoff
A team at the Washington state lottery found a way to better adapt to retailers' needs. The result was a big boost in sales.
Fixing a Process that No Longer Makes Sense
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.
Leading the Way on 'Lean'
Washington state has made one of government's strongest commitments to this approach to government efficiency, one that's likely to survive a change in administrations.
The Opening Door to Government Transformation
When the elections are over, a new crop of leaders will face the same old challenges. Let's hope they will approach those challenges with new thinking.
Delivering Services with Agility and Flexibility
Oregon has a unique approach to designing its health-care programs: a management system that aims to eliminate silos.
What’s Your Magic Number?
Organizations usually have just a few leading indicators -- sometimes a single number -- that will predict success or identify problems.
Our Efficiency-Killing Tangle of Laws
Governments produce tens of thousands of new laws every year, confusing citizens and driving business away. Instead of more laws, what we need is a focus on outcomes.
The Unintended Benefits of Measuring Performance
Just putting measurement tools in place can improve existing processes — not months or years down the road, but right away.
The Value of Data for Oregon’s Troubled Youth
A corrections agency’s effort to use data on what works to inform its professionals’ decisions promises better outcomes for those in its care.
Who Owns Government Efficiency?
Professional managers will always be key, but lawmakers who care about efficient government can have a big role to play.