Frank Ostroff, Firm's Managing Partner, provides key principles for improving government performance in new Harvard Business Review article

Summary:

Government performance at all levels has been an important issue for decades. From protecting the nation, to educating our children, to providing health care coverage to the elderly - government's day-to-day responsibilities make it important that it perform at the highest possible levels. And the possibility of natural or man-made disasters shows the critical importance of addressing government performance now.

The good news is, as the article shows, deep change and performance improvement are achievable. Major transformations have occurred in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and Special Operations Forces. Despite facing unique obstacles, the leaders of these agencies figured out how to court support among key stakeholders, rededicate employees to an agency's true mission, undertake reform so comprehensively that resistant elements could not subvert it, and lay the groundwork for next steps clearly and systematically.

Five principles characterize successful public sector change efforts and are essential to achieving desired results: improve performance against the agency's mission, win over stakeholders, create a road map, take a comprehensive approach, and be a leader rather than a bureaucrat. While government agencies vary, any agency with the vision and courage to undertake meaningful change and improve performance can apply these principles to achieve success.

Link to "Change Management in Government" Harvard Business Review May 2006