Innovative Government: Not an Oxymoron
Bright and early tomorrow AM, government managers will start to congregate at The Performance Institute Conference Center for . . .
The 2009 Federal Performance Policy Forum:
Insights and Ideas to Transform Federal Program Management
(Sounds pretty heavy no?) Well, it is and it isn’t. On the one hand, it’s easy in times of trouble to want to keep the course, to not switch things up too much. On the other hand, when things are really bad–they may be really bad in large part to the fact we’ve been doing things the wrong way and some innovative thinking is called for.
“Nothing endures but change.” Heraclitus (540 BC – 480 BC)
There is no doubt in my mind any more just how quickly change can happen. I remember when I decided to be a public policy major at William and Mary. It was a hopeful time. The economy was great. We finally had a budget surplus. And I believed I was going to graduate and move to Washington to work on environmental issues and be a part of this huge social policy agenda. Then there was 9/11. I can remember classmates gathering into a random classroom and watching CNN. I definitely didn’t understand the gravity of the situation but one of my government professors did as I can remember him saying, “This will change the focus of public policy for the next two decades.” Sure enough, by the time I graduated and came to Washington– three letters, D.H.S., had come to define agency funding levels, the discourse of the national media, the messaging platforms of both political parties and the job prospects of many idealists like me.
When you hear the word bureaucracy– innovation is likely not the first word that pops up in your head. And yet, it should be. It has to be. Another wave of change has swept into Washington and now is not the time to be timid. Now is the time to be smart and nimble. There is a climate of tolerance towards changing policies that has not existed in decades. People aren’t looking for the same old. I believe most Americans know that we have to plot a new route. Remember that saying, “can’t go over it. can’t go around it. can’t go under it ” well, it is time to go “through it.” For years we have been facing enormous policy issues. The short-term-gotta-get-re-elected-horse-and-pony-show has increasingly drawn politicians away from the roots of problems and fixated on them on the “talking points” of the problem. Using the right rhetoric ain’t getting us out of this mess though.
I am pretty excited to see this gathering of government managers tomorrow. All too often career civil servants go unnoticed. Now I hope these unsung heroes will have a chance in the spotlight. Let’s reach out to them. Tell them we are thankful for their leadership, empower them to speak for us and to draw upon their expertise to drive innovation in a time when innovation is needed more than ever.
You can learn more about InnoGOV on the LinkedIn group I belong to. Just do a group search on there for “InnoGOV” and message how you heard about Innovations in Government and what your interests are. I am looking forward to having a great dialogue with as many different people as possible on there.
If you aren’t following on Twitter– get with the program here. They are tweeting up a storm . ..
