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In the Arena: Taking the Field in Tough Times

PlaybookDecember 2010

InsIDe 9 Plays on Priorities, Budgets and Strategic Planning 8 Plays on Health-Care Strategies, Opportunities and Affordability 6 Plays on Operations, Services and Performance 8 Plays on Leading in Our Challenging Times Plus: The legacy plays of a veteran player and coach from the empire state

a supplement to GoverninG magazine

GoverninG Playbook | Dec 20102

Dec 2010 | GoverninG Playbook 3

Priorities, budgets and strategic Planning9 plays for getting through the current fiscal crisis and developing a strategy for the long term ...........................................................................6

Health-care strategies, Opportunities and Affordability8 plays on reducing costs, boosting outcomes and preparing the health-care system for an aging population ..........................................................................10

Operations, services and Performance6 plays for ridding service delivery systems of kinks and bureaucracy that cripple government performance...................................................14

The courage to Lead: Innovation and Perseverance in Our Times8 plays for leading in today’s challenging political and economic environment..........................................................................................................................................18

contents

Publisher Fred.Kuhnassociate.Publisher Erin.Waters

Written by Jonathan.Walters,with.contributions.by Paul.W..Taylor.and.Marina.Leight

Creative Director Kelly.MartinelliPhotographer David.KiddProduction Director Stephan.Widmaier

Governing.(ISSN.0894-3842).is.published.monthly.by.e.Republic.Inc.,.with.offices.at..1100.Connecticut.Ave..N.W.,.Suite.1300,..Washington,.D.C..20036.and.at.100.Blue.Ravine.Road,.Folsom,.CA.95630..Telephone:.202-862-8802..Fax:.202-862-0032..E-mail:[email protected]:.Governing.com..Periodical.post-age.paid.in.Washington,.D.C.,.and.at.additional.mail-ing.offices..Copyright.2010.e.Republic.Inc..All.rights.reserved..Reproduction.in.whole.or.in.part.without.written.permission.of.the.publisher.is.prohibited..Governing,.Governing.com.and.City.&.State.are.reg-istered.trademarks.of.e.Republic.Inc.;.unauthorized.use.is.strictly.prohibited..Post-master:.Send.address.changes.to.Governing,.100.Blue.Ravine.Road,.Folsom,.CA,.95630..Subscribers:.Enclose.mailing.label.from.past.issue..Allow.six.weeks..Member:.BPA.International..Made.in.the.U.S.A.

Playbook

This special report captures conversations among leading public officials from a GOVERNING Summit on how to cope with the cost of government in challenging times. We have captured the highlights of that dialog — including lessons learned — in a set of plays.


football,.an.audible.is.seen.(or.heard).when.the.quarterback.sees.a.defensive.alignment.he.wasn’t.expecting.and.adjusts.by.yelling.out.a.new.play..Similarly.in.our.arena,.public.leaders.often.must.decide.what.to.do.at.the.last.second.after.seeing.all.possible.options.and.obstacles.

The.severity.and.scope.of.the.eco-nomic.crisis.in.the.closing.years.of.the.decade.eclipsed.even.the.most.hyper-bolic.uses.of.the.term.“perfect.storm.”.And.the.economic.storm.left.the.playing.field.muddy.and.treacherous..It.is.useful.to.understand.how.the.storm.developed.and.what.it.did.to.the.government.arena.

The Playing FieldOn.Feb..27,.2007,.the.Federal.Home.

Loan.Mortgage.Corp..—.or.Freddie.Mac.—.announced.it.would.no.longer.buy.the.riskiest.subprime.mortgages.or.mortgage-related.securities.

At.the.time,.only.the.savviest.finan-ciers.understood.what.the.move.meant..But.everyone.knows.now:.A.fuse.had.been.lit.under.a.mountain.of.fiscal.dyna-mite.that.would.devastate.the.U.S..and.world.economies..In.the.U.S.,.govern-ment.at.all.levels.would.soon.experience.budget.pain.unheard.of.since.the.1930s.

Using.state.tax.revenues.as.a.proxy.for.all.levels.of.government,.data.gath-ered.by.the.Rockefeller.Institute.of.Government.tracked.the.brewing.fiscal.storm.and.the.consequences.when.it.hit..According.to.the.institute,.the.percent.change.in.quarterly.state.tax.collections.

from.the.first.to.second.quarters.of.2007.was.essentially.flat..After.the.second.quarter.of.2007,.revenues.bumped.along.—.no.major.ups.or.downs.through.the.third.quarter.of.2008..Then.news.of.international.insurance.giant.AIG.broke.in.summer.of.2008.

Starting.in.the.fourth.quarter.of.2008,.the.bottom.fell.out..Through.2009,.state.revenues.plummeted.an.astonishing.and.unprecedented.30.percent..Among.the.wide.variety.of.panic-driven.actions.taken.by.policymakers.to.stanch.the.bleeding.and.shore.up.the.bottom.line.were.across-the-board.cuts;.employee.furloughs;.wholesale.raids.on.rainy-day.and.so-called.“locked.box”.funds;.raising.fees.and.taxes,.and.shutting.down.nonessential.operations..Local.governments.found.themselves..taking.such.unheard-of.actions.as.laying..off.police.and.shutting.down.fire.stations.

While.some.improvement.in.the..overall.economy.and.in.the.recovery.of.some.state.revenues.occurred.in.2010,.the.news.is.still.very,.very.bad.and.not.just.at.the.state.level.but.at.the.federal.and.local.levels.as.well.—.and.it.portends.to.get.much.worse.

Of.the.44.states.that.had.closed.their.fiscal.2010.books.by.the.time.of.the.lat-est.Rockefeller.Institute.report.on.state.revenue.collections,.10.saw.some.modest.increase.in.tax.receipts..But.that.means.34.—.well.more.than.half.the.states.in.the.nation.—.saw.continued.declines.

How.can.it.get.worse?.Here’s.how:.Take,.for.example,.a.sampling.of.states.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is no effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.Theodore roosevelT, 26TH PreSidenT OF THe UniTed STATeS, “MAn in THe ArenA” SPeeCH given APriL 23, 1910.

A century later, Teddy.Roosevelt’s.famous.speech.about.public.service.still.resonates.with.men.and.women.who.serve.in.the.arena..These.are.perilous.times,.and.the.challenge.of.doing.the.public’s.business.is.daunting.given.eco-nomic,.political.and.social.conditions.

Roosevelt’s.resolve.is.still.reflected.in.the.work.of.government.officials.and.employees.who.do.the.public’s.business.in.an.increasingly.difficult.environment..The.nature.of.public.service.is.such.that.public.officials.and.employees.are.eager.to.learn.from.colleagues.and.share.their.experiences.with.a.view.of.making.government.better..The.impediments.to.such.exchanges.are.not.proprietary.interests.in.trade.secrets,.as.is.often.the.case.in.industry,.but.the.more.mundane.challenges.of.time,.distance.and.access.

On.Sept..14.and.15,.2010,.Governing.convened.a.Summit.on.the.Cost.of..Government.that.brought.together.nearly.90.seasoned.experts.from.across.the.coun-try.—.from.inside.and.outside.government.—.to.discuss.strategies.for.at.least.begin-ning.to.deal.with.a.fiscal.outlook.across.all.levels.of.government.that.continues.to.worsen.—.even.as.the.economy.begins.to.show.signs.of.modest.recovery.

In.the.following.pages,.we.have.har-vested.almost.three.dozen.“plays”.from.those.discussions.and.organized.them.into.a.playbook.that.may.serve.as.a.use-ful.reminder.for.seasoned.players.and.a.primer.for.new.recruits.and.rookies.

At.its.core,.a.playbook.is.a.common.reference.guide.for.a.team.as.it.prepares.for.another.season..It.typically.contains.a.team’s.formations.and.diagrams.of.the.plays.it.has.practiced..Of.course,.even.the.best.prepared.team.cannot.anticipate.every.eventuality..That.has.given.rise.to.improvisation,.or.calling.an.audible..In.


that.still.enjoy.triple-A.bond.ratings..One.would.expect.to.find.them.sitting.on.rel-atively.robust.fiscal.foundations,.shored.up.by.sound.budgeting.and.management.decisions.made.by.forward-thinking.policymakers.who.saw.the.storm.coming.and.prepared.themselves.to.ride.it.out.

But.instead,.one.would.find.an.alarm-ing.level.of.budget.gimmickry.clever.enough.to.either.satisfy.—.or.fool.—.the.bond.rating.houses..For.example,.a.fiscal.policy.analyst.in.one.state.well.known.for.its.long-running.triple-A.status.noted.that.the.state.“balanced”.its.fiscal.2010.budget.mostly.“by.borrowing.against.local.income.tax.reserve.accounts.”.Clever,.perhaps,.but.not.a.sound.approach.to.long-range.fiscal.health;.in.fact,.the.tactic.only.adds.to.the.state’s.long-term.debt.

Furthermore,.this.analyst.noted,.the.state.was.doing.an.abysmal.job.of.fund-ing.future.pension.obligations..But.that.paled.in.comparison.to.the.job.it.was.doing.setting.aside.funds.for.the.health.care.and.“other.post-retirement.ben-efits”.promised.to.retirees..“Whenever.we.see.the.newest.state.bond.ratings.and.ours.gets.a.triple.A,”.said.this.analyst,.“everyone.in.the.office.just.laughs.”

In.fact,.recent.studies.estimate.states.face.at.least.a.$3.trillion.shortfall.in.what.they’re.supposed.to.have.set.aside.for.public.employee.pensions.and.retirees’.health.care,.while.the.larger.municipal.systems.are.short.more.than.$500.billion.

But.it’s.not.only.the.bleak.fiscal.pic-ture.public.officials.will.be.contending.

with..Citizen.cynicism.about.govern-ment.is.also.at.an.all-time.high.

According.to.a.recent.Rasmussen.Reports.survey,.only.10.percent.of.voters.think.Congress.is.doing.a.good.or.excellent.job,.tying.an.all-time.record.low..Mean-while.62.percent.think.that.no.matter.how.bad.things.are.now,.Congress.will.make.them.worse..The.poll.proved.prescient:.The.same.percentage.thought.it.would.be.best.for.the.country.if.most.incumbents.were.tossed.out.of.office.in.November.

State.and.local.officials.tend.to.fare.better.in.such.citizen.surveys,.but.that.doesn’t.change.the.underlying.reality.that.with.the.continuing.tough.economic.climate.and.employment.picture,.no.level.of.government.right.now.sits.high.on.the.list.of.well.respected.institutions.in.the.United.States.

Taking The FieldAgainst.this.backdrop,.the.people.of.

government.—.from.those.who.have.cho-sen.public.service.as.a.career.to.those.for.whom.it.is.just.a.job.—.must.still.do.the.public’s.business..There.is.also.a.growing.sense.that.the.recovery,.as.modest.as.it.has.been,.will.not.bring.with.it.a.return.to.business.as.usual;.“back.to.normal”.is.out.of.reach..At.issue.is.the.nature.of.the.reces-sion,.which.was.not.cyclical.but.structural.

“The.path.we’re.on.today.is.unsus-tainable,”.said.David.Osborne,.author.of.Reinventing Government,.as.he.helped.set.the.stage.for.the.summit..“We.have.to.reprioritize..We.have.to.reinvent.how.we.

do.budgets,.how.we.deliver.services.and.even.what.services.we.choose.to.deliver..We.continue.to.pad.budgets.and.play.hide.and.seek.with.money,.and.we’re.making.no.progress.toward.bending.that.sustainability.curve.in.a.better.direction.”

It.was.in.that.spirit.of.reinvention.and.re-inspiration.that.discussions.were.held.on.four.key.sessions:.

Priorities, Budgets and strategic Planning.tackled.some.of.the.steps.that.states.and.localities.are.pursuing.in.response.to.the.current.crisis,.and.also.for.getting.better.fiscal.control.down.the.road.

health-Care strategies, opportunities and Affordability outlined.the.escalating.health-care.cost.crisis.and.what.can.be.done.to.deal.with.cost.issues.now.and.into.the.future.

operations, services and Performance looked.at.operational.efficiencies.that.governments.can.begin.to.affect.to.simul-taneously.bring.down.the.cost.of.services,.improve.quality.and.increase.citizen..satisfaction.with.government.service.

The Courage to lead: Innovation and Perseverance in our Times brought.together.a.group.of.recognized.state,.local.and.federal.leaders.to.discuss.the.most.important.underlying.issue.that.will.decide.the.nation’s.economic,.social.and.competitive.future:.the.quality.of.leadership.

introduction

Play OneBudget for outcomes. In her opening remarks, Eisenhauer described an Iowa initiative known as “budgeting for out-comes.” Normally, noted Eisenhauer, gov-ernors and legislatures deal with revenue shortfalls using the blunt force approach of across-the-board budget cuts where every agency takes a hit regardless of what they contribute to specific key out-comes the state wishes to achieve (assum-ing a state has actually come up with such a priorities list — many haven’t).

Budgeting for outcomes is a more sophisticated approach, whereby budget writers focus on outcomes they believe are most important to citizens (that is: “student achievement in school; healthy citizens; a viable, well maintained state-wide transportation system, among oth-ers”), and then look at ways — given con-strained resources — that they can most effectively channel existing resources to support those outcomes.

In Iowa’s case, the exercise came with an added twist, one that recognized that in many cases, a variety of different agen-cies often contribute to a specific key out-come. And so in Iowa, any agency could “bid” on any key outcome. As long as an agency could make the case that they could effectively contribute to improve-ments in an outcome, they’d be funded, according to the new budgeting regime.

6 GoverninG Playbook | Dec 2010

THe PLAys AT A GLAnce Play OneBudget for outcomes. Base budgets on strategically developed, clearly articulated outcomes.

Play TwOshow Me the Citizen value. Require that all executive agency budget requests come with clear metrics on inputs, outputs and outcomes.

Play TwO [ AuDIbLe] Budget Naked. Require executive agencies to take a fresh look at their entire budgets every year to ensure alignment with overall jurisdic-tional goals and objectives.

Play Three Trade rules for results. Cut agencies loose from various administrative rules and requirements in return for promised levels of service and outcomes.

Play Three [ AuDIbLe] Charter Me. Have public agencies bid for funding to be designated or chartered as service provider.

Play FOurvalidate. Stop using audits to chase dollars and instead use them to ensure efficient and effective operations.

In essence, said Eisenhauer, it was a strategy for getting agencies to think in a whole new way about their roles in state government — not as purvey-ors of programs, but as contributors to results. A potentially positive side effect to budgeting for outcomes, noted Eisen-hauer: When you focus on data related

to outcomes that everyone agrees are important to the health and prosperity of a state, it’s easier to communicate to citizens what their tax dollars are buying, and it also reduces the potential for political polarization.

Play Twoshow Me the Citizen value. A varia-tion on budgeting for outcomes has been evolving in Connecticut for the past sev-eral years, noted Diana Urban, where leg-islators are now tossing out the time-worn approach to traditional budgeting: build-ing off funding that an agency received for the previous fiscal year. Instead, agencies in Connecticut are now being

agencies bid for funding to become a center of excel-lence in delivering results.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

In the summit’s opening panel, Cynthia Eisenhauer, former chief of staff to Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack; Larisa Benson, director of Performance Audit for the Washington State Auditor’s Office; and Diana Urban, a veteran legislator in Connecticut, offered their views for how to reset priorities for government to better align them with current fiscal reality and also citizen priorities. A number of summit-goers also contributed ideas for how to better prioritize budgets, and also how to spend more strategically.

PrIOrITIes, buDGeTs AnD sTrATeGIc PLAnnInG

7

asked three key questions every time they appear before a budget-writing commit-tee, said Urban: “How much did you do? How well did you do it? And is anyone better off?” While pushing results-based accountability has been a tough slog in Connecticut, Urban said the last round of budgeting — where some agencies had their budgets cut because they couldn’t answer some of those questions — sent a clear message statewide that the Legisla-ture is now serious about shifting spend-ing patterns away from the traditional “What did you get last year?” to “What did you contribute to the improvement of the lives of Connecticut citizens?”

Play Two [ AuDIbLe ]Budget Naked. Maria Heslin, deputy mayor of Bloomington, Ind., said her city is taking a more or less similar approach to Connecticut’s when it comes to budget-ing in Bloomington: tabula rasa every year. Agencies must submit a fresh budget that aligns with the goals in the city’s strategic plan or go back to the drawing board. This approach also avoids another classic pitfall of budgeting, noted David Osborne, which is that all too often legislatures “fight over 10 percent of the budget, while the other 90 percent slips right through,” with no scrutiny at all. By making agen-cies justify their entire budget submittal, it broadens the discussion to 100 percent of what they want to spend and what they plan to accomplish with the money, noted Heslin. Opening up the entire budget to overall scrutiny does one other important thing, pointed out summit-goer Ed Shi-kada, assistant city manager of San Jose: “It allows for transparency in priority set-ting.” That’s how the city discovered that a whopping $40 out of every $100 San Jose spends goes to its fire department. Negotiations with the department are still tough, said Shikada, but at least now city leaders can negotiate from a position of knowledge.

Play ThreeTrade rules for results. A guberna-torial initiative to consolidate county social service departments in Minnesota was the inspiration for an approach to government that’s slowly been gaining

momentum nationally: trading rules for results. In the case of Minnesota, said summit-goer Kelly Harder, director of the Community Services Division for Dakota County, the state’s decision to try to consolidate county social service depart-ments led an enlightened group of local social services leaders to get together and make Gov. Tim Pawlenty a counter- offer: If instead of the consolidation plan, the State Department of Social Services would agree to start working closely with local social service officials on reducing red tape and rules, then counties would, in turn, agree to deliver specific levels of service — and outcomes — for Minnesota children and families at reasonable cost. A consortium of counties is now working out the details of the bargain, which will be piloted in fiscal 2011.

Play Three [ AuDIbLe ]Charter Me. The principles behind Harder’s approach are akin to those that underpin “charter agencies,” which Eisenhauer described in Iowa under Gov. Vilsack. An idea first tested in the United Kingdom, the idea behind charter agen-

cies is, again, to set up formal agreements whereby agencies will commit to improv-ing outcomes and/or saving dollars in return for freedom from rules and regula-tions. In Iowa, a group of agencies worked out a deal with the governor’s office whereby they were cut loose from certain personnel, procurement and other rules in return for a promise of lower costs and better results. Among the success stories: The state’s department of environmental protection significantly streamlined environmental permitting with no com-promise in environmental protection.

Play Four validate. Starting in the early 1990s, a significant debate began heating up in earnest within the public-sector auditing community: Should government auditors simply audit money trails, or should they be involved in what a handful of pioneers in the auditing community thought would be a more meaningful pursuit: gauging the actual efficiency and effectiveness of programs? That debate has largely been settled. There is now a large and established community of performance

CynthIA EIsEnhAuEr, former chief of staff for Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack


auditors who have made careers out of not only gauging the cost-effectiveness of programs (following the money trail), but also whether those programs are deliv-ering promised results. Larisa Benson described how Washington state is in the process of doing a top-to-bottom scrub of key state programs, ranging from the state’s transportation system to higher education.

Play FiveCharter a department of Getting Things done. As described by summit attendee Brad Douglas, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Administra-tive Services, when Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue took office in 2003, he was natu-rally curious about the state of the state he was just elected to govern — what, exactly, did his new empire consist of? How well was it functioning? Was it opti-mizing spending? Did it actually need to be doing all the jobs that it had taken on? Was it running efficiently? These are questions familiar to every newly elected governor. But instead of impaneling the standard “Blue Ribbon Commission on Government Efficiency and Effective-ness” made up of big-name business people charged with scouring govern-ment for “waste, fraud, abuse, duplica-tion and inefficiency,” and then waiting for some formidable report to land on

his desk with a loud thud, Perdue did something very different, said Joe Doyle, director of the Georgia Governor’s Office of Customer Service. Perdue created the Commission for a New Georgia (CNG), which was a bipartisan group of experts from business, government, nongovern-mental organizations and other interested organizations, and which had administra-tive staff to help do research and fashion proposals for action. Besides its eclectic makeup and the fact of staff, one other thing made the CNG different and effec-tive, Douglas said: The commission didn’t produce fat reports, but instead made recommendations for fixing things as they found things to fix. Moreover, there was a solid relationship between the com-mission and an operational arm of state government to get things done.

The commission is credited with find-ing savings and new revenues totaling upward of $200 million. For example, based on CNG findings, the state’s fleet of vehicles was downsized by almost 10 per-cent; surplus real estate was sold for more than $22 million; leases were renegoti-ated to save almost $9 million; and state energy rates were adjusted, saving the state another $6 million. The state now auctions retired cars and equipment on the Internet, increasing sales revenue by 30 percent. (One of the more celebrated sales: an eBay auction held for a Learjet

Play FiveCharter a department of Getting Things done. Structure government over-sight commissions so they can identify problems and make recommendations on an ongoing, proactive basis.

Play six Govern by the Numbers. All government agencies should be collecting data that is relevant, timely and robust.

Play seven Ask. Get your priorities straight. In an age of austerity, government needs to tightly connect with citizen sentiment to get clear on exactly what government ought to be doing and what it can let go.

Play eighTdial 311. Create “311” phone and online systems that allow citizens to immediately inter-act with government about services and other issues.

Play nine Move to Performance-Based Contracting. In cases where government is contracting out, create clear payment milestones based on outcomes and results.

CONTINUED fROm PAGE 6

BEth BlAuEr, director, StateStat, Maryland Governor’s Office


the state hadn’t even realized it owned, courtesy of a major drug bust). Mean-while, the state procurement office, which contracts more than $5.7 billion in purchases a year, saved $101 million by renegotiating all state contracts.

Play Six Govern by the Numbers. Ever since New York City’s much-heralded CompStat program — which introduced data-driven policing to the Big Apple — more governments have been applying the tactic to a broad array of program and policy areas. Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley was the first, however, to apply it both citywide — while he was mayor of Baltimore — and now statewide as gov-ernor of Maryland. As summit-goer Beth Blauer, director of Maryland’s StateStat, pointed out, using data to gauge progress in a variety of program areas from crimi-nal justice to environmental protection has helped do two things: First it’s allowed the state to evaluate program effective-ness, on the one hand; on the other, it has helped break down governmental silos by illustrating that for many of society’s toughest problems — whether it’s eco-nomic development or environmental protection — numerous state agencies often own a piece of the puzzle.

Play Seven Ask. During the Great Recession there’s been a good deal of discussion about “rightsizing” government given the real-ization that governments simply don’t have the resources to do all the jobs that they’ve taken on over the years, from run-ning senior centers to maintaining parks. So several governments have gone about the job of gauging what, exactly, citizens really want from their governments. From Clearwater, Fla., to Washington state, government has used various strate-gies — from phone and mail-in surveys, to face-to-face town halls — to find out directly from citizens what their concerns are and where government should focus scarce resources. In Washington, noted Larisa Benson, Gov. Christine Gregoire held a series of town hall meetings state-wide to ask citizens directly about what they wanted from state government.

Play Eightdial 311. One organic way that gov-ernments have discovered they can identify citizen concerns is through 311 systems — the phone number that any citizen can call to ask any questions about government, government services, or to report problems such as cracked sidewalks, uncollected trash or leaking fire hydrants. A growing number of 311 systems come with companion websites and smartphone apps that extend the services online and to nomadic devices. Summit-goer Linda Gibbs, deputy mayor for Health and Human Services for New York City, noted that the city’s 311 system has been an effective conduit not only for discovering patterns of citizen concerns, but also for illustrating to citizens that the city can rapidly respond when residents report problems.

Play NineMove to Performance-Based Contracting. Summit-goer Teri Egner, with the Oklahoma Department of Reha-bilitation Services (DRS), described the system that the DRS has for reimbursing service providers based on document-able performance. At the DRS, a certain amount is paid to a provider upon assess-ing a client; a certain amount is paid upon that client’s successfully completing a training or other education program; a certain amount is paid upon job place-ment; and a certain amount is paid once the client has been on the job for six months, a year and so on. It has proved a powerful way to ensure that government is actually getting what it’s paying for, said Egner.

Playbooks are rarely the creation of a single mind or a single moment in time. more typically, they are the compilation of best plays drawn from years of experience. most of them remain useful, but from time to time, it is helpful to cull the playbook for plays that don’t work as intended. Here’s one worth ripping out of the playbook:A Play Gone Bad. While the notion of “direct government by the people” has a certain populist appeal, summit-goer Tom Sheehy, former acting secretary of California’s State and Consumer Services Agency, described his state’s system of initiatives and referendums as “poisonous politics.” Dominated by special interests, the initiatives and referendums process is frequently blamed for a significant portion of California’s current political paralysis, Sheehy noted, not to mention for some odd outcomes, including initiatives that call for capping taxes, on the one hand; while demanding lower class sizes on the other. According to Sheehy, who is now director of Government Affairs at law firm Greenberg Traurig, government “by the people” as opposed to government by those duly elected to represent the people has been a bust in the Golden State.

Ed shIkAdA, assistant city manager, San Jose, Calif., lIndA GIBBs, deputy mayor for Health and Human Services, New York City


Play OnePay for What Matters: Good health. “What we need to do is stop paying for procedures and start buying health,” said David Osborne in introducing his panel. His point was that this country’s health-care system has become obsessed with fees for services and tests — all of which bring income into the system — versus focusing on trying to get and keep people healthy. Extending a theme from the priorities and budget discussion, panelists agreed that the goal of any health-care system should be health and not on maxi-mizing the number of doctor’s visits and medical tests. One idea that appears to be gaining ground — even within the medi-cal community itself — is for doctors to be paid a salary that would help incentivize an approach to health care that focuses on helping people get well, and not on churning them through the waiting room.

Play TwoCommit to e-health records. “One in five lab tests are repeats of previous tests,” noted Osborne, in introducing the twin problem of over-testing and of an abject lack of communication among different


THe PLAys AT A GLAnce Play OnePay for What Matters: Good health. Stop paying for procedures and start paying for positive health outcomes.

Play TwOCommit to e-health records. Establish a system of electronic health records to allow for easy and efficient communication of patient care and health information among providers.

Play Threeencourage Competition. Promote a system whereby health-care providers must compete on price and quality.

health-care providers. Electronic health records, agreed panelists, had the poten-tial to go a long way toward quickly cluing in all those on any individual’s health-care team to what services had been provided to a particular patient, including what tests had been given and the results. On that score, there are jurisdictions making a serious push on electronic health records. “We now have 1,500 doctors participating in our e-health records system, and not necessarily in giant practices, but in one- and two-doctor practices,” said Andrea Cohen, director of health services for New York City.

Play Threeencourage Competition. Panelists agreed that getting health-care providers

during the summit’s second panel, David Osborne discussed various ways to get a handle on runaway health-care costs with Jon Kingsdale, former executive director of the massachusetts Health Insurance Connector Authority; Alan Levine, former secretary for the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals; and Joe minarick, senior vice president and director for research at the Center for Economic Development. At the outset, Osborne noted studies showing that correcting for population, the more doctors who live in a state, the more those states spend on health care. Also underlying the discussion was the whole notion of a rapidly aging baby boomer population and what this country is spending on so-called “end-of-life” care.

HeALTH-cAre sTrATeGIes, OPPOrTunITIes AnD AffOrDAbILITy

“What We need to do is stoP Paying for Procedures and start buying health.”David Osborne, author of Reinventing Government

CONTINUED ON PAGE 12


HeALTH-cAre sTrATeGIes, OPPOrTunITIes AnD AffOrDAbILITy

roBErt FErGuson, cabinet secretary, Department of Administration, W.Va.


to compete can be an effective way to boost quality while holding down costs, but it’s a tricky equation. For example, noted Jon Kingsdale, a low-population state, like Utah, isn’t an encouraging environment for getting providers to play in a market. According to Joe Minarick, “it takes a minimum of 100,000 people in order to have competition among five plans.” According to Kingsdale, support-ing the sorts of exchanges that states have to set up under President Barack Obama’s health-care reform package requires at least 200,000 people in the pool.

Play Fourlearn the health-Care ABCs. Get hospitals to do a little ABC (activity-based costing). “Currently hospitals don’t even know what their costs are,” said Alan Levine. Given the totally

amorphous nature of costing in hospi-tals, it’s tough for insurers, HMOs and preferred providers to understand what they’re buying. “So I hope that providers will choose to do more in analyzing real costs,” said Levine.

Play FiveAdd doctors. As baby boomers age, the country is looking at a massive shortage of doctors, said Levine — 125,000 of them at least. And so states and the federal government must investigate ways to encourage people to enter the field, whether it’s ensuring that Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements remain high enough to make the profession fiscally attractive to individuals, or subsidizing tuition in return for doctors agreeing to take on practices in high-need areas.

AlAn lEvInE, former secretary, Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals

in this day and age of comPlicated Procedures, ramPant testing and medical sPecialists, nobody acts as advocate or coordinator for any one individual’s health.

Play FOur learn the health-Care ABCs. Encourage health-care providers to do an actual breakdown of the real cost of providing various services and products.

Play Five Add doctors. The country is looking at a 125,000- doctor shortage in the next few years; more need to be brought into the pipeline.

Play six Manage Cases, Quarterback Process. Bring in case managers where an individual’s care is going to be potentially expensive and complex.

Play seven Fix What Ails Us. Develop policies (including tax policies) aimed at discourag-ing unhealthy lifestyle habits.

Play eighT Face Up to Mortality. The cost of end-of-life care is too high, and there needs to be an open and honest discussion about how to reduce it.



Play SixManage Cases, Quarterback Process. A frequent complaint related to duplicate and unnecessary care in the U.S. today is that in this day and age of complicated procedures, rampant testing and medi-cal specialists, nobody acts as advocate or coordinator for any one individual’s health. And so numerous jurisdictions and institutions are pursuing a fairly straightforward strategy: Name a quar-terback to oversee individual health care. North Carolina, in particular, has had significant success with populations receiving public health-care benefits in ensuring that duplicate and unnecessary procedures aren’t part of the standard care plan, that enrollees avoid expensive emergency room visits, that enrollees make their regular primary care check-ups, and that enrollees — once put on some course of care or medication — actually follow through on doctors’ orders. “Case management is key,” said Levine. “Currently there’s no incentive for doctors to keep costs down; to move mom out of the hospital as soon as possi-ble.” Nor, he said, does the average citizen know how to make data-driven decisions

on care choices and what doctor to visit. “The interesting thing is if you have a competent doctor with a bad bedside manner and a lousy doctor with a good bedside manner, people will flock to the ‘nice’ doctor.” Better case management, argued Levine, could go a long way toward alleviating such problems.

Play SevenFix What Ails Us. One thing that gets lost in complicated debates about health-care exchanges, fee for service, global payments, managed care, preferred pro-vider organizations, and the like, is that there are some obvious — though not necessarily easy — avenues that govern-ment should be traveling to promote basic health among the U.S. population. Most obviously, the country right now is facing an obesity epidemic that is going to cost the U.S. billions of dollars if it isn’t brought under control. Some suggested plays: Tax what hurts us. Several summit-goers suggested a continuing push to tax sugar-sweetened beverages and other junk food. The Washington State Legislature introduced a tax on soda, bottled water, gum and candy earlier this

year, noted Larisa Benson. However, the so-called “candy tax” was reversed in November with the approval of a ballot initiative, passed by a 2-1 margin. In New York City, pointed out Andrea Cohen, the city has banned trans fats. New York City now also requires all fast food restaurants to post calorie counts for food and bever-ages. Additionally, said Cohen, the city has changed street vendor regulations to allow vendors to sell fresh fruits and vegetables. Meanwhile, she noted, New York City has the highest cigarette tax in the nation, which city officials say has demonstrably helped reduce smoking among New Yorkers.

Play EightFace Up to Mortality. Be honest about aging and dying. According to a report from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), about one- quarter of the total Medicare budget is spent on services for beneficiaries in their last year of life, 40 percent of that on the last 30 days. Given our rapidly aging population, it’s a health-care cost tsunami that will overwhelm us, argued David Osborne. It is, of course, a highly emotional issue. This came to the fore during the Obama health-care debate, when language in the bill suggesting end-of-life counseling was twisted by critics into the claim that the new law would create “death panels” assigned the task of making end-of-life care decisions for citizens. But the fact is, the course of treatment people choose as they get closer to dying is highly personal, noted Joe Minarick, and should be informed by fact-based conversations with health-care providers. “You have to get doctors to explain to people their options in a much better, clearer way. ‘Do you want the drug that’s going to make you feel better or the stent that’s going to be invasive, dangerous to put in, and perhaps painful, and which probably won’t prolong your life significantly? You need to engage with people, and there is a lot we can do there. The fact of the matter is, in Oregon where suicide is legal, 30 percent of people die in the hospital. In Massachusetts it’s 70 percent.”

dAvId osBornE, author of reinventing government

GoverninG Playbook | Dec 201014 GoverninG Playbook | Dec 201014

Play OneAnalyze Actual Transaction Times. It’s no mystery to those who’ve spent time in and around government that in many cases, both internal and external government services now suffer from a syndrome that prominent public officials characterize as double-checking whether or not the checkers are adequately checking the checkers. In other words, a significant amount of government transaction time is eaten up in redun-dant review of straightforward work that spends too much time bouncing from inbox to inbox. A key first step to streamlining services and transactions (or unkinking pipes, to use Miller’s meta-phor) is to do a hard-nosed, objective analysis of how much time it actually takes to perform a service or process a transaction. For example, summit-goer Joe Doyle, commissioner of the State Personnel Administration for Georgia, described the state’s push on quality and

14

THe PLAys AT A GLAnce Play OneAnalyze Actual Transaction Times. Calculate real transac-tion times for all government services, internal and external.

Play TwOdig Up the Pipes. find the kinks and figure out which parts of your process take up unnecessary time.

Play ThreeUnkink the Pipes. Once you’ve done a complete process analysis, cut out the time-wasting steps.

Play FOurAvoid “Blamestorms.” When something goes wrong, don’t play the blame game or add process; address what went wrong.

Play FiveBreak the “Crazy Cycle.” Once you start to add process, you take valuable resources away from real work, leading to a downward spiral of performance.

speed, which has led to improvements in service delivery from social services to motor vehicle licensing. The key: Take a hard look at actual transaction times and then what processes are impeding opti-mal service delivery. What Georgia soon discovered, he said, was that transactions that were taking hours, should have been taking minutes.

Play Twodig Up the Pipes. A significant part of the problem when it comes to streamlining ser-vices is that many of the inefficiencies that have been built into government processes are invisible, and so it is incumbent on those who are trying to improve the speed and quality of government service to do a serious and methodical walk-through of every part of the process involved in any government service or transaction. Once the bottlenecks and kinks are surfaced, it usually becomes obvious where the inefficiencies have been hiding.

In the third summit session, Ken miller, former deputy director of the missouri Department of Revenue, author of We Don’t Make Widgets and co-creator of the Public Great blog on governing.com, joined with Craig Rapp, director of consulting services for the International City/County management Association (ICmA), to discuss nuts-and-bolts government operations and how to create government that delivers high-quality services — both internal and external — faster and more cheaply. As miller described it, the evolution of government services and transactions can be viewed in terms of kinked, bent and twisted pipes, with each bend and kink the result of a new “check” on the work coming in at the front end of the process. The problem that gov-ernment faces currently, argued miller, isn’t a scarcity of resources or an increase in demand for services, it’s the bent and twisted service delivery system that evolved over years of adding new checks and balances, and it simply can’t handle current demand.

OPerATIOns, servIces AnD PerfOrmAnce


Dec 2010 | GoverninG Playbook 15Dec 2010 | GoverninG Playbook 1515

Play ThreeUnkink the Pipes. Summit-goer Bill Leighty, former chief of staff to both Vir-ginia governors Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, has described his own experiences trying to “unkink” processes in Virginia government. For example, while detailed to fix Virginia’s dysfunctional state retire-ment system, Leighty described doing a top-to-bottom review of all the steps involved in getting a check out to a pen-sioner. Once he’d exposed the pipes, he worked with employees on eliminating those non-value-added steps that had accrued to significantly reduce transac-tion times. And often, it’s employees who can be your best resource when it comes to figuring out where and how to stream-line, added Georgia’s Joe Doyle. “People operating in systems with kinked-up pipes have been set up to fail,” said Doyle. “And so they start to develop bad attitudes. The key is to empower your people to start making changes to straighten the pipes.”

Play FourAvoid “Blamestorms.” The syndrome, as described by Miller (and that will ring familiar to anyone who has spent time in and around government) goes like this: A simple system is put in place for pro-cessing some transaction, such as paying travel expenses or processing tax returns. Somebody makes a mistake and the fin-ger pointing starts, and so a new step is added to the process in order “to make sure that never happens again.” There’s a child fatality in your children and family services system or a public official embez-zles money, so your legislature imposes whole new sets of rules and regulations on an agency or department “to make

sure that never happens again.” In the end, you have a system that’s being eaten up by process instead of being focused on outcomes.

Play FiveBreak the “Crazy Cycle.” This is the corollary to the “blamestorm” syndrome. “So someone makes a mistake and the next thing you know, you’re taking people off the real work that you’re trying to get done so that they can do batching and tracking and double checking, and you get into what I call ‘the crazy cycle,’” said Miller. “And before you know it, a job that used to take 5 minutes — which is how long it takes to process a tax return

a significant amount of government transaction time is eaten uP in redundant revieW of straightforWard Work.

OPerATIOns, servIces AnD PerfOrmAnce

kEn MIllEr, author of We don’t Make Widgets


— becomes a multiweek process.” While Miller was at the Missouri Department of Tax and Revenue, he said the department “took a process that took 60 days and took it down to two days. We got off the crazy cycle. And the next thing you know, you’re putting more people back doing the actual job you’re trying to do.”

Play SixKeep It simple. One key to avoiding spiraling into the crazy cycle in the first place, argued Miller, was to “idiot-proof” the process. If government can make the process or transaction in question as simple as possible from the start, there will be far less chance of mistakes, which means far less chance of blamestorms kicking off crazy cycles.

Play Six [ AuDIbLe ]Push Back at All levels. Straight, big pipes do not happen by accident. Several summit-goers pointed out that lots of the checks, balances and extra work required to do certain jobs is mandated, either from states to locali-ties or from the federal government to the states; they are not steps that were

inserted at the level of government providing the service. ICMA’s Rapp acknowledged that that was often the case but argued that “you need to work to unkink the pipes, no matter where they are — if it’s going up to the state level or the federal level.” There’s no percentage in accepting an unacceptable status quo simply because it’s been dumped on you from on high, argued Rapp.

Play sixKeep It simple. “Idiot-proof” processes so that making mistakes becomes more difficult.

Play six [ AuDIbLe]

Push Back at All levels. Don’t idly accept new rules, regulations and reviews. Push back.

you need to Work to unkink the PiPes, no matter Where they are — if it’s going uP to the state level or the federal level.


stEphEn GoldsMIth, deputy mayor for Operations, New York City, dAvId sMIth, county manager, Maricopa County, Ariz., dIAnA urBAn, state representative, Connecticut

AlFrEd MorAn, director of Administration and Regulatory Affairs, Houston


stEphEn GoldsMIth, deputy mayor for Operations, New York City, dAvId sMIth, county manager, Maricopa County, Ariz., dIAnA urBAn, state representative, Connecticut

GoverninG Playbook | Dec 201018 GoverninG Playbook | Dec 201018

Play OneBe Bipartisan.“I spent the first year in the U.S. Senate thrilled to be a member of such an exclusive club,” said Mark War-ner. “I spent the second year absolutely amazed at the dysfunction on Capitol Hill and wanted to quit. I spent the third year trying to reach across the aisle and develop some bipartisan relationships.”

Political polarization was a frequent refrain at the summit, particularly at the state and federal levels. In the current political climate, the goal of the game seems to be simply to hang on to power, not solve problems, a number of summit attendees observed. But Warner drew on his experience as Virginia governor to illustrate the power of bipartisanship to get tough jobs done. Facing a significant structural budget deficit, Warner reached out to Republicans in the Virginia General Assembly in his first year in the executive mansion. “I got trashed in the press for being a wimp, and the Democrats were all mad at me.” But working across party lines, Warner won passage of a tax package that included tax restructuring and increases that helped put Virginia back on a healthy, sustainable


THe PLAys AT A GLAnce Play One Be Bipartisan. make purposeful alliances based not on ideology but on desired results.

Play One [ AuDIbLe]

Get by With a little help From Your Friends. forge alliances not only with peers, but also with career bureau-crats and staff.

Play TwO don’t Play to the Next election. Good leaders operate from core values, not the latest public opinion polls.

Play Three scan for Threats. No jurisdiction is an island. Successful leaders continually monitor things like the over-all economy, as well as the actions of other levels of government in order to act pre-emptively in the face of things like economic down-turns or mandates.

Play FOur hammer home the Problem. Spend time framing and building consensus around a problem before working through possible solutions.

long-range fiscal path. He added that in his current job, he knows there are plenty of Republicans who realize the precarious nature of the nation’s current and long-term fiscal situation. Which is why his fourth year as senator, he said, will be devoted to working with Republicans on action to address those problems. “There is nothing that people like better than seeing politicians work across the aisle,” Warner said.

Play One [ AuDIbLe ]Get by With a little help From Your Friends. Develop partnerships at all levels of government. When Diana Urban arrived in Hartford, she made a point of befriending a 30-year veteran in the state budget office. “I asked her to teach me everything she knew about budgeting, and she said, ‘No one in the Legislature

“you need to stick to your core values and act on them.”Diana urban, state representative, Connecticut

the final summit session featured four recognized public-sector leaders from federal, state and local government — mark Warner, former Virginia governor, now a U.S. senator from Virginia; Stephen Goldsmith, former Indianapolis mayor, now deputy mayor for Operations for New York City; David Smith, county manager of maricopa County, Ariz.; and Diana Urban, a 10-year member of the Connecticut House of Repre-sentatives. All four have strong records of accomplishment in the public sector, and each shared key strategies for providing steady leadership, especially in challenging times.

THe cOurAGe TO LeAD: InnOvATIOn AnD PerseverAnce In Our TImes


Dec 2010 | GoverninG Playbook 19Dec 2010 | GoverninG Playbook 1919

has ever asked me for that.’” It has made Urban a vastly more confident and effec-tive leader, both because of the knowledge she gained but also the relationship she created. “Come budget time, that woman now absolutely has my back,” Urban said.

Play Twodon’t Play to the Next election. “If you’re just worried about getting re-elected, then you’ll never take the sorts of risks you need to take to get things done,” said Urban, who has been bucking the status quo in Hartford for 10 years. “You need to stick to your core values and act on them. Constituents like that and they get that.” That’s been Urban’s approach, whether it comes to promoting child welfare or pushing results-informed government.

Play Threescan for Threats. Not “threats” in the traditional sense, said Smith, but exigen-cies largely beyond a jurisdiction’s control, like broader economic factors and forces and things like state and federal mandates. For example, Smith said Maricopa County started cutting its budget in 2007 as offi-cials there noticed the state and national economies starting to sour. In response, the county pre-emptively instituted a hir-ing freeze, while cutting its work force by 10 percent. The county also halted all cap-ital spending. Meanwhile, an astonishing 95 percent of the county’s expenditures are related to mandates from on high, and so “threat” scans also include constantly

monitoring the actions of federal and state government in order to either fight or prepare for directives from on high.

Play Fourhammer home the Problem. Too often, agreed the leadership panelists, public officials tend to try to offer up answers before they’ve really explained to constit-

uents the nature of the problem. Warner said it’s a formula for political paralysis because without public support, few poli-ticians will be willing to make the tough decisions required to solve big problems. “A good leader doesn’t jump to a solution; a good leader defines the problem,” Warner said. “When I became governor of Virginia, there was only one conclusion you could come to when you looked at the books: We weren’t experiencing a one-time fiscal crisis. We faced a chronic and crippling structural deficit.” Warner traveled the state hammering away at a single, clear mes-sage: Raise taxes or face a devastating fiscal train wreck. “When we were done, we had established the absolutely intellectually unassailable premise that we were in big trouble,” Warner said. Warner didn’t only try to make the intellectual case, however, he helped drive home the point by mak-ing real cuts in state government. “So I did things like close DMVs, which really ticked off everybody — Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, vegetarians. But I showed people that I was serious.”

THe cOurAGe TO LeAD: InnOvATIOn AnD PerseverAnce In Our TImes

dIAnA urBAn, state representative, Connecticut

THe LeGAcy PLAys: THe LOnG vIew On fIscAL crIsIs

New York State Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch played a key role in preventing New York City from declaring bankruptcy in the mid-1970s, rescuing the New York metro Transit Authority (not once but twice) from financial disaster, and his most recent efforts are aimed at righting the fiscal situation in the Empire State.

“The ramifications of bankruptcy for New York were so unimaginable that it became a very serious impetus for reform,” said Ravitch. That level of urgency is missing today, he lamented, even though the economic circumstances are worse now than they were then.

Reflecting on a long career in public service, Ravitch has a handful of key plays for states to return to solvency:4 Change Behavior: “Not solving state financial discrepancies and bringing revenue and expenses into closer balance has serious consequences and will result in significant social tensions in America.” 4 Adopt Generally Accepted Accounting Principles: “GAAP is used by the city of New York and by the private sector, but states continue to use cash budgeting.” 4Make the Transition: “The economic paradigm has already shifted. The political paradigm has yet to catch up.” 4 Be Accountable: “Politically independent sources should be in place to verify fiscal reporting.”4 Be Imaginative: “Governors should consider creative, fiscally sound strategies making use of multiple leverage points.” 4 Practice the Art of Compromise: “It is going to take a platform of cooperation, the public unions, the taxpayers, the politicians and the banks. Everyone must come to the table ready to compromise.”

Sell the Problem. Warner traveled the state hammering away at a single, clear message: Raise taxes or face a devastating fiscal train wreck. “When we were done, we had established the absolutely intellectually unassailable premise that we were in big trouble.”

MArk WArnEr, U.S. Senator, Virginia

21

Play Five Focus on Common Goals. Start with agreement on key goals and then start work on ways to achieve them.

Play six Provide Air Cover for Your People. Effective leaders cut their people loose to try inno-vative ways to accomplish key goals and then support them, even if they fail.

Play six [ AuDIbLe] Tip of the hat. Respected leaders share credit and take responsibility for mistakes and failure.

Play sevenInnovate in Place, and Find others Who do. Recognize that some of the best ideas for how to improve government and government services come from those on the front line of service delivery and operations.

Play seven [ AuDIbLe] Take Care of Your People. Good leaders understand that in today’s fiscally constrained environment, fewer staff members are doing more work, so routinely check in with staff to make sure they’re OK.

Play eighT Groom the Next Generation. Good leaders are constantly trying to bring new and talented staff into government and move them up the career and responsibility ladder.

CONTINUED fROm 18Play FiveFocus on Common Goals. A good leader doesn’t win through divide and conquer; a good leader unifies by starting with common goals. “So can we agree that all kids at age 5 should start school ready to learn?” said Diana Urban. “Can we agree that we want a clean environment? Can we agree that all Connecticut children and families should live healthy and productive lives? Once you’ve got that agreement, then you can talk about solu-tions, and also ask hard questions about whether government is performing in a way that’s getting you to those goals.”

Play SixProvide Air Cover for Your People. Key to the effectiveness of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administra-tion, said Goldsmith, has been the fact that the mayor “hires good people, lets them set audacious goals, take risks and then he covers their back if they fail.”

Play Six [ AuDIbLe ]Tip of the hat. Share credit and take blame. Echoing Goldsmith’s remarks about Mayor Bloomberg’s leadership style, Diana Urban added, “When some-thing goes wrong I take the blame, I say ‘It’s on me.’ When something goes right, I absolutely give the credit to others.”

Play SevenInnovate in Place, and Find others Who do. Look to front line employees for innovative ideas. “You need to unlock innovation throughout your whole organization,” said Goldsmith, who has been handed the daunting job of trying to streamline some of New York City’s arcane personnel, budgeting and manage-ment processes. “We have systems right now that are demeaning to labor; they’re top heavy, complex and anachronistic. When I was in Indianapolis, I went out every two weeks and worked side by side in the streets with a different union and I learned that innovation isn’t a top-down phenomenon, it’s everywhere.” One key, said Goldsmith, is to try to “tie the suc-cess of the work force to the success of the city.”

Play Seven [ AuDIbLe ]Take Care of Your People. Support Your People. “I have a stressed out work force right now,” said David Smith, discussing the steep cuts he has had to make to per-sonnel to keep Maricopa County fiscally healthy — cuts that have come with no reduction in county services, he added. Besides doing regular employee satisfac-tion surveys, Smith said he personally checks in with staff to make sure they’re OK. Whatever Smith is doing to help employees, it seems to be working: The county has a rock-bottom employee turnover rate of 5 percent.

Play EightGroom the Next Generation. There’s been a lot of discussion about the serious brain drain now facing the public sector. Seasoned veterans are leaving in droves. Besides looking out for the emotional needs of his work force, Smith noted that Maricopa County has instituted numerous innovative ways to lure top talent to the county, including reimburs-ing employees for continuing education and even paying off college loans. More broadly, though, creating an environment where people feel that they can make a real difference is absolutely essential to attracting new talent, added Goldsmith. Too many graduates of schools of pub-lic administration and affairs are being siphoned off to nonprofits, said Gold-smith. “Students want to go to nonprofits because they see that as a way to make a difference. They don’t see government as a way to make a difference.” He said the way to change that goes back to his ear-lier point about unlocking the potential of all employees in government, and cutting them loose to try new and more effective ways of doing the public’s business. Oth-erwise, other sectors in the U.S. will con-tinue to siphon off the best and brightest.


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This playbook memorializes the best thinking of seasoned public servants on the eve of largely unprecedented political transitions in state government. Plays, by definition, are tactical — focused on the “how” of getting things done. It is useful to choose and execute plays in the context of both conditions and strategies. The conditions are awful, and the storm shows few signs of abating.

In the midst of a storm, a playbook can get lost or destroyed. At those moments, players rely on muscle memory of best practices that they have internalized and what they can remember of what the coach said. Such is the importance of commander’s intent — a concise expres-sion of the purpose of the operation and the desired end state that serves as the initial impetus for the planning process.

Admittedly it has been hard to hear or remember the commander’s intent — to the degree that anyone is articulating one — above the din of polarized partisanship.

The Governing Summit on the Cost of Government provided a little shelter from the storm for a group of public-sector leaders — perhaps enough time to dry off, get reoriented and readied to face the elements again.

Together, they came away with a shared understanding of the challenges — and latent opportunities — of public service in the second decade of the 21st century. It was summarized by Dennis McKenna, co-founder of Governing maga-zine’s parent organization e.Republic. “We’re facing deep, structural and long-standing fiscal problems,” McKenna said. “We’re still operating under public systems that were built in the Industrial Age. So are we going to just muddle through? Are we going to kick the can down the road? Are we going to allow political polarization to paralyze prog-ress, because it’s not a question of ‘big’ government versus ‘small’ government. The question is how do you create new government for a new era?”

And without presuming on an elected leader’s role in defining a commander’s intent, Governing founder and publisher emeritus Peter Harkness captured the imperative of this moment when he said, “America must get back to the business of our future.”

It gets harder from here. That is evident in the language we use. Economists and policymakers speak of resets rather than simply recoveries, suggesting fundamental changes are afoot that will require a deeper, more thorough response. The flagging economic recovery testifies to the change, as does an electorate that has entered into a crazy cycle of its own — tacking left in 2008 and tacking right in 2010 in search of apparently illusive change that will restore confidence, contentment and a way of life to which we had become accustomed.

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new GOvernmenT fOr A new erA

pEtEr hArknEss, founder, governing

“america must get back to the business of our future.”

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